Don’t go anywhere near that strange and mysterious monolith in Utah, agency says

Officials found a piece of metal that looks like a monolith in the Utah desert, but please don’t go looking for it, the Bureau of Land Management said.

The Utah Highway Patrol found a mysterious sheet of metal buried “in the middle of nowhere” last week.

“During the count they came across this (sheet of metal?), buried in the middle of nowhere,” Utah Highway Patrol said Friday. “What do you think it is?”

The guesses as to how the object got dropped in the desert were endless, and stories about the metal went viral.

Now the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies are concerned people will go looking for the unusual object.

“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,” the Bureau of Land Management tweeted Tuesday. “Please don’t try and visit the site as the road is not suitable for most earth-based vehicles.”

The monolith was installed in the ground in a “remote area of red rock,” the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau said in a news release. The exact location wasn’t disclosed because officials are worried people would try to find it.

“If individuals were to attempt to visit the area, there is a significant possibility they may become stranded and require rescue,” the Department of Public Safety said. “We are encouraging anyone who knows the location of the monolith to not attempt to visit it due to road conditions.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Don’t go anywhere near that strange and mysterious monolith in Utah, agency says."