Sheep counters find a monolith:
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/utah-monolith-what-is-it-trnd/index.html
Some geek on Reddit found it on Google Earth already:
https://www.reddit.com/r/geoguessr/comments/jzw628/help_me_find_this_obelisk_in_remote_utah/
That shining, eerily symmetrical silver monolith found in the Utah desert has everyone screaming "ET." The truth is likely far more terrestrial.
We still don't know who made the tall, metal rectangle or why they stuck it among the red rocks, where it was discovered this week in a helicopter flyover by Utah Department of Public Safety employees (they were counting bighorn sheep).
And though comparisons were quickly drawn to the fictional monoliths of film auteur Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," we can safely say this real-life monolith was not the work of aliens.
Still, it's a fittingly mystifying symbol in a year that's often felt stranger than fiction. And while we may eventually learn more about the artwork's origin, any piece of Kubrick-inspired art should leave some questions unanswered, said I.Q. Hunter, a film scholar and De Montfort University professor.
Also at:
Mysterious metal monolith discovered in rural Utah
Utah monolith: Internet sleuths got there, but its origins are still a mystery
Thanks aristarchus_, Runaway1956
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2020, @11:45PM (6 children)
Mongoloid found in Whitehouse.
https://youtu.be/JJ6HkY9suRs?t=122
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2020, @11:57PM
Don't insult Mongols or those born with a different genetic structure.
That blob had all the opportunities to be a halfway decent human being and he chose greedy fascist as his personality of choice. Remember his own analysis that he hasn't really changed much since the 3rd grade bwahahaha.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @02:31AM (4 children)
FTFY
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @07:40AM (3 children)
Runaway found supporting Trump, despite him saying he never did. Runaway have to explain how he could have been so stupid. Does not end well.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:14AM (2 children)
Eds? Frist Piste? What is it with the favortism of attribution? Chromas was a back-birth, so third or fourth submission takes precedence? Well, these things make sense once you understand why #freearistarchus is an actual thing. Free aristarchus, you right-wing chromas TMB bastards! It is the least you could do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:32PM (1 child)
whine ari whine
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @08:03AM
Take a look at the time stamps of the IRC subs. There were at least four. This was not the earliest. Why was it chosen, seeing how IRC subs tend not to have a lot of additional qualities.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 27 2020, @11:57PM (2 children)
Come for the fun, and stay because the monolith commands it [youtube.com].
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:28AM
Google Maps shows the monolith's shadow quite clearly:
https://goo.gl/maps/1wToaCC2yYW1mi8R9 [goo.gl]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday November 29 2020, @03:23AM
OK look just to end the debate, it was me and my friend Bill. Friday afternoon, no plans for the weekend, the Internet was down so no access to Porbhub, some Bud Light smuggled in from Wyoming, a bit of scrap 316 and some bolts, we headed out there on dirt bikes and had it set up in a few hours with the help of a Stihl TS 800 to get it into the ground. Bill tried shooting at it with his Ruger but he was too pissed off the Bud Light to hit it, probably a good thing.
Now everyone can get back to arguing over which programming language is the most popular this week.
(Score: 5, Funny) by takyon on Saturday November 28 2020, @12:59AM (4 children)
But it was Mormons.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @07:59AM
When it comes to batshit-crazy, none can compete with the Saints! I mean, my god, the Book of Morons, dictated out of a scammer looking through a "seer stone" at "gold plates" in a hat? As South Park put it: " Dum, dum, dumb, dumb dumb". When offered a copy of the alleged "Book of Mormon" at a recent performance of the play by the same name, I demurred, replying that I preferred to read religious texts in the original language. Boom!
Well, maybe the Saints can start speaking in Tongues, and with enough linguistic data, resurrect the lost language of the Israelis who took ships to the Americas? Or, their entire theology is fucked. I go for the latter option, and I think the "white horse prophecy" is a drunken supposition of a supposed prophet in way over his head, and the "white salamander" papers may be authentic, but only if they were selling automobile insurance. Religions are like that. Mormons moreso.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @11:45AM (2 children)
You stole that joke from that other site
https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/11/24/207200/utah-helicopter-crew-discovers-mysterious-metal-monolith-deep-in-the-desert#comments [slashdot.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday November 28 2020, @01:12PM (1 child)
Nope, I thought up that obvious joke independently.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:35PM
Independent thinking is racissss, and against the rules. Please report to your nearest DNC office for reeducation and alignment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @02:49AM (6 children)
"Officials are now calling for its removal as “it is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you’re from,” according to the statement."
https://futurism.com/the-byte/metal-monolith-location-google-earth [futurism.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:10AM (4 children)
Figures. No matter how interesting it is to people or even inspirational, all some petty official can think is "SOMEBODY DIDN'T RESPECT MY AUTHORITI!!! DESTROY!!!!"
