I'm sorry Dave...

[thatguy]

I once built a monolith, but check this out:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.truedimensions.com/lego/customs/2001/index.htm">http://www.truedimensions.com/lego/cust ... /index.htm</a><!-- m -->

--tg

[King Bob]

Reviving this thread partly to outdo DM, and also because I searched for "monolith" and it was the best match. The above link is dead, but I think it's supposed to point to this.

Here's a new monolith for you.

[Drunk Monk]

A 2008 bit of thread necromancy. 

DM is outdone...



...for today.

[King Bob]

The mystery monolith story made the New York Times

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Google Earth shows that it has been there for a while. How long is a “while”?

[Drunk Monk]

How long is a “while”?

A while = some point between August 2015 and October 2016

MYSTERIOUS MONOLITH HAS BEEN THERE FOR YEARS, ACCORDING TO GOOGLE EARTH


GOOGLE EARTH
NOVEMBER 24TH 20__VICTOR TANGERMANN__FILED UNDER: FUTURE SOCIETY

Right There
Well, that was fast.
Over the weekend, a team of biologists discovered a bizarre metal monolith in the middle of the Utah wilderness, prompting real-world intrigue as well as humorous comparison’s to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
It’s still a mystery as to who put it there or why — but a group of eagle-eyed Reddit users have already discovered the location of the monolith on Google Earth.
It may only be a matter of time until crowds show up to take a selfie with the unusual construct. But just so we’re clear, you probably shouldn’t visit — you’d only end up putting yourself and others in danger, not to mention needlessly bothering the nearby wildlife and traveling during a pandemic.
Rugged Hills
According to Google’s archive of satellite imagery, the monolith appears to have been erected at some point between August 2015 and October 2016, and is less than a mile away from what appears to be a trail.
A spokesperson for Utah’s Department of Public Safety speculated to The New York Times that it could have been there even longer, telling the paper that for “all we know it’s been installed since the ’40s and ’50s.”
“Somebody took the time to use some type of concrete-cutting tool or something to really dig down, almost in the exact shape of the object, and embed it really well,” the spokesperson added. “It’s odd. There are roads close by, but to haul the materials to cut into the rock, and haul the metal, which is taller than 12 feet in sections — to do all that in that remote spot is definitely interesting.”
Major Hike
It would be quite the expedition — and not without risks — to get there. According to Google Maps, it’s about an hour and a half drive from the nearest highway — with a little more than half a mile of unpaved road to cover at the end of the journey.
The location was initially kept under wraps by authorities to keep nosy trespassers at bay.
“The exact location of the installation is not being disclosed since 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,” a recent Utah Department of Public Safety statement read.
Officials are now calling for its removal as “it is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you’re from,” according to the statement.

[thatguy]

That’s what they want you to believe...

—tg

[King Bob]

The time travelers could have put it there anytime they wanted.

[Drunk Monk]

NYT says "since the ’40s and ’50s” but they don't specify which century. 

I'm hoping there are more...

[Drunk Monk]

WTH?

The mysterious silver monolith in the Utah desert has disappeared
[/url]


[img=300x0]https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/201127210125-adventurer-finds-monolith-thumb-exlarge-169.jpg[/img]



[url=https://www.cnn.com/videos]










(CNN)A tall, silver, shining metal monolith discovered in the desert in southeastern Utah -- which prompted theories of alien placement and drew determined hikers to its secret location -- has now disappeared, the state's Bureau of Land Management said Saturday.
The monolith was removed by an "unknown party" sometime Friday night, the agency said in a Facebook post.

"We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the 'monolith,' has been removed" from BLM public lands, the post said.
"The BLM did not remove the structure, which is considered private property."
'We've got to go look at it!'
The monolith was first discovered November 18 by officers from the Utah Department of Public Safety's Aero Bureau.

[Greg]

Excellent.

[King Bob]

Maybe it's going to be a "Where's Waldo?" thing now

[Drunk Monk]

Utah monolith: Internet sleuths got there, but its origins are still a mystery
By Kevin Ponniah and Ashitha Nagesh  
BBC News 
Published

Share

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDAVID SURBER
image captionDavid Surber saw the apparent co-ordinates online and decided he had to be the first one there
[b]It took just 48 hours for the first person to get there. [/b]
When officials in Utah on Monday revealed they had found a shimmering, metal structure deep in the Red Rock desert, they refused to say exactly where.
They hoped that would be enough to deter amateur adventurers from setting off to find it, risking getting dangerously lost in the process.
But there was little chance that people would abide by this advice. By Wednesday, pictures were emerging on Instagram of people triumphantly posing with the monolith, eager to show the world that they had got there first - even if the wider mystery of why it is there remains unsolved.
They were aided by internet sleuths who had quickly geo-located the structure on Google Earth and posted the co-ordinates online.
"I decided to go there first because I was drawn to the fact that this object had been there for five years, hidden in nature," said David Surber, a 33-year-old former US Army infantry officer who drove six hours through the night after finding a Reddit post claiming to have found the exact location.
State wildlife officials originally spotted the object on 18 November while conducting a helicopter flyover of the remote, Mars-like terrain to count big horn sheep. The Reddit user who posted the co-ordinates, Tim Slane, said he had tracked the flight path of the helicopter until it went off-radar - a sign it might have landed.

