Four years after strange monoliths attracted international attention and triggered conspiracy theories, yet another reflective pillar was discovered on a hiking trail in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced the discovery on social media Monday.
The authority said the “mysterious monolith” was discovered by members of the Las Vegas Search and Rescue Organization over the weekend, near Gass Peak north of the Las Vegas Valley.
“We see a lot of weird things when people go hiking like not being prepared for the weather, not bringing enough water… but check this out!” the police department wrote alongside a photo of the monolith.
In the image, the shiny column stands tall and proud, reflecting the dry, rocky desert terrain and the horizon.
Police said that “while the internet gets to work on this mystery,” they’d like to remind people about best practices for hiking.
These measures, known as the TRAIL acronym, include telling someone where and when you intend to hike and return, as well as checking weather forecasts and packing additional food and water.
This latest monolith discovery joins a slew of others from around the world, many of which were found beginning in 2020. The similar-looking metallic pillars have been spotted in Utah and California, on the Isle of Wight in the U.K., and even in Canada, in Vancouver.
The latest monolith is not the first to be noticed in Las Vegas, with one structure discovered under the downtown Fremont Street Experience canopy in December 2020.
In March, one monolith was found by a hiker in the Welsh countryside, at the peak of Hay Bluff trail.
The monoliths are typically about 10 feet (nearly three metres) tall. They’ve seemingly been left without any witnesses.
It is not clear how the Las Vegas monolith, or any of the others, appeared where they were found. For this reason, the discoveries triggered a flurry of conspiracy theories online, with many suggesting the structures were physical evidence of aliens.
In 2020, an anonymous collective called The Most Famous Artist implied they are behind several of the monoliths — and later tried to sell them for US$45,000 (almost C$61,700). However, the collective, as well as its founder, have never taken explicit credit for the monoliths.
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