MOAB, Utah – A strange discovery that drew worldwide attention was made Nov. 18 in Utah.

The Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources were counting bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah. From their helicopter, they spotted the strange object, now referred to as “the monolith.”

According to Utah DPS, their team “…spotted an unusual object and landed nearby to investigate further. The crew members found a metal monolith installed in the ground in a remote area of red rock. The crew said there was no obvious indication of who might have put the monolith there.”

According to UDPS, the location wasn’t revealed for safety concerns. UDPS stated, “… since it is in a very remote area and if individuals were to attempt to visit the area, there is a significant possibility they may become stranded and require rescue.”

It didn’t take long for people to track down the location, either by recognizing the area or by using online tools. One monolith-seeker determined the object had gone unnoticed since 2016. This was found by comparing different versions of Google Earth.

The mystery didn’t stop there.

The Bureau of Land Management reported the oddity disappeared Saturday. “We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure has been removed by an unknown party. The BLM did not remove the structure which is considered private property....”

There’s room for a lot of speculation about the monolith’s function, everything from art sculpture to alien triangulation marker (a similar object was recently found in Romania according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail).

Naturally, people want to know what the real story is. Here’s what the Chronicle learned talking to a Salt Lake City photographer, David Koch. He was there before and after the monolith disappeared.

Koch drove to Moab Friday to photograph the monolith. When he returned to the site Saturday, it was gone. He estimated the steel used to make the object was about one-eighth of an inch thick, noting “it wasn’t flimsy.” This means the monolith weighed 300 pounds or more. Add the weight of the cement and the tools needed for both installation and removal, it seems likely more than one person was in on it.

Koch got a good look at the object from bottom to top. He said, “The top plainly shows raised rivets just back from each corner. Also, if you look down the face, you can see evenly spaced rivets a few inches in from each corner.” The technology and material used to build the object are common to earthlings.

The Chronicle also talked with Christopher O’Brien about the mystery. O’Brien specializes in paranormal activity. He’s written many books about his international investigations and lectures around the country. He’s also been featured on numerous television documentaries.

O’Brien’s response: “Definitely weird. Most of southern (Utah) is like being on another planet. It’s remote and putting the thing there was difficult and expensive. Somebody found a ‘minimalist sculpture’ exhibiting the exact same thing. Some humans have strange motivations.”

Wagner Kelly of Atomic Art in Page told the Chronicle, “I found the reaction to it most interesting. Regardless of the artist’s original intent, the installation showcased mangled, jelly-bean-jar ideas as to origin and meaning … obscure, extraterrestrial, good or bad. Whatever the statement, it was a walk-off, out of the park grand slam.”

The mystery could have remained a mystery, along with Jimmy Hoffa, DB Cooper, and Area 51. But the story doesn’t end here.

According to a Nov. 30 Facebook post made by traveling photographer Ross Bernards, the disappearance of the monolith is a closed case after seeing a group the day after Thanksgiving dismantling the object.

Bernards wrote: “I had just finished taking some photos of the monolith under the moonlight and was taking a break, thinking about settings I needed to change for my last battery of drone flight when we heard some voices coming up the canyon. We were contemplating packing up our things as they walked up, so they could enjoy it for themselves like we did. At this point I looked down at my watch and it was 8:40 PM.”

Bernards and the three friends accompanying him saw four “guys” walk to the location. One of them told Bernard’s group, “You better have got your pictures.”

Without any tools, the “guys” pushed the monolith over and said, “this is why you don’t leave trash in the desert.”

Bernards said, “… it then popped out and landed on the ground with a loud bang. They quickly broke it apart and as they were carrying to the wheelbarrow that they had brought one of them looked back at us all and said, ‘Leave no trace.’”

Bernards said this was at 8:48 p.m., Friday, Nov. 27.

Bernards said they didn’t try to stop them because “they were right to take it out.”

He said, “We stayed the night and the next day hiked to a hilltop overlooking the area where we saw at least 70 different cars (and a plane) in and out. Cars parking everywhere in the delicate desert landscape. Nobody following a path or each other. We could literally see people trying to approach it from every direction to try and reach it, permanently altering the untouched landscape.”

BLM refers to the monolith as an “illegally installed structure.” There was no permit issued for the installation like those given to drilling and mining companies.