media captionThe crew found the unusual object while conducting a count of big horn sheep in the area
At this point, he scanned the map for the exact features of the terrain seen in official photos and videos, before zeroing in on a canyon that appeared to fit the bill. There, a distinct shadow - long and narrow - could be seen. It's not visible in historic satellite imagery from 2015, but appears in October 2016 when scrubland in the vicinity also appears to have been cleared.
"I knew that once the location became public knowledge that people would visit the area," said Mr Slane. "I have received some angry messages for my revealing of the location. If I had not found it, someone else would likely have found it soon enough."
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGOOGLE EARTH

David, who lives in Utah, swung into action - telling the Reddit community of thousands following the mystery that he was heading there. On the way, he was bombarded with hundreds of messages and requests. They included things like: "Bring a magnet in case there is a secret door!"
He arrived in the early hours when it was still pitch black. At first he was alone, marvelling not just at the monolith but at shooting stars. Then others started to turn up, also having found the coordinates online. He was thrilled to report his find back to Reddit.
"It was a good escape from all the negativity we've experienced in 2020."
IMAGE COPYRIGHTDAVID SURBER

But two questions remain: who put the structure there, and why?
While many have suggested - some sincerely, most in jest - that the monolith was planted by extra-terrestrial visitors, the prevailing theory is that it is an as-yet-unclaimed conceptual artwork.
Initially experts suggested it may have been an unknown work by the late John McCracken, who is known for his "plank" sculptures. His gallerist David Zwirner initially confirmed this, but the gallery later retracted that statement, saying they believed it was another artist paying homage instead. McCracken died in 2011.
Some online then narrowed in on another artist, Petecia Le Fawnhawk, who installs totemic sculptures in secret desert locations and, crucially, used to live and work in Utah.
But she told the online art magazine Artnet that while she "did have the thought to plant secret monuments in the desert", she "cannot claim this one". So the creator of the totem remains a mystery for now.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES
image captionJohn McCracken - the late artist many first pointed to when the news broke
It's not uncommon for artworks to be installed in remote locations - either as sculptures, or as "land art", a form of art that makes use of its natural surroundings. For many of these pieces, the journey to get there is as much a part of the artwork as the actual installation.
One of the most famous examples of this is Walter de Maria's The Lightning Field. Its exact location is a tightly-guarded secret - all that is known is that it's in the high desert of western New Mexico, although small groups of visitors can book to be taken there. Another is the temporary land art of Martin Hill and Philippa Jones, such as Synergy - a piece that was installed in Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, in 2009.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTDAVID SURBER

Andy Merritt, a British artist who creates outdoor public sculptures as part of the duo, Something and Son, said that when he saw stories about the Utah monolith, he thought it was "either an artist, or a rich person who's got fantasies around 2001: A Space Odyssey".
"There are so many artists who do stuff in unusual places, especially in America," said Merritt, who plans to "fossilise" a suburban house in Milton Keynes, north of London, next spring by pouring a mixture into the interior and making a cast of its negative space. "Even in my own work, we always want to be doing things in unusual places.
"If you took what they did in the middle of Utah - presuming it is an artist - and put it in another location, like a public square, it would be a lot less interesting. It's the landscape itself that really is the talking point."
Video from the dozens - perhaps even hundreds of people - who have already visited the location suggest a professional job. Three large sheets of what appears to be stainless steel were riveted together, with the inside left hollow. Whoever put it there used heavy-duty tools to cut into the bedrock and embed the structure.
"One person alone could not have done it so there is a group of people who have some knowledge of it somewhere," said Wendy Wischer of the University of Utah's School of Fine Art. "Most artists want some recognition for what they are doing but this seems to include a level of humour and mystery as part of the intention."
David Surber, reflecting on his trip to the monolith, admitted he at first hoped its origins would be "otherworldly".
"Yet deep down inside you know it was most likely just a very patient artist or Space Odyssey 2001 fan."
Like Andy Merritt, he's referring to the imposing black monoliths that play an important, but mysterious, role in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In an interview on Thursday, a public information officer at the Utah Department of Public Safety told the BBC that while they don't encourage anyone to travel to the monolith because it could be dangerous, they can't do anything to stop them as the area is public land. No decision has been made to remove it.
"The genie is out of the bottle," said Cpl Andrew Battenfield, when told people had been turning up and posting pictures on social media. "It's a free country."

