Mysterious Metal Monolith Found in Utah (I'm not kidding)

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Vitruvius said:
OM G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAT a bunch of nonsense. Move on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Not much chance of that happening . . .

Way too much publicity and public interest.

Either the Park will, ultimately, remove it or "souvenir hunters" will cart it off, piece by piece, over time.

Such is the nature of Man !

Dave F.
 
Ez2cDave said:
So, HERE IT IS !

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.3430423,-109.6661938,54m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

And, of course, idiots are already popping rivets out of it to look inside, too !

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5M6OeCl0y8EJ:https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2020/11/25/jmr-mystery-of-metal-monolith-at-least-partly-solved-as-sleuths-figure-out-its-location/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Dave F.

View attachment 440234

View attachment 440242
Click to expand...
It's a piece of metal. It's someone's "performance art". Drill away on the pop rivets, move the metal, pack the sacred dirt back in place. Whatever.
 
If they keep screwing with those rivets, there is a very good chance they’re going to let the alien out.
 
It shows up on Google Earth for the first time in 2016. In "Internet years" it's pretty old

If the coords are right, I know that area (a little, kind of, sort of, as much as one that only visits for a few days once a year or less can). It's to the left in the photo below :D

Yes the photo is edited. It's edited to make a print not post on the web so it has a little more drama to it. The drama mellowed out when it was printed large... That sunrise (third morning attempt) was out freaking standing... Deadhorse Point gets overlooked (pun intended) by the hoards of people that inundate the Moab area every year. Poor Canyonlands and Arches get pounded... I went there when the National Parks closed. To Utah's credit, they opened some of them up a week or so into the shutdown.

p389214678-4.jpg


Someone said that Stealth6's post sounded elitist. At first glance that might seem to be the case, especially if he's one of the "I fell in love with the Moab area and moved there" people. But... even if that's the case he has a point. I have done quite a bit of solo "looking around" in the area. When the NPS started their "Hey the parks are having a birthday so why don't all of you trashy mofo's get out there and see them, all at once, with blatant disregard for maintaining the "pristine-ness" of the area" campaign, a lot of monkey's were let out of their cage and they beelined it to the parks. They brought their trash with them and left it in the park, they brought their noise, they brought their drones (I have a drone, I like my drone, I don't fly my drone in places like parks), they brought their side by sides with extra fuel with them and drove them where they should and shouldn't be driven, they brought NPS area closures to those of us that can walk because some sh*thead decided that the designated roads were too mundane so they did donuts in areas that had never had vehicle traffic. I've seen soda cans in the bottom of a Kiva, paper sacks (once the sack was from McDonalds), strewn along a trail, piles of sh*t and TP alongside the trail (really?), etc. I let the ranger know about the can and got the "we have to remove a lot of those" answer. I picked up the trash and packed it out, the sh*t? sorry... I love the outdoors but I ain't touching anyone's sh*t.

Imagine being at a launch site and a bunch of side by sides came through the site, dropped some trash, did a few donuts (not the bread kind), and left. Would you be the elitist rocketeer that complained? I would...
 
I guess the jerk / jerks that placed this on BLM land doesn't understand the "Pack it in, Pack it out" and "Leave No Trace" policies that are in place? Find out who did it, fine them and make them pay for whatever costs it takes to remove it.

We do a lot of hiking. They now leave their dog **** bags, full of dog ****, along trails, along with their orange peels, sunflower seed hulls, etc. And they also let their dogs run free, chasing the local wildlife.

As a rule, people suck. If they feel the need to break rules, I wish they would just break that one.
 
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Someone removed it? Well, I hope someone else takes the initiative to buy the $20,000 version on Etsy and replaces it right away!
 
NateB said:
https://www.cnet.com/news/mysterious-utah-monolith-puzzle-has-been-solved-by-internet-sleuths/
I thought you were joking about Westworld, but apparently they were filming in the area at the time the monolith appeared.
Click to expand...
Time to watch the 3rd season of the series for any desert scenes. Perhaps the studio hired someone to retrieve the monolith after filming, they didn't, and the studio said "oh crap" when it recently became national news and retrieved it during the night.
 
Zbench said:
Hey Stealth!

Is the land that this monument sits on in a park or not? If it is, then why shouldn't people be allowed to go look at it? Don't understand how walking on baked, desert earth is going to "tear it up". The thing is not located on the slope of some 10,000 foot high delicate alpine forest. Your post comes across as elitist.

If I ever make it out that way, despite my idiotic douchebag status (apparent), I'll be certain to check it out and encourage anyone else who wants to see it to do the same. Parks are for everyone, not just the self appointed guardians who want it all to themselves.
Click to expand...

So, here we are a few days later.

