While trying to count bighorn sheep in the desert during a flyover in a remote south-eastern area of the US state, wildlife resources department workers noticed a strange object firmly planted in the ground.

If you are a Space Odyssey fan, the Utah desert will become your dream destination after reading this article! It turned out that the desert kept quiet about an incredibly strange object within it for too long!

Namely, Last week, a crew with the state wildlife resources department was aboard a helicopter that belongs to the Utah Department of Public Safety when they noticed a mysterious monolith showing out of the dirt below.

The bright metal figure was approximately 10 to 12 feet tall, and it was firmly situated in the ground, suggesting it wasn’t just dropped from above.

Officials indicated the possibility that the figure could have been built by an artist or a huge admirer of 2001: Space Odyssey – as the mysterious thing looks like the machines described in Arthur C. Clarke’s story!

• Worker with Utah’s wildlife resources department saw a shiny metal monolith, firmly planted in the ground.

The unmarked object is positioned inside a red rock cove. Yet, out of the fear that amateurs could get in danger trying to get a closer look, the workers did not reveal details about its exact location.

The crew was in the secluded zone to count bighorn sheep when they discovered the mysterious object.

Pilot Bret Hutchings said:

‘One of the biologists is the one who spotted it and we just happened to fly directly over the top of it. He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘what.’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there – we’ve got to go look at it!’

The  helicopter then turned back and landed and the team went into the cove to explore.

Hutchings said:

‘We were thinking, Is this something NASA stuck up there or something? Are they bouncing satellites off it? We were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, then the rest of us make a run for it.’

The @UtahDPS helicopter was assisting the @UtahDWR in counting bighorn sheep in remote southern Utah Wednesday when the crew encountered something entirely ‘out of this world’…@KSL5TV #KSLTV #Utah

Photojournalist: @Photog_Steve5 pic.twitter.com/f8P0fayDIS

— Andrew Adams (@AndrewAdamsKSL) November 21, 2020

• Officials assume it has been created by an artist or a huge fan of 2001: Space Odyssey

• The crew went in the area to count bighorn sheep

• ‘We were thinking, Is this something NASA stuck up there or something? Are they bouncing satellites off it?’ said Department of Public Safety pilot Bret Hutchings

• To show its size, state workers climb the monolith to give a sense of its size.

Jokes aside, Hutchings’ opinion is that the object is most likely some kind of artwork, done by “ some new wave artist” or  “ somebody that was a big [2001: A Space Odyssey] fan.”

• Department of Public Safety pilot Bret Hutchings said that the unmarked object ‘is about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all my years of flying,’

• The monolith is located inside a red rock cove, but the exact location has not been revealed, to prevent others from endangering themselves trying to get a closer look

‘Land art’ is common in Utah, with strange installations that kept occurring far from population centers in the 1960s and ’70s. The most famous, built by artist Robert Smithson in 1970, is called Spiral Jetty. It is a 1,500-foot-long coil that is completely made of mud, salt crystals and basalt.

It is situated on the northeastern edge of the Great Salt Lake near Rozel Point, and it appears and disappears depending on the level of the water.

• Utah has a history of ‘land art,’ unusual installations far from population centers.

However, up until now, no one has called to claim to be the creator of the monolith.

Hutchings concluded:

“That’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all my years of flying.”

The workers left everything in place, after recording a video and taking photos of the mysterious creation.

Looking for answers, photos were posted to social media, and most observers presumed it was installed by a sculptor. Many even added that it resembled the work of late minimalist artist John McCracken.

There were some otherworldly theories as well. What do you think? Any ideas?

• Bighorn sheep live in the southern half of Utah

Nevertheless, the strange metal object seems to not affect the bighorn sheep that reside in Utah’s southern half.

In early December, their mating season, the sheep are less cautious of humans, since they are focused on courtship and breeding. Therefore, they’ll allow vehicles to get closer to them than they normally would.

The population of bighorn sheep was dramatically reduced to under a thousand in the 1970s, but conservation efforts have helped increase their number in recent decades.

Source: www.bbc.com