Meet Califorinia’s monolith.
Atownreporter/Twitter
Late last month, a 2001 Odyssey-like monolith appeared in the Utah desert. Not long after, another identical-looking structure appeared in Romania. They’ve both since vanished (men were photographed dismantling the Utah monolith). Now, yet another monolith has been discovered, this time in California.
“There is currently a monolith at the top of Pine Mountain in Atascadero!” tweeted Connor Allen on Wednesday afternoon, with a trio of pictures capturing the strange new monolith at the top of Pine Mountain in Atascadero, California.
According to local newspaper The Atascadero News, the monument appeared on the mountain on Wednesday morning. Hikers naturally flocked to take in the shiny metal object.
No one, not a marketing company or NASA or artists or pranksters or a movie studio or aliens, has come clean as the culprit behind the strange appearances. What we do know is that the Utah structure appears to be made from stainless steel, standing at between 10 and 12 feet high, according to Department of Public Safety pilot Bret Hutchings, who spotted the first monolith in the middle of the Utah desert while surveying the area.
The Utah obelisk, first brought to the internet’s attention on Nov. 19, was also apparently installed illegally, without cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (The City of Atascadero was reportedly made aware of its object). Unlike the Utah structure, the Atascadero obelisk, which appears to be welded together at each corner and slightly slimmer, can apparently be knocked over with a firm push, according to The Atascadero News.
Reddit users have found it difficult to make headway into tracing the structures’ origins, since the Utah and Romania monoliths both vanished days after their discoveries. It seems likely the same will happen to the California resident. In Utah’s case, Colorado adventure photographer Ross Bernards was visiting its structure when he says he saw four men arrive and dismantle it.
When will this all become clear? Watch this space.
Read more: The mysterious monoliths in Utah and Romania: Everything we know so far
