It’s hard for any single news item to really stand out as weird in 2020, but the Mystery of the Monolith is no single news item – it’s several.

On November 18th, in a remote desert canyon in Utah’s Red Rock Country, a helicopter crew counting bighorn sheep noticed a flash of metal looming up from the ground and flew down to investigate, and there it was: deeply embedded in the canyon floor was an enormous smooth metal triangular prism.

“What the heck is that?” asked one of the crew investigating the structure. No one knew how the structure got there, as “it’s a tough place to get to on vehicle and on foot,” a spokesperson said. The location, which was not disclosed (though it was later discovered) is remote and inaccessible except by helicopter, according to Utah’s Division of Wildlife Services.

Officials for the Department of Public Safety added that they had no idea how long the monolith had been there, although some Reddit users scoured old Google Maps images and determined that it appeared in that location some time between August 2015 and October 2016.

The staff of the DWS made the announcement of their find on Facebook, and the story took off. It’s a story with a pop culture element, as the monolith bore a passing resemblance to one from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

After the discovery, things only got weirder. First the Utah monolith disappeared. That day, a new one appeared in Romania, outside the city of Piatra Neamt, on the plateau of Bâtca Doamnei, near an archaeological site.

It wasn’t the same monolith, though; like the Utah monolith, the Romanian monolith was a vast triangular prism, 10 to 12 feet tall. But where the Utah monolith had a flat, reflective surface, the Romanian monolith is covered in looping lines, and there’s a welded seam near its base.

Piatra Neamt Mayor Andrei Carabelea joked on Facebook that his “guess is that some alien, cheeky and terrible teenagers left home with their parents’ UFO and started planting metal monoliths around the world. First in Utah and then at Piatra Neamt. I am honored that they chose our city.”

Four days later, that monolith would also vanish, for reasons still unknown. Again, another one was discovered the same day: a new monolith appeared in California, at the top of Pine Mountain in Atascadero.

This monolith is another triangular prism, 10 feet tall and about 18 inches wide; around the same height as the first two monoliths, but a little narrower. Like the Utah monolith, it has a smooth surface. It appeared to be made out of stainless steel and wasn’t embedded into the ground. 

How the Utah and California monoliths vanished isn’t a mystery; the Utah one was removed by BASE jumper Andy Lewis and adventure guide Sylvan Christensen who filmed themselves knocking over and dismantling the structure. They say they did so for environmental reasons, saying the descent of monolith-gawkers into the desert landscape, with no infrastructure like parking lots or restrooms on hand, caused permanent damage to the ecosystem.

The California monolith was removed not by environmentalists but by religious fanatics, who also filmed themselves. Dressed in camo gear, night-vision goggles, and political paraphernalia, the group tipped over the monolith and dragged it down the mountain. They put a large cross in its place, which has since been removed.

Now a fourth monolith appeared Friday morning in Las Vegas, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. Someone planted the shiny metallic structure under the Fremont Street canopy, according to Fremont Street Experience Spokeswoman Cassandra Down. The monolith is three-sided and around 10 feet tall, just like the three others, and wasn’t installed by the company, Down said.

What happened in Vegas has apparently stayed in Vegas. For now.

So what gives? The monoliths are probably not of alien origin; in fact one very earthly explanation emerged recently: artists. The Most Famous Artist “global creative community,” based in Santa Fe, has posted photos and videos on its social media accounts and gave an interview with tech publication Mashable.

Most Famous Artist founder Matty Mo cagily would not flat out admit to being behind the monolith, for what he said were the “legalities” of the first installation.

However, he offered that he could “say we are well known for stunts of this nature and at this time we are offering authentic art objects through monoliths-as-a-service.” Back in August of 2020, they posted a picture on Instagram offering the structures for sale, installed, for the low, low price of $45,000.

Monolith mania may not be over. “I cannot issue additional images at this time but I can promise more on this in the coming days and weeks,” he said.

So that’s one mystery (maybe) solved. Now we just need to find the answer who stole the giant phallus statue from a German mountaintop this week and who the heck installed another, larger one its place days later.

2020 is the truly the Year of Weird.