Metal monolith discovered deep in Utah desert leaves officials baffled

Utah employees with monolith
Utah employees with monolith

A metal monolith has been found in the heart of Utah's red rock country by a state employee who was carrying out a count of bighorn sheep.

The shiny structure was spotted by a biologist while conducting an aerial survey of southern Utah as part of a programme to double the number of sheep in the area.

Bret Hutchings, the helicopter pilot, was dumbfounded. “That’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all my years of flying," he told the local tv news channel, KSLTV.

“I’d say it’s probably between 10 and 12 feet high,” he added. “We were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, then the rest of us make a run for it.”

How the monolith got there remains a mystery. According to Mr Hutchings it was not just dropped in place, but firmly planted into the ground.

He speculated the piece was a work of art deposited in the middle of nowhere by what he described as a "new wave" artist - perhaps inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Metal monolith in Utah desert
Metal monolith in Utah desert

While the bighorn sheep seemed unfazed by the unexpected intrusion on their habitat, the authorities were baffled.

The Utah Highway Patrol wrote on Facebook: "During the count they came across this (sheet of metal?), buried in the middle of nowhere... what do you think it is?"

A similar question was asked by the Utah Department of Public Safety, which is considering whether to launch a formal investigation.

"During the counts we came across this, in the middle of nowhere, buried deep in the rock. Inquiring minds want to know, what the heck is it? Anyone?"

Some on social media speculated - perhaps tongue in cheek - that extraterrestrial forces might have been involved.

Aaron Lastowski suggested: "Seems how we been probing Mars for sometimes now, I'm guessing its the undiscovered inhabitants of mars probing us now."

Another wag added that it might have fallen off an unidentified flying object which had been spotted flying around the nearby town of Ogden.

A further possibility was that the object was merely a piece of debris from Donald Trump's much-vaunted Space Force, which was announced earlier this year.

Or, according to another user, an "on-off button for the planet".

Whether the monolith will prompt a flurry of UFO speculation remains to be seen.

Further north in the state, at Skinwalker ranch, residents of the Uintah Basin have reported seeing "strange things in the sky" for decades.

Meanwhile, officials at the Department of Public Safety declined to disclose the monolith's exact location.

"It is in a very remote area and if individuals were to attempt to visit the area, there is a significant possibility they may become stranded and require rescue," it said.

If it was a prank, the department was not amused: "It is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you’re from."