THE UNKNOWN: Mysterious Monoliths

Summary

Podcast Summary: "THE UNKNOWN: Mysterious Monoliths"

Podcast Information:

• Title: So Supernatural
• Host/Author: audiochuck | Crime House
• Description: Most mysteries can be solved by looking at the facts. But sometimes, the truth lies somewhere in the unknown… Enter the realm of true crime’s most bizarre occurrences, and unravel all the possible explanations. No matter how strange or surreal they get.
• Episode: THE UNKNOWN: Mysterious Monoliths
• Release Date: November 29, 2024

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Introduction to the Phenomenon

Ashley Flowers (00:02): Ashley Flowers kicks off the episode by expressing her fascination with monoliths—giant mirrored slabs that have mysteriously appeared worldwide since 2020. She contemplates the possibility that these structures might be gateways to other worlds, setting the stage for a deep dive into their origins and implications.

Discovery of the First Monolith in Utah

Yvette Gentile & Rasha Pecoraro (01:36 - 03:23): Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro introduce the hosts and outline the episode's focus on the enigmatic monoliths. They recount the November 2020 discovery by biologists in a remote Utah desert, highlighting the structure's unexpected appearance and unexplained purpose.

Rasha Pecoraro (01:59): "In November of 2020, a group of biologists found this bizarre metallic pillar in a remote part of the Utah desert."

Global Spread and Theories

Yvette Gentile (02:14): Yvette discusses the global emergence of monoliths, appearing in countries like Finland, Germany, Turkey, and Morocco, which fuels speculation beyond mere art installations.

Rasha Pecoraro (02:30): "Maybe aliens put them there to send us a message or as a way to visit their home planet."

Public Reaction and Environmental Impact

Yvette Gentile & Rasha Pecoraro (09:15 - 13:36): The hosts describe how the Bureau of Land Management attempted to keep the Utah monolith's location secret to protect the fragile environment. However, internet sleuths quickly uncovered its coordinates, leading to mass tourism that damaged the pristine desert area.

Yvette Gentile (09:15): "Almost the moment this announcement goes online, everyone wants to figure out everything they can about this pillar."

Rasha Pecoraro (12:05): "So, it's so wild, right? Now people know how to get to the monolith. They start visiting in droves."

Vanishing Acts and New Monoliths

Yvette Gentile & Rasha Pecoraro (13:36 - 20:37): After attracting numerous visitors, the original Utah monolith mysteriously disappeared within days, only to reappear in Romania shortly after. This pattern of sudden appearances and disappearances continued globally, with over 243 monoliths discovered by January 2022.

Rasha Pecoraro (14:22): "On November 28, 2020, a new monolith pops up in Romania—it disappears four days later."

Yvette Gentile (15:41): "Now on November 28, 2020, a new monolith pops up in Romania and it looks pretty similar to the Utah one."

Possible Origins: Art or Alien Intervention?

Yvette Gentile & Rasha Pecoraro (24:08 - 28:15): The discussion shifts to potential origins of the monoliths. While the art installation theory is prominent, the lack of credible artists claiming responsibility adds intrigue. They explore the possibility that the monoliths could be alien technology or part of a cosmic gateway, referencing sci-fi inspirations like "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Rasha Pecoraro (25:43): "One of the best theories is that the Utah monolith is the work of John McCracken, obsessed with sci-fi and aliens."

Yvette Gentile (26:42): "But the biggest problem with this theory is that John died in 2011, five years before the Utah monolith appeared."

Environmental Stewards and Monolith Removal

Rasha Pecoraro (21:03 - 24:01): Rasha narrates the removal of the Utah monolith by Sylvan Christensen and his friends, who dismantled it to protect the environment from the influx of tourists. They successfully took it apart without special tools, suggesting it was man-made, which adds weight to the art installation theory.

Rasha Pecoraro (21:03): "Sylvan and his friends were trying to save the environment, but they were also breaking the law."

