Is this an "extraterrestrial sign"? Of a Stanley Kubrick decorative object? A nod from artist John McCracken? The appearance and then the disappearance of a metal monolith in the Utah desert arouse astonishment and speculation.
Enigma in the desert. The mysterious metallic monolith of unknown origin, whose recent discovery in a desert in the western United States had fueled all manner of science-fiction-inspired speculation, has apparently evaporated. In any case, this is what the local authorities say.
The land use planning office of the State of Utah indeed announced, Saturday, November 28, to have received "credible testimony" according to which the object had been removed "by an unknown third party" Friday evening. "The office has not removed the structure, which is considered private property," he said in a statement. He added "we do not investigate crimes involving private property, which are the responsibility of the local sheriff's office . "
“Restart button for 2020? "
News of the discovery quickly went viral on the internet, with many noting similarities to the bizarre alien monoliths greatly accelerating humanity's progress in the 2001 sci-fi classic : A Space Odyssey, a movie. by Stanley Kubrick and a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Others pointed out that the discovery came during a year in the news at least turned upside down by the Covid-19 pandemic, hopefully hoping that the object could perhaps improve the situation.
"It's the Restart button for 2020. Can someone quickly press it?" " , Joked a surfer on Instagram.“Someone spent time using some rock-cutting tool or something like that to dig down, pretty much into the exact shape of the object, and put it in really well , ” said Nick Street , a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Public Safety, with the New York Times daily . "It's strange," he added: "There are roads nearby, but bring back the material to cut the rock, bring back the metal - which is over 12 feet (3.70 meters) long. -, doing all that in this lost place, it's really captivating. "
Although the authorities refused to reveal the location of the monolith so as not to attract hordes of curious people, a race quickly started online to determine its location based on the geological formations around. Some have managed to locate the site, to note the disappearance of the object, like David Surber. “Apparently the monolith is gone,” he wrote in his Instagram Story , assuming “nature had returned to its natural state .
Work of John McCracken?
Some observers have noted a resemblance to the avant-garde works of John McCracken , an American sculptor who resided for a time in the neighboring state of New Mexico and died in 2011. His son, Patrick McCracken, recently said that his father had him. said in 2002 that he would like to "leave his works in lost places for later discovery . " In this interview with the New York Times , he also confesses that his father “was inspired by the idea of alien visitors leaving objects that looked like his work, or that his work looked like. This discovery of a monolithic piece is completely in line with his artistic vision ” .
In mid-November, Mr McCracken's legal representative, David Zwirner, considered it possible that the mysterious monolith was the work of the artist. "The gallery is divided on the subject," he said, saying to himself "convinced" that the monolith was indeed in the hand of Mr. McCracken and that it would not have been discovered for nearly ten years. “Who would have suspected that 2020 would bring us another surprise? Just when we thought we had seen it all. Let's go see what it is, ” he added.
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