[Drunk Monk]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT????????!!!!!!!!!

Now a mysterious Arthur C Clarke-style monolith appears in ROMANIA after unexplained metal vanished from Utah – so who (or what) put it there?

• Mysterious metal monolith has appeared in northern Romania after another vanished from the desert in Utah
  
  
• The shiny triangular pillar was found on Batcas Doamnei Hill in the city of Piatra Neamt last Thursday
  
  
• One side of the structure, which is 13 feet tall, faces Mount Ceahlau, known locally as the Holy Mountain
  

By RACHAEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 09:58 EST, 30 November 2020 | UPDATED: 13:26 EST, 30 November 2020

A mysterious metal monolith has appeared in Romania this week after another similar structure found in the remote Utah desert was removed by an 'unknown party'. 
The shiny triangular pillar was found on Batca Doamnei Hill in the city of Piatra Neamt in northern Romania last Thursday.
It was spotted a few metres away from the well-known archaeological landmark the Petrodava Dacian Fortress, an fort built by the ancient Dacian people between 82 BC and AD 106. 

The peculiar find comes after a similar monolith was found in the Utah desert with no explanation, sparking wry speculation that it could have been the work of aliens, but is more likely the work of a prankster inspired by science fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. 
In the book by Arthur C Clarke, later made into a film by Stanley Kubrick, a monolith first appears on Earth in Africa three million years ago and appears to confer intelligence upon a starving tribe of great apes to develop tools.   

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A mysterious metal monolith has appeared in Romania after another similar structure found in the remote Utah desert was removed by an 'unknown party'

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The shiny triangular pillar was found on Batca Doamnei Hill in the city of Piatra Neamt in northern Romania last Thursday.

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It was spotted a few metres away from the well-known archaeological landmark the Petrodava Dacian Fortress, which is the oldest historical monument in Piatra Neamt.

h appears in Romania days after Utah monolith disappears
2001: A Space Odyssey 
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by Arthur C Clarke, later made into a film with the same name by Stanley Kubrick. 
In the book, a monolith first appears on Earth in Africa three million years ago and appears to confer intelligence upon a starving tribe of giant apes to develop tools.  
The monolith is used as a tool by an alien race to investigate worlds across the galaxy and to encourage the development of intelligent life. 
In the book, the tribe approach the monolith, and unknown to them, their minds were being studied and their actions controlled by an alien race.   
The great apes use their tools to kill animals to eat meat to end their starvation, and to kill a predatory leopard. 
The next day, the main character, Moon-Watcher, uses a club to kill the leader of a rival tribe of apes, leading to an awakening of intelligence and the development of humans. 
The book explores technological innovation and traces the development of humans from great apes. It considers the evolution that has led to intelligent life. 
When 2001: A Space Odyssey was written, humans had not yet set foot on the moon. The book offers a glimpse of Clarke's imagination of what space exploration might look like. 



The monolith is used as a tool by an alien race to investigate worlds across the galaxy and to encourage the development of intelligent life. 
In the book, the great apes use their tools to kill animals to eat meat to end their starvation, and to kill a predatory leopard. The next day, the main character uses a club to kill the leader of a rival tribe of apes, leading to an awakening of intelligence and the development of humans.
In Utah, the pillar, which protruded approximately 12 feet from the red rocks in southern Utah, was spotted last Wednesday by baffled local BLM officials who were counting bighorn sheep from a helicopter.  
However the three-sided structure was removed by an 'unknown party' on Friday evening, the Bureau of Land Management Utah said in a statement. 
News of the discovery in Utah quickly went viral online, with many noting the object's similarity to the strange alien monoliths that trigger huge leaps in human progress in Kubrick's classic sci-fi film '2001: A Space Odyssey.' 
In Romania, the triangular structure has a height of about 13 feet and one side faces Mount Ceahlau, known locally as the Holy Mountain.     
It is one of the most famous mountains in Romania, and is listed as one of the seven natural wonders of the country.  
Romanian officials still do not know who is responsible for erecting the mysterious monolith. 
Neamt Culture and Heritage official Rocsana Josanu said: 'We have started looking into the strange appearance of the monolith. 
'It is on private property, but we still don't know who the monolith's owner is yet. It is in a protected area on an archaeological site.'
She added: 'Before installing something there, they needed permission from our institution, one that must then be approved by the Ministry of Culture.' 
 