Recent Developments and Ongoing Mysteries

Yvette Gentile & Rasha Pecoraro (33:24 - 39:42): The hosts update listeners on the resurgence of monolith appearances in 2024, including new monoliths in Wales and Las Vegas. Despite numerous instances, the creators remain anonymous, and the true purpose of these structures remains elusive.

Rasha Pecoraro (34:16): "One theory is that the monoliths are actually some kind of cosmic gateway to an alternate universe."

Yvette Gentile (37:31): "We might never know how many of these monoliths are copycats and how many came from somewhere more mysterious."

Conclusion: The Endless Mystery

Yvette Gentile & Rasha Pecoraro (40:20 - 41:16): Yvette and Rasha wrap up the episode by reflecting on the enduring mystery of the monoliths. They ponder whether future discoveries will shed light on their origins or if the phenomenon will remain an unsolved enigma.

Yvette Gentile (31:48): "Maybe it's a flying saucer full of aliens getting frustrated that we haven't figured out whatever it is that they're trying to tell us."

Rasha Pecoraro (36:21): "The world's top scientists might be unlocking a hidden teleport function, a way to step through and travel to an alien planet or a parallel universe."

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Notable Quotes:

• Ashley Flowers (00:02): "What if these monoliths provide a gateway to another world after all?"
• Rasha Pecoraro (02:30): "Maybe aliens put them there to send us a message."
• Yvette Gentile (09:15): "We're all thinking the same thing, that this doesn't feel like something that originated on Earth."
• Rasha Pecoraro (21:03): "Sylvan and his friends were trying to save the environment, but they were also breaking the law."
• Rasha Pecoraro (34:16): "The monoliths are actually some kind of cosmic gateway to an alternate universe."
• Yvette Gentile (31:48): "Maybe it's a flying saucer full of aliens getting frustrated that we haven't figured out whatever it is that they're trying to tell us."

Final Thoughts

The episode of "So Supernatural" delves deep into the mysterious appearances of monoliths around the globe, exploring various theories from art installations to alien technology. Despite extensive investigations and widespread public interest, the true nature and purpose of these structures remain unknown, leaving listeners intrigued and eager for future revelations.

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Connect with So Supernatural:

• Instagram: @sosupernaturalpod
• Website: sowsupernaturalpodcast.com

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This summary captures the essence of the podcast episode, highlighting the key discussions, theories, and mysterious events surrounding the monolith phenomenon. Notable quotes are included with speaker attribution and timestamps to provide authenticity and context.

Transcript

[Ashley Flowers]

I have this one very impossible thing on my bucket list. Now hear me out for a second, because you might agree with me, but I would love nothing more than to get to explore another planet. Here's why it's impossible though. I mean, aside from the science of it all, getting on a spaceship and traveling through the great wide open, never ending expanse of space does not appeal to me, like at all. But I stumbled upon something in the news recently that kind of got me thinking. What if there was a way to travel from world to world without a spaceship? I mean, you've probably caught a glimpse of the headlines on social media. They're called monoliths. These giant mirrored slabs that have been popping up in the most random locations since 2020, usually in the middle of nowhere. Now people say that they might be part of some very elaborate art installation, but these things aren't just appearing on American soil. They are all over the world. Finland, Germany, Turkey, Morocco. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. Which makes me wonder, maybe these monoliths are more than art. What if they, or something like them provide a gateway to another world after all? I'm Ashley Flowers and this is so Supernatural.

[Yvette Gentile]

Welcome back to so Supernatural. I'm Yvette Gentile.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And I'm Rasha Pecoraro.

[Yvette Gentile]

And today we're diving deep into this phenomenon known as the monoliths. You may have heard about them over the last few years, or maybe this is the first time you're hearing about them. Whatever the case may be, buckle up because this one's pretty mind boggling.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

In November of 2020, a group of biologists found this bizarre metallic pillar in a remote part of the Utah desert. We're talking way off the beaten path here. Nobody understood how it got there or what it was for.

[Yvette Gentile]

And then more appeared all over the world and we still don't know what they're supposed to be or who put them up. Although there are plenty of theories to try and explain them. Like the possibility that aliens put them there to send us a message.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Or maybe as a way to visit their home planet. It's better over here.

