On a day just like any other the Utah Department of Public Safety was helping out Utah Division of Wildlife Resource officers to count bighorn sheep when they discovered something odd sticking up from the ground that sure resembles something from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“One of the biologists is the one who spotted it and we just happened to fly directly over the top of it,” pilot Bret Hutchings told the local news. “He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘what.’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there – we’ve got to go look at it!’”
What they found was a giant 10-12 foot metal monolith similar to the one seen in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” At first they thought that maybe NASA had put it there and that it was being used to bounce signals around. Then they thought maybe it was something that a new wave artist inserted.
Whatever it is, it’s firmly in the ground. The pilot said that it didn’t appear to be something that was dropped down but instead planted. And there is no real use for it other than just existing. They even joked that if it disappeared that they were going to make a run for it.
To keep people from actively seeking this out they kept the location vague. Worried that someone may get stuck while trying to find it among the red rocks of Utah.
No matter how you slice it, it is odd. It’s one of those weird things where you think to yourself, “It’s probably not aliens…” Then again who knows? (insert mysterious music here)
In all seriousness though there is a theory as to why the monolith was found there. According to the Guardian some people think that it may be the work of the late John McCracken, who died in 2011. Either that or another artists tribute to him. John McCracken was a minimalist artist with works such as “Plank”.
Watch the news broadcast for the newly found monolith by clicking the link here.
