One of the most delightful distractions of the year, the strange phenomenon of the metal monoliths popping up in remote locations, has taken an unexpected and sharply political turn. The third such monolith has been removed from its location atop Atascadero’s Pine Mountain in California.
This started late last month when the Utah Department of Public Safety went public with a strange discovery made in the red mountains on November 18: a strange, triangle-shaped metal monolith that had been drilled into the rocky bed. The DPS did say that erecting structures on public land was illegal but chose not to remove it. Instead, they went with the alien joke, saying this was probably a clue that extraterrestrials had been on Earth.
It wasn’t, as it was soon revealed. The location of the Utah monolith was discovered, prompting pilgrimage to the area and close investigation into how it’d been built – there was nothing alien about it. A group of slackliners decided to remove it in the dead of night precisely for this reason: too much traffic was doing irreparable damage to the delicate desert landscape.
Just as this monolith went missing, another one popped up outside Piatra Neamt in Romania. It mysteriously disappeared days after the discovery, and a third one appeared on top Atascadero’s Pine Mountain in California at about the same time.
It’s very unlikely that there is a connection between these three structures other than the desire to create the appearance of one. But the world still chose to believe they were signs that aliens were dropping clues because… this is 2020, after all. We all need some distraction from 2020.
Less than 24 hours after the Cali monolith discovery, it’s been stolen, the Atascadero News reports. The vandals were from out of town, and they live-streamed the theft, which they claimed in the name of “Christ is king.” They also turned the act into a political one, by saying on video that “Christ is king in this country. We don’t want illegal aliens from Mexico, or outer space.” A wooden cross now sits in the exact location of the metal structure.
Like it happened with the Utah structure, local authorities have no plans to investigate the theft because the structure was private property, but they will continue investigating who put it there in the first place.
It wasn’t, as it was soon revealed. The location of the Utah monolith was discovered, prompting pilgrimage to the area and close investigation into how it’d been built – there was nothing alien about it. A group of slackliners decided to remove it in the dead of night precisely for this reason: too much traffic was doing irreparable damage to the delicate desert landscape.
Just as this monolith went missing, another one popped up outside Piatra Neamt in Romania. It mysteriously disappeared days after the discovery, and a third one appeared on top Atascadero’s Pine Mountain in California at about the same time.
It’s very unlikely that there is a connection between these three structures other than the desire to create the appearance of one. But the world still chose to believe they were signs that aliens were dropping clues because… this is 2020, after all. We all need some distraction from 2020.
Less than 24 hours after the Cali monolith discovery, it’s been stolen, the Atascadero News reports. The vandals were from out of town, and they live-streamed the theft, which they claimed in the name of “Christ is king.” They also turned the act into a political one, by saying on video that “Christ is king in this country. We don’t want illegal aliens from Mexico, or outer space.” A wooden cross now sits in the exact location of the metal structure.
Like it happened with the Utah structure, local authorities have no plans to investigate the theft because the structure was private property, but they will continue investigating who put it there in the first place.