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[Rasha Pecoraro]

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[Rasha Pecoraro]

This lasagna was so cheesy. My plate was filled with saucy slices. Then a flimsy store brand plate. No, no, no, no. Ruined it. Next time get Dixie Ultra plates 3 times stronger than the leading store brand 10 inch paper plate Dixie make it right. So I have always been fascinated by the pyramids in Egypt, Easter island, all of these other ancient wonders. Every time I look at these structures that are thousands of years old, I find myself asking, who built this? How did they do it? And most importantly, what are they here for?

[Yvette Gentile]

And the thing with these ancient monuments is it can be truly difficult, I mean, borderline impossible in some situations to even learn the answers. All the people involved in their construction are long gone now, which just adds to the mystery. But imagine one of these bizarre, unexplained structures appearing in modern day, like right now in the2020s. It totally feels like something that just wouldn't happen.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And yet it did. On November 18, 2020, a group of biologists are out on a job. They're supposed to go off to a remote part of the Utah desert, an area that's so remote it doesn't even have a specific name. It's located just to the east of the Canyonlands national park and south of the town of Moab. So we're talking about an empty stretch in the southwestern part of the state. The biologists are looking for herds of bighorn sheep to get a sense of the population. You know, See if they're healthy, routine type stuff. Not the kind of project that typically makes headlines. They have a lot of ground to cover, including a bunch of areas that aren't easy to get to in a car. So this team is flying around in a helicopter and scanning the ground for any sign of those bighorn sheep. That's when one of the biologists sees something below. A glint of metal in a canyon. He tells the pilot, quote, turn around, we've got to go check this thing out. A few moments later, the team is on the ground, standing before this absolute jaw dropper of a mystery. A block of shining metal, about 10ft tall with three sides. There are no markings on it, no writing, no designs, nothing to indicate what it's for. It's just this big smooth slab.

[Yvette Gentile]

Nobody can even begin to guess what the deal is with this thing. I mean, for starters, it doesn't seem to do anything. And no one is actually sure how long it's been out here in the desert for. It appears to be made of stainless steel, which doesn't rust or get tarnished. So as far as the biologists know, this thing could be like a week old, or it could be from the 1940s or the 50s. It's impossible to say. It's also hard to say how it got there. The easiest way to reach this thing without a helicopter involves a 45 minute drive across dirt and sand. And it's not an easy drive either. You can't go much faster than 10 miles per hour without potentially losing control of your car. And even then, you reach a point where you literally can't drive any further because the terrain gets too rough. At which point you need to park and then walk another 15 minutes through a dried upstream bed just to get to the pillar. Basically, it would take a dedicated effort to get to this canyon, but somehow someone apparently came out here and put this together. I mean, this huge monument type of sculpture.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

I just can't picture how they do that. Like, don't Forget, it's a 45 minute drive, then a 15 minute walk. So were they just hauling big chunks of steel through the sand?

[Yvette Gentile]

But the point is, someone went to an awful lot of trouble to create something that might have never been found had it not been for these biologists. So they report what they found to the Bureau of Land Management, which manages and preserves public lands. And the Bureau of Land Management also finds this super weird, which is why they can't help but kind of crack jokes about its potential origins. I mean, Utah's Department of Public Safety actually releases a video to the press. The footage shows the original biologist walking up to the monolith for the first time. And one of them saying, and this is a quote, the intrepid explorers go down to investigate, investigate the alien life form. And when the Utah Highway Patrol post on Facebook about the monolith, they actually use an alien face emoji.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Of course they do.

[Yvette Gentile]

I mean, you know, even though everyone is talking about it in a tongue in cheek way, it's pretty clear that it's on everybody's mind. We're all thinking the same thing, that this doesn't feel like something that originated on Earth.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

They also don't explain where exactly in the desert they found it. The announcement is very vague. It says they found this sheet of metal in the middle of nowhere. That's it. No other coordinates.

