Paige P., journalist

Shortly after its mysterious appearance, a twelve-foot-metal structure found in a remote area of the desert in Utah has already disappeared, just as quickly as it came. Members of the Utah Department of Public Safety were flying over the desert on November 18th in search of bighorn sheep. In addition to sheep, they came across a triangular, hollow monolith sticking out of the red rock. By the night of November 27th, the structure, composed of three sheets of stainless-steel, had already been removed by an individual or group of people just over a week after it was originally spotted. At the moment, there is no solid evidence pointing to who created the monolith, how it got there, how long it has been there, or how it disappeared.

Some believe the monolith was the work of an artist inspired by the movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” as the monolith resembles a structure shown in the movie. Others believe the structure to be the work of extraterrestrial life due to the out of the ordinary circumstances, including its seemingly random location and its quick appearance and disappearance. The exact location of the structure has not been revealed to the public due to safety concerns, leading some people to believe the structure is a hoax altogether. Despite the elusive location, hikers have already started seeking it out, some finding success. Pictures and videos of the monolith crowd the internet as people who explored the stature when it was still there share what they observed.

Although the creation and placement of this monolith was illegal, the disappearance and/or theft of the structure, dubbed private property, was also illegal. Petecia Le Fawnhawk, an artist residing in Utah, claims she is not responsible for the monolith, although she has created desert sculptures before. It is also theorized that John McCracken, the diseased artist who was known for creating sculptures, was thought to have installed it before his death, “to be discovered later,” as his son Patrick recalled. Many of the details of this monolith remain a mystery and many questions still have yet to be answered. Will this monolith appear somewhere else next? At the moment the rest of the details are up to your imagination.