It wasn t until Nov. 18 of this year that the first monolith, a three-sided stainless steel structure built and installed by an unidentified individual or group, was discovered in a remote canyon. Spotted by The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources as they surveyed bighorn sheep by helicopter, the monolith sparked a phenomenon.
While itâs unknown when the prismatic structure was originally installed, satellite imagery proves it appeared between Aug. 2015 and Oct. 2016. A Dutch journalist later narrowed the timeframe down to between July 7 and Oct. 21, 2016.
Some in the art community believe it is a work of art by the late John McCracken â including his own gallerist, David Zwirner. McCracken, who was active from the early 1960s until his death in 2011, is most known for his minimalistic geometric sculptures that were both free-standing and leaned up against walls.Â
The usually quiet sands were deluged by paranormal-seekers, and the National Trust was forced to dispatch rangers to the beach, which they own, to prevent overcrowding. Since then, monoliths have been found on Dartmoor and atop Glastonbury Tor, and, last weekend, at the centre of Merry Maidens stone circle, Cornwall.
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Monoliths could fill the gap in the public imagination left by crop circles. In Utah, authorities did not reveal the pillar s location because they did not want to tempt amateurs on a dangerous desert hike - but internet sleuths found it anyway, with the help of Google Earth s geolocation tool.
The unexplained, shimmering monolith discovered last month in the red-rock desert, southeastern Utah
Credit: Terrance Siemon / AP
It is a fittingly wacky end to a truly bizarre year. Last month, in the rocky wilderness of the American Southwest, the birthplace of so many myths and cowboy legends, biologists surveying sheep in Utah’s Red Rock Country spotted a shiny object from a helicopter. Upon inspection, they discovered a shimmering, three-sided metal monolith, about 12ft high, in the middle of the desert. Images from Google Earth suggest it was placed there some time between 2015 and 2016.
Soon, copycat structures began sprouting up everywhere – at least 18 across Europe, the US and Australia, at the latest count. The trend reached Britain on December 6, when dog walkers on Compton Beach, on the Isle of Wight, happened across a mysterious reflective structure standing on a wooden plinth.
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image copyrightPeter Heather
image captionThe shiny pillar appeared on Compton Beach on the Isle of Wight on 6 December
A monolith erected on a British beach in tribute to others around the world has been removed and is up for sale.
Similar to ones in the US and Romania, the pillar sparked global headlines when it was found on the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.
After it was found in pieces on Friday it was removed by the National Trust and has since been listed on eBay.
Tom Dunford, its creator, said he was disappointed someone had decided to cash in on a broken monolith.