[Yvette Gentile]

And that's by design, because this particular part of the desert is very fragile. It's pristine, untouched wilderness. Not an area that can handle a lot of tourism. So let's just say whoever put this up properly didn't camp here and build it. Not unless they're an extremely intense backcountry hiker. And on top of having, like, strong construction skills, if they did do something like that, it would be potentially destructive to the environment, since this area shouldn't really have visitors at all.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And officials, especially those with the Bureau of Land Management, know that if the general public ever learns where the monolith is, they're going to start pouring into the area. They'll trample all over the plant and animal habitats and destroy literally everything.

[Yvette Gentile]

So as of November 20, 2020, the general public technically isn't supposed to know where the monolith is, but that changes pretty fast. Almost the moment this announcement goes online, everyone wants to figure out everything they can about this pillar. Online. Sleuths manage to dig up a lot. I mean, they look at the photos and videos of the monolith and compare them with the Google Earth images. Basically, they're accounting for everything. The specific rocks in the background, the way the ground is sloped. Some of them even pull topographical maps showing mountain formations in Utah, and they try to match it to the terrain around the monolith. And guess what? It works. Within a day, people are posting GPS coordinates online, saying, here's where it is. If you want to see the monolith, this is where you should go.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And that's not all. They're also looking at Google Earth images from the past and using that to try and figure out when exactly the monolith appeared. Now get this. There are no pictures of it at all before 2016, but it does seem to appear in some images in and after that year. So people figure that it's probably just been sitting there undiscovered for about four years.

[Yvette Gentile]

It's so wild, right? I mean, and now people know how to get to the monolith. They start visiting in droves, which, you know, I mean, is to be expected. Everyone, from backpackers to extreme athletes to news crews and influencers, all just to catch a glimpse of this in real life for themselves. Social media is flooded with selfies from people who've made it to the Utah Monolith. The very day that the monolith's location becomes public information, there are actual traffic jams in the desert, as in bumper to bumper log jam. And let's just say a lot of these visitors aren't very good about respecting the earth or protecting this delicate desert habitat. By late November, the local paper, the Salt Lake Tribune, reports that the native vegetation around this pillar has been completely trampled. Tire tracks have stirred up the ground sediment, and there's trash all over the place, even including human waste.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

That is so disgusting.

[Yvette Gentile]

I mean, I get it when there are no bathrooms and you've got to go, you've got to go, but all of this activity is terrible for the environment. And remember, that's the whole reason that the Bureau of Land Management didn't want anyone to know where the monolith was in the first place. This destruction they were seeing was exactly what they were hoping to avoid.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And guess what? Things are about to get much stranger. You see, on November 28th of 2020, a little over a week after the news of the monolith went public, cars full of people pull up to the same canyon in the Utah desert. And just like all of the selfie seekers before them, they're hoping to snap a few pictures by the monolith. But they start walking around looking for this huge metal pillar, and it's nowhere to be seen. It's just gone. Vanished without a trace. And given that this monolith has been drawing dozens of visitors nonstop, day and night, you've got to wonder how it could possibly go away without anyone seeing anything.

[Yvette Gentile]

And to make things even weirder, that exact same day, someone else reports that they've actually found it all the way on the other side of the world in Romania. Make learning a new language easier with one of the most trusted language learning programs, Rosetta Stone. The program is designed for long term retention. Plus, the true accent feature even gives you feedback on your pronunciation. My husband's family lives in Italy, so I find my Rosetta Stone mobile app so helpful in completing full sentences and perfecting my pronunciation. Like andiamo let's go or tividiamo suboto. I'll see you soon. Don't put off learning that language. There's no better time than right now to get started. Started our listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off visit rosettastone.com supernatural that's 50% off unlimited access to 25 courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com supernatural.