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:38PM
Yeah, but the US has a treaty with the Guardians of the Galaxy that prohibits extraterrestrials from building on Earth. All proper and signed by all the parties involved, filed in a filing cabinet in a little used room in the basement, with signage warning to beware of leopards and shits.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @12:00AM (2 children)
You're PoV sounds great when it's just *one* metal sculpture. The problem is that if you don't have rules, then suddenly the "art projects" are rundown trailers where people burn all their waste in the open. There is a formal process to film and perhaps even leave permanent monuments on such land; but it's limited for very valid reasons, not just because some official is power-tripping. The vast majority wants these places to be unspoiled or very lightly used for some purposes. Even if you try to invoke some kind of fundamental right that supersedes majority rule, the "right to use" sometimes conflicts with the "right to enjoy as is". Some form of government is the best way to mediate such conflicts.
Want to special-case this? Fine. Lobby the authorities. That's actually part of the system. You might succeed in getting this one a pass. Many people would support that, but most would not support making the whole area a free-for-all to install whatever you want.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday November 29 2020, @02:09AM
I'm not in favor of a free for all. I suspect the brutal conditions in the area aren't either. But that particular monument is already there and seems well done. We don't even know WHEN it was put up, was it even against the rules at the time?
The fact is, it *IS* just one metal sculpture. And it seems remarkable that someone managed it. I'm fine with it if they want to remind people that they can't just ride out there and put up whatever they want, and if someone tries, I approve of stopping them.
I also suspect the process of removal will do more damage than leaving it up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:49AM
Classic mistake. You thought you were debating something but really it's all about mah freedoms.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday November 28 2020, @05:25PM
I've noticed that people who go out in the wilderness are generally pretty strong supporters of the whole "leave no trace" philosophy, whereas the less likely someone is to go in the wilderness the stronger they'll oppose "leave no trace".
Unless its a corporation leaving the traces and then the urbanites flip flop and go hard core "leave no trace"
So support for the monolith seems to be controlled by who did it. If its a lone nut or a small team the urbanites will strongly support it, or if its whomever owns the rights to 2001 trying to generate publicity for some kind of 4K directors cut re-re-re-release of the 4K blueray DVD or similar then the urbanites will hate it.
Ironically AFAIK the BLM and NPS and similar are vaguely chill about art installations and the like as long as they're coordinated first; you know a zillion idiots are going to have to get rescued as they try to visit this thing, and god knows how much environmental destruction they'll cause. If they had coordinated with the park rangers first and gotten everything permitted, they could have found a nice safe semi-accessible place and gotten on maps and official support and all that.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @02:58AM (1 child)
Looks kind of like an air intake vent. They made it stick above ground because that area can be subject to flash flooding, and an air intake suddenly becoming a water intake usually isn't a good thing.
But who would build an underground lair deep in the Utah desert...
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Saturday November 28 2020, @03:19PM
I can think of somebody who would do that, but I don't know how they attached the laser beams to the sharks, or how they brought in enough seawater to be able to keep them in there.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 5, Funny) by deimtee on Saturday November 28 2020, @03:12AM
They missed an opportunity with those photos, to have one guy pounding on the ground and another throwing a bone up into the air.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @03:16AM
And here I thought the AllSpark was cube-shaped. Watch out for pissed-off cell phones packin' fully-automatic weapons!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:14AM (3 children)
It is supposed to be a rectangular, shiny, black, monolith. Around which apes danced in bygone days and a companion is found during a moon excavation yet to come.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Saturday November 28 2020, @03:09PM (1 child)
Either way, I want to be the guy playing the timpani in the orchestra when they play Also Sprach Zarathustra.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:52AM
Is that what you call it now...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:41PM
It's a landmark put there by aliens, kinda like how we put the flag on the moon.
If the politicians move it will the aliens get lost?
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @06:45AM
Counts for nothing now, as long as the Runaway gets in. I may just leave SN to the Runaway, and his sycophants, and antipothats. No one here, any more. And is it is only Runaway that we have to debate, or the TMB self-justifying clown show, no reason to be on SoylentNews. Editores, take note!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @07:28AM
Look for the nearest Eloy fan.
'An awsome glow that shines throught the sky,
Attracts me strongly like an obscure shrine.
Strange magnetic object that I seek,
Pulls me further up to its peak.'
'Mysterious monolith you hide the truth,
Be my guiding light, and be my proof.
Tell your secrets, give me a sign,
Disclose yourself, give me a sign.'
