The Utah highway patrol
- The metal monolith that was recently discovered by Utah state employees during a bighorn sheep survey in the red-rock Utah desert has vanished, local officials said.
- There was no indication of where the object came from, but Insider reported it seemed to have appeared between 2015 and 2016, according to images obtained on Google Earth.
- But the Bureau of Land Management said on Saturday that the monolith was removed from public lands by an unknown party.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The monolith that was recently discovered in a remote area of the red-rock Utah desert has vanished, local officials said.
The nearly 12-foot-high smooth metal structure was found on public land while Utah state employees were counting bighorn sheep by helicopter on November 18 in the southeastern part of the state, a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety said.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources spotted the strange object in an area south of Moab and landed to check it out. The crew took images and videos of the discovery, which resembled an object from the classic science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
There was no indication of where the object came from, but Insider reported it seemed to have appeared between 2015 and 2016, according to images obtained on Google Earth.
Following the discovery, the Bureau of Land Management joked about extraterrestrial activity.
"Although we can't comment on active investigations, we would like to remind public land visitors that using, occupying, or developing the public lands or their resources without a required authorization is illegal, no matter what planet you are from," BLM said in a tweet.
But BLM said on Saturday that the monolith was removed from public lands by an unknown party.
In a Facebook post, BLM said the agency "did not remove the structure, which is considered private property," and that reports were received that a group moved the monolith on November 27. The post also said BLM does not investigate private property crimes, which would fall under the local sheriff's office.