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[Yvette Gentile]

So on November 28, 2020, a new monolith pops up in Romania and it looks pretty similar to the Utah one. It's also triangular, made of metal, and it just appeared more or less overnight without an explanation. This monolith is not too far from an ancient fortress that's around 2,000 years old. The fortress is on top of a hill in a fairly remote area and features standing stones in a circular formation, almost like a Romanian version of Stonehenge. So now you've got this mystery pillar standing right between the fortress and a nearby cliffs edge. In a word, it's freaky. It also really seems like someone picked this spot purposefully. It wasn't just plopped down at random, especially because one of its sides is facing a famous mountain, one that the locals called the Holy Mountain. The ancient Romanian people, the same ones who built the fortress, thought this mountain was where the gods lived. There are even legends that certain peaks and rock formations there were once living beings who were turned to stone. So all of this to say this pillar didn't just pop up on any old mountaintop, but one with a lot of mythical and ancient significance. It's hard to say if whoever put it there is trying to make some kind of point. I mean, I don't know.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Doesn't this remind you of the sleeping giant that mom always talked about in Hawaii on the Koolau Mountain range. She always thought that there were gods and goddesses. Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

I was totally thinking that and envisioning the mountains right in my mind.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Sleeping giant, yeah. Well, I wonder if they're trying to say that this pillar is connected somehow to the ancient Romanian people who built the fortress. Or is it actually from the gods themselves?

[Yvette Gentile]

Just this once, if only someone would have left a note. I mean, is that too much to ask for?

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Right. And I think it's worth mentioning that this new monolith is not exactly identical to the original one. For one, it's 13ft tall, so a little bit bigger than the Utah pillar, which was only about 10ft tall. And instead of having a flat reflective surface, this one has a loopy curlicue style design all over it. I mean, they're not major differences, but it's enough to make some folks think that they likely weren't put there by the same person or by the same thing that created the Utah one. It could simply be a copycat. Except now get this. You know how the monolith In Utah disappeared 10 days after it was found? Something similar happens in Romania. That monolith vanishes in just four days after it was discovered. Nobody knows where the Romanian monolith came from, where it went, or who took it away. It's a whole new mystery. And there are plenty of other questions about the other new monoliths that start cropping up, because, yeah, there's more than just the two of them. There are hundreds on December 2, 2020. And just one day after the Romanian pillar vanishes, a new one pops up in Atascadero, California. This spot is also pretty remote. It's tucked away on a hill by a hiking trail in Stadium Park. Then a few days later, on December 5, a different one was discovered in a wooded area that's part of a rural Colombian region called Chia. December 6, two more appear in Europe, one in England and another in the Netherlands. And on December 7, there are reports of one in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And from there, the list literally goes on and on. In December alone, people find monoliths in rural Germany, in Pennsylvania, in Florida, in Australia, and in Morocco. Literally all over the friggin globe.

[Yvette Gentile]

That's crazy. Like they're just popping up everywhere.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And In January of 2022, a little over a year after all the hype began, one of the last monoliths shows up. This one's in Phoenix. By that point, a grand total of 243 monoliths have been found. The wildest part of all this is we still don't know where most of these came from, and we also don't know where the majority of them went.

[Yvette Gentile]

But we do learn a little about what happened to the first one, the monolith in Utah. See, the night before its disappearance, a photographer named Ross Bernards was doing a nighttime shoot, capturing the moon the way that it reflected off the pillar's surface from different angles, trying to get that perfect shot. Most visitors would come out to see the monolith during the day. And fair enough, because you know what? I wouldn't go off roading after sunset to a remote location. But Ross had the area all to himself. And by around 8:30 at night, he captured all the pictures that he wanted. And he was just about to leave when he saw four men walking up. He watched as these four guys dissent, dismantled the monolith piece by piece and took it away. And the whole time they were making comments about litter and the desert, they actually said the words leave no trace as they were carrying the bits off. When Ross got home, he posted his moonlight monolith pictures along with the descriptions of the four men who took it away. Not long afterward, a guy named Sylvan Christensen post a TikTok. And he says he was the one to remove the Utah monolith along with three of his friends. They're all from a small town we mentioned earlier called Moab. So not too far from where the monolith was found. They took the monolith apart and hauled it out of the desert because they saw all the reports about tourists trashing the area and they were worried about the environmental impact. They figured that the best way to protect the desert was to take matters into their own hands and simply remove the thing that was drawing all of these visitors to the area in the first place.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Sylvan and his friends were trying to save the environment, but they were also breaking the law, because this monolith is technically Bureau of Land Management property now, especially since no one had come forward to take credit for building it or for putting it up. So when Sylvan and his friends admit they removed the monolith without permission, they've essentially just confessed to theft. After talking to some lawyers, Sylvan and his friends worked out a deal where they would give the monolith back to Bureau of Land Management officials. The Bureau of Land Management agrees not to press charges, and they store the monolith in a safe place outside of the desert. But there's One thing about this story that really stands out to me. This monolith was apparently very easy to take down. Sylvan and his buddies did it without any special tools. And when they dismantled it, they also saw how it was actually put together. The monolith had rivets to hold it together at the seams. It was hollow. The stainless steel was wrapped around a plywood frame, which to me, makes it sound like it was man made.