(Score: 3, Informative) by inertnet on Saturday November 28 2020, @10:38AM (8 children)
Wikipedia says it's triangular [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday November 28 2020, @03:35PM
Yeah: from the picture they show and the angle it's shown, it does look like it would have to be triangular.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 28 2020, @04:55PM (3 children)
From the Wiki article:
That is a rather humorous presumption. I never needed another person to help operate a concrete saw. Or, a sledge hammer and chisels. The only "difficult" part of the job, is carting in the tools, and then the "monolith". That would be pretty easy with an ATV, and a trailer long enough to handle the monolith. You might even get a full sized 4WD or AWD pickup with a lumber rack in there, eliminating the need of a trailer.
Given (relatively) easy access, and nice easy-to-cut sandstone, I think a healthy man working alone could erect this thing in a single day. Note that no one has specified how deeply this monolith is seated into the rock. I presume that the hole was cut less than three feet deep, and it may only be 1 foot deep.
So, no "group" of people required, at all.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday November 28 2020, @05:33PM (2 children)
Urbanites have this weird learned helplessness thing where "it takes a village to build a birdhouse" and all that.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DECbot on Saturday November 28 2020, @08:00PM (1 child)
Close, I'm sure you know the well known saying is, "it takes a village to raise a child." There's also the lesser known saying, "it takes a village to raise a village idiot."
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:55AM
It takes a village to remain silent about Catholic sexual abuse of children for decades, if not hundreds of years.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by VLM on Saturday November 28 2020, @05:50PM (2 children)
Holy shit I know what this is made out of because I've built things like this although not artistically.
Look at the dimensions on wikipedia. Its a single ten foot section of Rohn 65G ham radio tower.
You buy ten foot sections of Rohn and stack them on top of each other and bolt together.
The dimensions of 65G are almost exactly the dimensions of the monolith.
I've built panels for rohn tower. For insurance liability "attractive nuisance" bullshit laws you need to protect the tower and some people build fences etc but for decades "many" people make panels of marine grade plywood that fit between the triangular corners and some bolts and nonsense to hold them in place so you can't climb the bottom ten feet like a ladder, but if you have a ladder you can bypass it or whatever.
Now most people use marine grade plywood and don't permanently mar/ruin the rohn tower section by drilling and rivet work. And no sane ham radio operator is going to spend $$$$ on three sheets of stainless steel. Ham radio guys are famous for making their own copper antenna wire by taking a copper penny and pulling apart real hard because they're cheap bastards. Then again nothing quite says ghetto ham radio engineering quite like putting up a tower section by digging a six inch deep hole and dropping a section in. No that is NOT proper engineering and guarantees corrosion related failure in a wetter climate.
Like you'd expect tower costs scale to something like the 4th power of tower size. So a "typical ham radio" rohn 25G section will set you back like $200 delivered, maybe. But bigger 65G is like a kilobuck delivered.
The special snowflakes are out with the whole "it obviously requires immense skill and power to install what boils down to a stick" but from personal knowledge a section of 25G is quite lightweight and I can manhandle it around easily like fifty pounds at most. I'm told a single piece of 65G weighs "like two hundred pounds". This is relevant to ham radio as in when the flatbed truck arrives with five lengths of rohn the smallest lightest 25G could be unloaded by a single woman, but 65G will require the usual tower work crew like four dudes working together to move sections by hand. Nobody needs a crane to install rohn sections, although you'll need a gin pole as even I after weightlifting for years can't pull even a light 25G section up by hand up a 90 ft tower LOL.
Note that a new section of rohn might cost a kilobuck but a piece of shit art installation that'll never support human weight or survive a hurricane could be some rusty "haul away for free" hulk maybe with snapped cross beams and stuff.
The whole project including quik rivets and a concrete saw and a power drill and a couple dudes to manhandle the rohn section would fit in one 4x4 pickup truck. Now you try to built a 3ft wide monolith or make it 50 feet tall thats gonna be a job and require some logistic support.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 28 2020, @11:09PM
Glad you're back, site isn't the same without that flavor of rightwing macho bullshit. I presume you're still a racist douche bag? SN def wouldn't be the same without some of that nonsense. Learn how to build stuff yourself instead of just bolting things together like an adult version of Lincoln Logs. Woops, sorry, shouldn't have mentioned Lincoln, that probably triggered you.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @05:56AM
Hey VLM. You lost - get over it.
(Score: 1) by isocelated on Saturday November 28 2020, @09:35PM
Does it grant a skill bonus?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 29 2020, @01:08AM
It's a Banksy and it means we're all a bunch of unevolved monkeys.
It is inevitable that someone will travel to the Monolith with Strauss on a boombox and pound the ground like monkeys. If I wasn't living a third of the world away from that place, it'd probably be me.