First thing to note: I did not say you weren't allowed to go there. No one has restricted you from doing so. No one has closed the area to you. No one is proposing to do so. You are perfectly free to visit, take a picture, or whatever. Your rights have not been infringed in any way.
You are also perfectly free to choose not to do so. And I was pleading for you to make that decision. Perhaps I did not do so in the best manner, and I will own that. But my reasoning still stands.
(and by the way, this is NOT in the National Park.....which doesn't really change the reasoning in any way).

Second: This area IS fragile. And there is plenty of damage and impact that can occur to this area even though it isn't "on the slope of some 10,000 foot high delicate alpine forest". Perhaps even more so. See that's part of the problem.......too many people (yourself included??) see places like this as desert wastelands and therefore open to whatever sort of "tearing it up" they want to do because it's just lifeless and desolate anyway, right? But if you really looked (actually not all that hard) and saw the ecosystem/geology/history for what it was instead of just a place to rev your toys, you would find that it is indeed at risk from "certain kinds" of use (and mis-use).

Third: As expected, folks are already crawling all over the place, and yes the impact has already begun. See this snippet from an article out today: Hundreds travelled to see the gleaming, almost otherworldly object. Visitors parked vehicles on plants and left behind waste, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said, adding that the site does not have a parking lot, bathrooms or cellphone coverage and some cars had to be towed from the remote area after getting stuck. Were you one of them? Are you proud of it? Did you get your jollies? Was it worth it? More importantly, did it really make any difference in your life?
I know some of the people who you've seen mentioned and pictured in the articles that are being posted online. As far as I can see, none of their lives have been significantly improved now that they have their selfies posted next to the monolith. In fact, most of them will largely forget the experience soon enough (or at least the thrill will be gone) as they move on to whatever is the latest cool thing.....but their trash will still be out there, there tire tracks will still have damaged the cryptobiotic soil, the wildlife will still be spooked, their **** and waste will still be doing what it does, and one more pristine, quiet, wild, and "untouched" place will no longer be so. But hey, they checked off that thing on their list, so it's all good right?

Fourth: "Diesel Dave" has already shown up (of course) and posted video/pics of himself standing on top of the thing. And he flew a helicopter and crew in to do so. Wow, ain't he cool? For the record.....he is most certainly an "idiotic douchebag". In the extreme.
I rest my case with that.

Lastly: You are absolutely welcome to come visit this area, and to roam around all you want. Come spend some time here and experience it for what it is (and if you can't find a mindblowing sense of wonder/astonishment/awe in the canyons around here you are definitely missing something inside). You can even "recreate" in MANY ways (including motorized) that are thrilling, challenging, and hugely fun without unnecessary impact. Heck, lots of folks have spiritual/religious awakenings in these places and that's cool too. But slow down, pay attention, turn down the volume, and experience the place itself for cripe's sake. Really - it is unbelievably awesome. Please....HONESTLY....come and enjoy. It IS your right and you ARE welcome.

But if you are doing it just to stamp your cool ticket, or to jump on to the trend of the moment, or especially if you feel the need to "leave your mark" (or would do so unknowingly because you just aren't paying attention).....well you can call me an elitist if you want, but just stay home.
(of course it is also within your rights to be "an idiotic douchebag" if you want and just tear things up, but do you really want to do that? really?)

s6
 
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It's hard to "leave no trace" in a place that deserted. Sadly, there are a lot of people that just don't care...
 
Steath,

A couple things in reply. From your first post where you wrote:

"One thing (in actual seriousness) I would like to say though is that this area is being completely hammered by idiots tearing up the desert. WAY too many yahoos getting their thrills trashing the place. PLEASE....the last thing we need is to attract even more hordes of douchebags ripping around doing even more damage just to add one more "experience" to their list of things they did (and posted a selfie of themselves on social media) to show everyone how cool they were. Really, DO NOT come here on some stupid adventure to find this thing. So, it's out there and it's unique.....but so what? Do you really need to go see it for yourselves, just to add one more "did it" to your list. Check it out online, see the photos and videos that have already been posted (and there will be more I'm sure), and feel the sense of wonder, and yes even "coolness", but don't be one more in the line of idiots out there trashing the place just to take your selfie with it. I'm sure you can still lead a full and "awesome" life even if you don't have a picture of yourself standing next to this. And please, please, please, anyone who gets the idea that doing something like this yourself (just to show how unique, creative, and interesting you yourself are).....just don't."

It was absolutely unqualified in every way. If you can honestly read that and it comes across as welcoming to you in the slightest, I think you need a period of deep reflection, not the hoardes of idiotic douchebags who seek to despoil your special place.

You also wrote:

"But if you are doing it just to stamp your cool ticket, or to jump on to the trend of the moment, or especially if you feel the need to "leave your mark" (or would do so unknowingly because you just aren't paying attention).....well you can call me an elitist if you want, but just stay home.
(of course it is also within your rights to be "an idiotic douchebag" if you want and just tear things up, but do you really want to do that? really?)"