[Yvette Gentile]

I totally agree. And look, the most obvious explanation is that these pillars just might be an art installation, right?

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

I mean, either someone created this big, shiny monolith in the desert to make a name for themselves, or just to make the world feel a little more magical. And then when the story hit the headlines, maybe other artists all over the world just followed the trend and made more.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

That's definitely the main theory that a lot of government officials and journalists have latched onto. And I can't blame them. I mean, how else do you explain this metallic pillar appearing out of nowhere? It doesn't serve a clear technological function. There aren't instructions lying around explaining what it is or what it does. The art installation theory really is the most logical explanation. But the big problem with that theory is that we still don't know which artist created the monolith or the monoliths.

[Yvette Gentile]

And in fairness, there are some people that have come forward to take credit for a few of the pillars. But in some cases, different groups say they made the same monoliths. In other words, I mean, folks seem to be taking credit for someone else's work. But even if we just narrow our question down to who created the original monolith in Utah, there aren't any good options here. I mean, if you're going to go through all of the trouble to create something like this, put it up, and then wait patiently for years until someone finds it. Wouldn't you want to step forward at some point and say, like, hello, this is my work? But nobody credible ever does that.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Which is why the question of who might have done this feels like one big guessing game. One of the best theories is that the Utah monolith is the work of a man named John McCracken. John is, to put it mildly, obsessed with sci fi and aliens. He was personal friends with Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock. And this belief in aliens informs a huge part of his work because, get this, he makes a series of sculptures, specifically monoliths, that are designed to look like they were left behind by aliens. We're talking tall metallic pillars made of stainless Steel. A lot like what turned up seemingly overnight in the Utah desert. However, the monoliths he makes aren't quite the same style as the one in Utah. The differences are subtle, but art experts definitely spot them. It's enough for them to say that it's probably not his work, although they can't rule him out completely.

[Yvette Gentile]

But the biggest problem with this theory is that John died in 2011, about five years or so before the Utah monolith was thought to be put up. Meaning, if he created the piece, he wasn't the one to bring it out to the desert. And even though, while John was alive, he joked to his son about making art and leaving it in remote spots for someone to stumble upon later. I mean, it could be possible. Who's to say? But John's agent says that he knows nothing about any secret pillars in the desert, and neither do any of his friends.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

But maybe, just maybe, someone or something collaborated with him without them knowing. See, John genuinely believed that aliens had been visiting Earth throughout human history and that they were giving us these little nudges as we evolved, helping us become better, more advanced versions of ourselves. So you might think that his art wasn't just trying to say, hey, aliens are the good guys. He was also trying to communicate with visitors from another planet to tell them, we're listening. We're trying. Don't give up on us yet. In an interview with Artforum magazine, John said that when he created one set of planks, a variation on his monolith, he felt like he was channeling some other presence. He actually claimed some mysterious creature from out of this world was taking control of his mind and body to make art that even he didn't understand.

[Yvette Gentile]

Whoa. I mean, this kind of explains a whole lot. This poses an interesting idea, right? That the monoliths, even the Utah one, may have been made by human hands, but quite literally could also be the creative expression of an alien mind. So it would be like a collaboration in the truest, deepest sense.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

And even if that's not the case, let's say John never had anything to do with the monolith. I kind of have to wonder if there's something to this theory. Like, what if aliens were involved? I know that's your favorite theory. Yes, and maybe they weren't working with other people, but dropping the pillars themselves.

