Utah monolith removal explained
It is still not known if the men who removed the object were the same ones who installed it, or even if the two accounts of Bernards and Lewis mesh together.
This video grab image obtained November 24, 2020 courtesy of the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau shows a mysterious metal monolith that was discovered in Utah after public safety officers spotted the object while conducting a routine wildlife mission. – On November 18, 2020, the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau was working with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to conduct a count of big horn sheep in a portion of southeastern Utah. While on this mission, they spotted an unusual object and landed nearby to investigate further.The crew members found a metal monolith installed in the ground in a remote area of red rock.The crew said there was no obvious indication of who might have put the monolith there. (Photo by Handout / Utah Department of Public Safety / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO /Utah Department of Public Safety /HANDOUT ” – NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
The mystery of how a metal monolith appeared in the Utah desert remains, but the riddle of its removal seems to have been solved — and sadly, has nothing to do with aliens.
Images emerged Tuesday of four men working in the dead of night to remove the strange, triangular pillar that has garnered global attention from its remote resting place in the western United States desert.
Photographer Ross Bernards, who visited the monolith Friday, described in an Instagram post accompanying the photos how four men suddenly appeared that night, pushed the object over and dismantled it before carrying it off in a wheelbarrow.
“One of them looked back at us all and said ‘Leave no trace.’ That was at 8:48,” wrote Bernards.
Later Tuesday, a 34-year-old slackline performer and adventure sportsman called Andy Lewis posted a video on YouTube titled, “We removed the Utah monolith.”
It featured near-identical images and a short clip of the monolith seemingly being wheeled away, but no further explanation was provided.
The shiny pillar, which protruded some 12 feet from the red rocks of southern Utah, was first spotted on November 18 by baffled local officials counting bighorn sheep from the air.
– Alien or art? –
News of the discovery quickly went viral around the world, with many noting the object’s similarity with strange alien monoliths that trigger huge leaps in human progress in Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Some observers pointed out the object’s resemblance to the avant-garde work of John McCracken, a US artist who lived for a time in nearby New Mexico and died in 2011.
But McCracken’s representatives have given ambiguous and at times conflicting responses to this theory, prolonging an international guessing game that intensified further with the monolith’s sudden removal Friday.
The local San Juan County sheriff’s office, which is reportedly investigating alongside the federal Bureau of Land Management, saw the lighter side in a Facebook post Saturday featuring lineup images of nine suspects — all extraterrestrials.
It is still not known if the men who removed the object were the same ones who installed it, or even if the two accounts of Bernards and Lewis mesh together.
According to Bernards, one of the men removing the monolith said, “This is why you don’t leave trash in the desert.”
Bernards said the men “were right to take it out,” noting that “at least 70 different cars (and a plane)” had converged on the “the delicate desert landscape.”
Officials who found the monolith did not disclose the object’s location out of fear that hordes of curious sightseers would flock to the remote wilderness, but amid the growing fascination, dozens of explorers quickly tracked it down.
A resident of nearby Moab, Sylvan Christensen, also claimed to have been among those dismantling the monolith, telling The New York Times he was concerned about “human impacts” upon the land and its ecosystem.
“Mother Nature is an artist, it’s best to leave the art in the wild to her,” concluded Bernards.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
For more news your way
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
