Looking for bighorn sheep by helicopter in a remote part of the Red Rock Country region of Utah in November 2020, biologists instead found a large, three-sided metal object embedded in the ground. Within a week, the thing known around the world as “the monolith” was gone.
More than four years later, the authorities had little to say about the apparently illegal installation and surreptitious removal of the monumental something-or-other on public land.
A spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety said that the site was not in the department’s jurisdiction. He referred inquiries to two nearby sheriff’s offices, in Grand and San Juan Counties, and to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
“Unfortunately our agency had no involvement with the monolith,” said Lt. Al Cymbaluk, a spokesman for the Grand County Sheriff’s Office. “Our community contains numerous outdoor enthusiasts and this item did create a stir of interest.”
After the object was dismantled in 2020, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said that it had opened an investigation. The sheriff did not respond to an email or phone calls seeking more information.
And the Bureau of Land Management declined to comment on whether the authorities had ever determined who was responsible for the installation or who dismantled it.
