By Tim Binnall
The question of who removed the mysterious monolith found in Utah late last month has been answered as a pair of individuals have stepped forward to take credit for bringing down the odd object. The ten-to-12-foot tall metallic piece sparked something of a sensation last week when news of its discovery made headlines around the world and captured the imagination of people on social media. Theories abounded as to who could have placed the monolith in the remote location and what its purpose might have been. However, just as quickly as those questions emerged, the object vanished from its desert location, spawning yet another mystery attached to the piece.
An initial report from a witness on the scene described a group of four individuals toppling the monolith this past Friday evening. Telling the observer "this is why you don’t leave trash in the desert," they subsequently dismantled the object and carted it away in a wheelbarrow. The disappearance of the monolith was later confirmed by the Bureau of Land Management, who indicated that it was not their doing. Meanwhile, local authorities largely joked about the matter on social media, likely thankful that they won't have to worry about rescuing any ill-equipped adventurers who journeyed out to the desert to find the object.
Fortunately, those wondering who was behind the monolith's disappearance did not have to wait very long for answers as two of the four individuals, outdoor enthusiasts Sylvan Christensen and Andy Lewis, announced that they were responsible for its removal. In explaining why they took down the piece, Christensen explained that the revelation of the odd object's location led to swarms of people flocking to the site, which was not designed for such a sizeable number of visitors. As such, they opted to remove the monolith to prevent what would have been an overwhelming amount of ongoing foot traffic in the area degrading the otherwise pristine natural landscape.
As one might imagine, not everyone agrees with the group's unilateral decision to dismantle the monolith, however it likely would have been removed by local authorities sooner rather than later given the same reasons offered by Christensen as well as the aforementioned safety concerns. Meanwhile, the second monolith which appeared in Romania shortly after the Utah piece was discovered has also disappeared under yet-to-be-explained circumstances. Assuming that another one of the mystery objects does not pop up somewhere else in the world in the near future, it would appear that the strange saga may have come to an end with little in the way of solid answers as to where the objects originated.