Utah Desert Monolith Taken Friday; Sparks Further Conspiracy Talk
A steel monolith that was discovered by a helicopter crew in a remote area of southern Utah has disappeared following days of people flocking from across the country to see it. Despite efforts by land management officials to keep its location a secret, an unknown party removed the triangular object sometime on November 27.
When I first heard of the discovery of the monolith near Moab last week, I immediately envisioned a pair of good-ol-boy locals, driving this 12-foot object out to the desert in the back of a truck in the middle of the night, and then leaving it as a sort of prank. Rumors that an area artist may have placed it there for the purpose of achieving fame was also mentioned in some news reports.
People began to figure out its location less than 48 hours after the story broke. On Friday, someone took the monolith, according to various reports, such as one by area Saint George News. Utah's Bureau Of Land Management broke the news on November 28, and have reported that no witnesses have come forward as of yet.
Hoax or not, I'm actually floored that the monolith was taken by whomever was responsible so easily. One would think that some sort of security measures would have been set in place seeing as this story attracted as much publicity as it did. For someone to have been able to drive out to this remote spot on Friday evening, load it into a truck, and drive off with it is beyond baffling.
Was this a tourism stunt? Was it a hoax? The conspiracy theorists are having a field day with the story.
I believe November 27 will be the last day anyone will ever see this object again. It is now likely a trophy for some mystery fanatic, that will no doubt be kept covered in a garage for eternity. It wouldn't make sense for the responsible party to place it at another location, as it would likely be confiscated by state officials, and placed somewhere for safe-keeping.