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A mysterious monolith that was found in the remote Utah desert has been removed by an 'unknown party', according to officials

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The shiny, triangular pillar, which protruded approximately 12 feet from the red rocks of southern Utah, was spotted last Wednesday by baffled local officials counting bighorn sheep from the air

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However the three-sided structure was removed (pictured) by 'an unknown party' on Friday evening, the Bureau of Land Management Utah said in a statement

continued next post (too many pix)

---

The Utah monolith provoked arguments about tourists who drove huge distances to see the monolith and were accused of trashing the location, which authorities had tried to keep secret to avoid people getting lost.
But many tracked down the co-ordinates and published them - leading people to drive many hours through the night to reach the 12ft aluminium structure. 
And it was revealed that a similar version appeared nearly 20 years ago on New Years Day in Seattle.
However access to the site involved a 45-minute off-road drive on a dirt track many miles from any major town at 10mph - and then a 15-minute hike up a dry stream bed. 
Across the globe UFO spotters and conspiracy theorists became obsessed with the shiny, triangular pillar. 

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Officials suggest it could be have been constructed by an artist or a huge fan of 2001: Space Odyssey - the structure resembles the machines found in Arthur C. Clarke's story (pictured) 
Though the structure was only discovered by authorities this month, Google Earth images show it had been standing since at least 2015 or 2016.  
Lieutenant Nick Street, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said it's possible the structure had been there for '40, 50 years, maybe more.' 
'It's the type of material that doesn't degrade with the elements. It may only be a few years old, who knows. There's no real way based on the material it's made out of how long it's actually been there,' he said on Tuesday.
Others pointed out the object's resemblance to the avant-garde work of John McCracken, an American artist who lived for a time in nearby New Mexico, and died in 2011.
McCracken was known for his freestanding sculptures in the shape of pyramids, cubes, or sleek slabs.
The monolith most closely resembles McCracken's plank-like sculptures featured at his exhibit at the David Zwirner art gallery in New York. 
On Tuesday a spokeswoman for David Zwirner said it was not one of McCracken's works, but possibly by a fellow artist paying homage.
However later in the day Zwirner gave another statement which suggested the piece was indeed by McCracken, meaning it had lain undiscovered in the desert for nearly a decade.
 'The gallery is divided on this,' Zwirner said. 'I believe this is definitely by John.'

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One explorer crouches beside the triangular top which has been left next to a stack of rocks 

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A stack of rocks has been left next to the triangular top of the monolith which has been removed by an 'unknown party'  



The BLM said in a Facebook post on Saturday: 'We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the 'monolith' has been removed from Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands by an unknown party'

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Some observers also pointed out the object's resemblance to the avant-garde work of John McCracken (left) an American artist who lived for a time in nearby New Mexico, and died in 2011. He was known for his freestanding sculptures in the shape of pyramids, cubes, or sleek slabs (right)

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Utah: Officials have refused to disclose the metal obelisk's location out of fear that curious sightseers would flock to the remote wilderness, but internet sleuths managed to pinpoint its position nonetheless. Google Earth images show it has been there since 2016 or 2015 


A view of the mystery monolith in Magnuson Park in Seattle pictured on January 2, 2001
Utah has a history of 'land art,' unusual installations that cropped up far from population centers in the 1960s and '70s.
The most famous, Spiral Jetty, a 1,500-foot-long coil by artist Robert Smithson in 1970 that's composed entirely of mud, salt crystals and basalt. 
Located on the northeastern edge of the Great Salt Lake near Rozel Point, the jetty appears and disappears depending on water levels.
So far, no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the monolith, though.  

[Drunk Monk]

whoever is doing this... i luv them.

DECEMBER 1, 20206:46 AMUPDATED 29 MINUTES AGO
Mystery monolith vanishes in Romania - alien action or local prank?


By Reuters Staff
2 MIN READ













 
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BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A shiny metal monolith vanished on Tuesday from Romania’s mountainous Neamt county, four days after its sudden appearance close to an ancient Dacian fortress sparked speculation it may be related to a mystery structure seen in the United States.
A similar alien-looking pillar, was spotted in a Utah desert in the United States about two weeks ago. It disappeared after generating much excitement internationally among science-fiction fans, hearkening to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke.
In the Kubrick movie, an alien monolith is a recurring symbol that appears to play a role in the development of human evolution.
Rather than being an alien structure, the truth of the Romanian monolith may be more prosaic.
“The 2.8 metre (9ft) tall structure disappeared overnight as quietly as it was erected last week,” journalist Robert Iosub of the Ziar Piatra Neamt local newspaper, who had seen the structure, told Reuters.
“An unidentified person, apparently a bad local welder, made it ... now all that remains is just a small hole covered by rocky soil,” local reporters had discovered, he said.
The sheet metal structure had a badly-welded join, he added.
A spokeswoman for Piatra Neamt police, Georgiana Mosu, said officers are conducting an inquiry into the illegally-installed structure, which was positioned in a protected archaeological area from Nov. 27.
Reporting by Radu Marinas; Editing by Alexandra Hudson