Article by Leah Asmelash, et al November 24, 2020 (cnn.com)
• On November 18th, officers from the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Aero Bureau were flying by helicopter, helping the Division of Wildlife Resources count bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah. Suddenly, one of the biologists yelled at pilot Bret Hutchings: “’Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there — we’ve got to go look at it!'” The helicopter crew went back, and there in the middle of the red rock was a twelve foot high, shiny silver monolith sticking out of the ground, like something right out of “2001: A Space Odyssey.
• Hutchings told CNN affiliate KSL: “It didn’t look like it was randomly dropped to the ground, but rather it looked like it had been planted.” “We were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, then the rest of us make a run for it.” Hutchings thinks it was most likely placed there by an artist rather than an alien.
UPDATE
• Now the mysterious monolith has disappeared. Helicopter pilot Ryan Bacher visited the site on Friday afternoon, November 27th. But when his friend returned the next day on November 28th, it was gone. “Twenty-four hours later, my close friend, who is also a helicopter pilot, flew his family down to see as well and found it taken down,” said Bacher.
• The Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau did not disclose the monolith’s exact location. But internet sleuths were able to track down the monolith’s GPS co-ordinates, and dozens – perhaps even hundreds – of curious sight-seers flocked to the site. Several people posted images on social media posing with what remained – a pile of rocks and a small piece of metal – at the spot where the 3.7 meter high object was planted. No-one has claimed responsibility for installing the structure.
• Although the installation of artwork on public land is illegal, Utah’s Bureau of Land Management said the object had been removed “by an unknown party”, not them. As it is considered private property, its disappearance will be handled by the local sheriff’s office as a possible theft.
What started as routine wildlife assistance took an extraterrestrial turn for Utah’s Department of Public Safety after officers stumbled upon a mysterious monolith in the middle of rural Utah.
Officers from the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Aero Bureau were flying by helicopter last Wednesday, helping the Division of Wildlife Resources count bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah, when they spotted something that seemed right out of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“One of the biologists … spotted it, and we just happened to fly directly over the top of it,” pilot Bret Hutchings told CNN affiliate KSL. “He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘What.’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there — we’ve got to go look at it!'”
And there it was — in the middle of the red rock was a shiny, silver metal monolith sticking out of the ground. Hutchings guessed it was “between 10 and 12 feet high.” It didn’t look like it was randomly 
dropped to the ground, he told KSL, but rather it looked like it had been planted.
“We were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears,
then the rest of us make a run for it,” Hutchings said.
Still, Hutchings said he thinks it was most likely placed there by an artist rather than an alien.
“I’m assuming it’s some new wave artist or something or, you know, somebody that was a big (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) fan,” he said, referencing a scene in the 1968 film where a black monolith appears.
Still, it is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on public lands “no matter what planet you’re from,” said Utah DPS in a statement released Monday.
2:41 minute video on mystery monolith in Utah (‘Good Morning America’ YouTube)
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