Mumbai: What looks straight out of a sci-fi film, mysterious monoliths are the latest to break the internet. It was apparently in mid-November when a shiny, metal monolith was spotted in the middle of a dessert in Utah. And, if that was not enough, in the following weeks these monoliths started popping up all over the world—second one appeared in Romania, third in Pine Mountain in California and now a fourth one has been spotted in Compton Beach in Isle of Wight.
And, now, two new ones have been found in Netherlands and Colombia, as per a report by The Indian Express. While these monoliths were silver, the one found in South America (Colombia) was golden.
These objects are called monoliths due to their uncanny resemblance to the structures that appeared in the popular sci-fi movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. The appearance of these structures in the movie indicate important stages of evolution of mankind.
The first monolith that appeared in Utah was spotted by officers from the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Aero Bureau. The officers who spotted the 12ft-high monolith said it was firmly planted in the ground and looked manmade — so don’t let your imagination go on a space odyssey and think it dropped from the sky! And, like their mysterious appearances, the monoliths in Utah and Romania have mysteriously disappeared too—without any trace of forced removal of these structures.
There are also many theories behind the mysterious appearances of the monoliths. Some claim that these monoliths are artefacts left on earth by an alien race, while some suggest that they are artworks created and installed in the vein of the Earth Art (Land Art) Movement which emerged in the 1960s and 70s.
On December 7, a group of artists took credit for the appearance of the monolith found on Pine Mountain in Atascadero, California. The group posted a video of them the original structure with a cross in it’s place, states a report on India Today website. But, a report in New York Times claims that the group hasn’t taken credit for the ones that appeared and disappeared in Utah and Romania.
Meanwhile, given the rising interest in these monoliths, owner of a candy shop in Pittsburgh commissioned a 10-ft tall structure and installed it outside his store to attract customers.
American bestseller author, John O’Brien, earlier took to his Twitter handle to share an image of the one that appeared in Compton Beach. “I think global ‘crop circlers’ have got a new #lockdown hobby they can make these in their garage & pop them up even when there are no crops. A reflective monolith has been spotted at Compton Beach on the Isle of Wight, days after similar were discovered in the US and Romania,” he tweeted.
