[imagesource: David Surbers / Reuters]

Public safety workers in southeastern Utah, who were helping to count sheep from a helicopter, found their day significantly improved when they spotted something out of place in the red-rock region.

Upon closer inspection, they realised that it was a metal monolith, not unlike the monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The world caught wind of this, and everyone was pretty amped, with the exception of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), who pointed out that installing unauthorised structures on state-owned public land is illegal, “no matter what planet you’re from”.

Killjoys.

Theories ran wild with some attributing it to an artist, while others believed it to be the work of a Kubrick fan.

Artist John McCracken, who died in 2011, was singled out, with a spokesperson for his gallerist, David Zwirner, saying that it could definitely be his work, perhaps installed by someone else.

A few people pinned it on aliens, but we won’t go into that.

Now, adding to the mystery says NPR, the structure has vanished.

An agency statement [from the BLR] says credible reports point to “an unknown party” removing the illegally installed structure on the evening of Nov. 27.

The agency also asserts its own lack of involvement in the object’s removal or intention to investigate, noting it does “not investigate crimes involving private property which are handled by the local sheriff’s office.”

Despite attempts to keep the location of the monolith a secret, a few people did manage to track it down, including this guy, who tried to stick a magnet to it:

 

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A subreddit dedicated to the monolith claims that Google Earth images indicate that it has been in that location since at least 2016.

The most likely explanation is that it is the work of McCracken.

And McCracken had an affinity for science fiction, according to The New York Times. McCracken’s son, Patrick, told the newspaper that his father once said “he would like to leave his artwork in remote places to be discovered later.”

Considering that his work typically fetches between $300 000 and $400 000 at auction, that’s a pretty pricey thing to leave exposed to the elements.

On the other hand, it could have nothing to do with McCracken and the person who made it could have retrieved it to avoid being discovered and prosecuted by the BLM.

We may never know.

[source:npr]