[Unknown]

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[Rasha Pecoraro]

CT mobile.com this lasagna was so cheesy. My plate was filled with saucy slices. Then a flimsy store brand plate. No, no no no. Ruined it. Next time get Dixie Ultra plates 3 times stronger than the leading store brand 10 inch paper plate Dixie make it right if you've ever seen the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey, which I did many, many eons ago, you know that opening scene is iconic. And if you haven't seen it, here's a quick recap. The first 10 or so minutes of the film shows a troop of apes which haven't quite evolved into Homo sapiens. But that all changes when a mysterious black monolith appears in the desert. Sound familiar? In the movie, the pillar of black stone just appears out of nowhere one day. It's heavily implied to be a bit of alien technology that's made its way to Earth. And when the apes see this structure, they take a huge step forward in evolution. They learn how to hunt and how to eat meat and how to use weapons to fight and kill their enemies. Thanks to this monolith, they're on their way to becoming, well, us.

[Yvette Gentile]

So naturally you've got real, honest to God, monoliths appearing without explanation in the middle of the desert. In real life, you're going to be thinking, are we basically the apes from A Space Odyssey right now? I mean, is this pillar a gift from some, I don't know, higher intelligence?

[Rasha Pecoraro]

It's hard not to think that. And it's not just the similarity to 2001 that has people asking this. There's also the fact that this Utah pillar just appeared inside such a remote area, which again, by all accounts, is really, really hard to get to.

[Yvette Gentile]

And I just can't imagine anyone hauling sheets of metal and plywood off to this remote canyon, especially one that's nearly impossible to get to in ordinary circumstances. But plopping a monolith down from a spaceship? Well, Rasha, come on. Like, you know me and aliens, like that sounds a lot more doable, right?

[Rasha Pecoraro]

It does.

[Yvette Gentile]

They could be, I don't know, time.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Traveling, landing, who knows, going to a different dimension. No idea. Well, we might Never know how many of these monoliths are copycats and how many came from somewhere more mysterious, more like your alien theory. But I will say, and I think it's important to note that the Utah monolith actually wasn't the first of its kind. It was just the first one from the 2000 and twenties. Let's go back in time to more than 20 years ago to January 1, 2001, the very beginning of this millennium. You know, a date with just a little bit of symbolism. Sometime that morning, a nine foot tall metallic monolith appeared in Seattle's Magnuson Park. Nobody knew where it came from or how it got there. And then three days later, poof, gone. It just disappeared. Nobody knew where it went. But they did find a single rose laying on the ground where it had been. Its stem was snapped in half. As for the question of who did all of this, I hate to be a broken record here, but we still don't know that either. So again, you have to wonder, was a human artist really behind all of this, pulling off some elaborate 20 year long prank? Were the monoliths from the 2020 some kind of reference to the one from January 2001, if not the movie 2001?

[Yvette Gentile]

Or are they some kind of warning? It's not super comforting that the first one showed up the same same year that the United States went through one of the worst terrorist attacks in its history. And then a bunch more cropped up during the COVID pandemic. I mean, if aliens were really behind those monoliths, maybe they knew something about our future that we didn't. And the monoliths were meant to help us prevent tragedies or give us some kind of heads up. I think about those times, you know, you and I were together during 911 and we were like, what the hell is going on? You know, and then the same time during COVID I was like, why are we all at a standstill and can't go anywhere? It like, it just makes you think about all these different possibilities, right?