So now people are welcome, but only if they pass your purity test? Please post your personal contact info. I'd like to engage you this summer to help me plan the perfect summer vacation which meets all the virtue signalling requirements of life in the US at the current time. I really need help.

Finally, yes I did come and take the monument. Valiant Thor stopped by and picked me up in Ohio and we zipped over and absconded with it and it's now resting comfortably on Venus in his back yard. He was going to make it into a hibatchi, but I pointed out it's already 800 degrees there, so I think he is going to use it as an industrial cat box. Valiant Thor is a cat person, he is kind of like the Cat Lady of Venus. So rest content knowing that this treacherous affront to civilization is being repurposed for a noble cause.

All the best.
 
stealth6 said:
So, here we are a few days later.

First thing to note: I did not say you weren't allowed to go there. No one has restricted you from doing so. No one has closed the area to you. No one is proposing to do so. You are perfectly free to visit, take a picture, or whatever. Your rights have not been infringed in any way.
You are also perfectly free to choose not to do so. And I was pleading for you to make that decision. Perhaps I did not do so in the best manner, and I will own that. But my reasoning still stands.
(and by the way, this is NOT in the National Park.....which doesn't really change the reasoning in any way).

Second: This area IS fragile. And there is plenty of damage and impact that can occur to this area even though it isn't "on the slope of some 10,000 foot high delicate alpine forest". Perhaps even more so. See that's part of the problem.......too many people (yourself included??) see places like this as desert wastelands and therefore open to whatever sort of "tearing it up" they want to do because it's just lifeless and desolate anyway, right? But if you really looked (actually not all that hard) and saw the ecosystem/geology/history for what it was instead of just a place to rev your toys, you would find that it is indeed at risk from "certain kinds" of use (and mis-use).

Third: As expected, folks are already crawling all over the place, and yes the impact has already begun. See this snippet from an article out today: Hundreds travelled to see the gleaming, almost otherworldly object. Visitors parked vehicles on plants and left behind waste, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said, adding that the site does not have a parking lot, bathrooms or cellphone coverage and some cars had to be towed from the remote area after getting stuck. Were you one of them? Are you proud of it? Did you get your jollies? Was it worth it? More importantly, did it really make any difference in your life?
I know some of the people who you've seen mentioned and pictured in the articles that are being posted online. As far as I can see, none of their lives have been significantly improved now that they have their selfies posted next to the monolith. In fact, most of them will largely forget the experience soon enough (or at least the thrill will be gone) as they move on to whatever is the latest cool thing.....but there trash will still be out there, there tire tracks will still have damaged the cryptobiotic soil, the wildlife will still be spooked, their **** and waste will still be doing what it does, and one more pristine, quiet, wild, and "untouched" place will no longer be so. But hey, they checked off that thing on their list, so it's all good right?

Fourth: "Diesel Dave" has already shown up (of course) and posted video/pics of himself standing on top of the thing. And he flew a helicopter and crew in to do so. Wow, ain't he cool? For the record.....he is most certainly an "idiotic douchebag". In the extreme.
I rest my case with that.

Lastly: You are absolutely welcome to come visit this area, and to roam around all you want. Come spend some time here and experience it for what it is (and if you can't find a mindblowing sense of wonder/astonishment/awe in the canyons around here you are definitely missing something inside). You can even "recreate" in MANY ways (including motorized) that are thrilling, challenging, and hugely fun without unnecessary impact. Heck, lots of folks have spiritual/religious awakenings in these places and that's cool too. But slow down, pay attention, turn down the volume, and experience the place itself for cripe's sake. Really - it is unbelievably awesome. Please....HONESTLY....come and enjoy. It IS your right and you ARE welcome.

But if you are doing it just to stamp your cool ticket, or to jump on to the trend of the moment, or especially if you feel the need to "leave your mark" (or would do so unknowingly because you just aren't paying attention).....well you can call me an elitist if you want, but just stay home.
(of course it is also within your rights to be "an idiotic douchebag" if you want and just tear things up, but do you really want to do that? really?)

s6
Click to expand...

Well said. Thanks for posting this.

Folks today seem to have the mentality of "If I don't get caught, I've done nothing wrong".

I guess those same folks weren't taught "True character is what you choose to do when there is nobody watching".
 
Zbench said:
Finally, yes I did come and take the monument.
Click to expand...

Thanks for removing it; it is appreciated.
Perhaps you can sell it and use the proceeds to donate to Diesel Dave's legal defense fund (poor guy has some bills to pay).

ssixsixsix
 
The canyonlands of southern Utah seem to be harder to make an impact on when compared to most other places but any impact made typically takes much longer to recover from.

The ruts those stuck vehicles made, where in most places would disappear in weeks to months, will take years to disappear there.

People should go and enjoy it, as I have years ago, but should follow the 'leave no trace' mantra. It should be the same everywhere you visit.
 

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