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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) 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.