[Rasha Pecoraro]

So true. And while we don't know what the pillars are supposed to be for, I have heard one very wild bit of speculation about them. It's the last theory we're going to be covering today. And it also happens to be my personal favorite, and that's that the monoliths are actually some kind of cosmic gateway to an alternate universe. Hello. This is what I truly think is happening. I want to believe that I can see the Avengers on the other side of the monolith. I have to believe that that's a thing. Now, you might be thinking, rasha, how could this hollow stainless steel and plywood pillar be something that futuristic? But frankly, there's a reason we use plywood and stainless steel on Earth. They're useful materials. So if aliens have access to the same resources on their planet, why shouldn't they make their technology out of them? Think about it. If they have advanced capabilities, they might be able to build something that looks simple and hollow from the outside, but on the inside, it has levels of complexity that are beyond comprehension. If you traveled back in time and handed a smartphone to someone from the 19th century, they'd probably think it's a simple, dark piece of glass. But if they pried it open and looked at the SIM card, they'd see a tiny white square with a metallic patch on it. They wouldn't understand what it's made of or how it works. But we know phones and data cards, while made of pretty simple materials, are very advanced in the same way. There might be more to these monoliths than what we currently realize. Maybe instead of taking it apart and hiding it away, we could have actually studied these things and figured out if there was more to them than meets the eye.

[Yvette Gentile]

Well, that's assuming there aren't some kind of secret tests going on right now. I mean, nobody actually knows where the Utah monolith went after the eco warriors returned it to the Bureau of Land Management. For all we know, it could have been at some top secret military base like Hangar 18.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

I'm just saying, the world's top scientists might be unlocking a hidden teleport function, A way to step through and travel to an alien planet or a parallel universe, places we can't even fathom right now. It's possible that instead of asking ourselves, what do these monoliths mean, we should be asking, where could they take us?

[Yvette Gentile]

The tricky thing about that theory, about all of them, really, is that there's no hard evidence tying these monoliths to aliens. I've dug into the research. I mean, you know me, and I haven't seen anyone or anything that has said that they've spotted flying saucers near the monoliths.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Okay, sure, there's no hard evidence that aliens built the monolith, but I'm just being devil's advocate here.

[Yvette Gentile]

No, I mean, you're totally right, but at the same time, there's also no proof humans built these monoliths either.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

That's what I'm saying. If these are all ordinary art installations with nothing supernatural about them, you'd think someone would get caught while they were putting it up, right? The fact that that never happened just adds to the weirdness of this entire thing.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay, so after that last pillar appeared in Phoenix in early 2022, it seemed like the monolith craze died down. Or at the very least, new discoveries stopped making the news. And if we'd made this episode, say, I don't know, eight months ago, that's probably where the story would end. But something wild happened. Another monolith appeared. Let's go back to March of 2024 to Wales. It's early morning, and Craig Muir is out walking on a trail when he sees something so strange. He immediately thinks he's gotta be seeing a ufo. But when he gets closer, he realizes it's actually a 10 foot tall steel column. It has three sides which are held together without rivets, and it's perfectly level in the ground. It's not an exact replica of the Utah monolith, but, y'all, it's pretty darn similar looking.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

Then, three months later, in June of 2024, something similar happens in the mountains outside of Las Vegas. Hikers see another new monolith. And unlike the others, this one is made of a totally reflective material. It's like a mirrored pillar. The pictures of this thing are like an optical illusion. I went on a deep dive. I looked on Instagram. I've seen the photos. And just like with the other monoliths from the 2000s, no one knows where it came from, who put it up, or how long it had been there.

[Yvette Gentile]

They're back. As for what that means, who really knows? Maybe there's some prankster, artist, or, I don't know, a group of artists out there running a social experiment in the shadows just for the thrill of it. And maybe it's just a matter of time before they come out of the woodwork and take claim for their work and actually can back it up with proof. Or maybe what I have been saying all along, there's a flying saucer full of aliens up there somewhere, getting so frustrated that we haven't figured out whatever it is that they're trying to tell us.

[Rasha Pecoraro]

If it's true that another wave of monoliths is just getting started, maybe we won't have to wait too long to figure out what they're really about. If we're lucky, they might even take us somewhere new to another world, another universe, or give us an entirely new way of understanding the cosmos and our role within this so supernatural universe.

[Yvette Gentile]

This is so Supernatural an audio Chuck original produced by Crimehouse. You can connect with us on Instagram @sosupernaturalpod or visit our website at sowsupernaturalpodcast.com join Rasha and me next Friday for an all new episode. So what do you think Chuck? Do you approve?

[Unknown]

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[Yvette Gentile]

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