# Are Monoliths Real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744 "2024-07-04T21:59:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/1 "2024-07-04T21:59:40Z")
This topic has been bouncing around various on-line news sites and such, and I still don’t know whether it’s a hoax or a real phenomenon. To wit: monoliths, these seemingly transparent things that have been spotted, indeed they’ve been photographed (around the U.S., western states in particular, and yet in Europe, too), and then the stories ended with most of them “torn down”. Does anyone know what this means? Is it that the photographs have been proved false or that these office building-like towers have been literally razed? The pictures are there, and so far as I can gather there’s been no controversy about this topic. as to the truth of it, but could somewhere on these wonderful boards explain all this to me, to the extent that it’s explicable? If the aforementioned phenomenon a hoax or joke or some kind, or are there real monoliths popping up here and there that need to be demolished? They’ve been spotted a good deal in the American Southwest, one outside Las Vegas in particular. I’m not, I don’t believe, a naive person, but I would like to know WTF is going on regarded these (co-called) monoliths. If it’s a Web “in joke”, that’s fine by me. The Bigfoot Of The Internet? I wouldn’t be surprised. Please offer reasonable answers, not ad hominem attacks on me and my presumed delusional disorder. I have no such thing. If there’s a humorous explanation, I can deal with it. Humorous responses are okay. I’m somewhat serious, not solemn, regarding these supposedly giant things being spotted all over the place. BTW, thanks for what polite and intelligent answers I receive; and I wish all and sundry here a happy and healthy Independence Day ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/2 "2024-07-04T22:02:07Z")
Some links to the articles would be helpful ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/3 "2024-07-04T22:03:35Z")
[A monolith appeared near Las Vegas. Who is behind these mysterious objects? : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/26/nx-s1-5017575/monolith-las-vegas-mystery-objects#:~:text=Another%20object%20was%20discovered%20outside%20Las%20Vegas%20this%20month&text=Standing%20at%20six%20feet%2C%20five,rebar%20and%20concrete%2C%20authorities%20said). > **[Shiny monolith removed from mountains outside Las Vegas. How it got there...](https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/23/style/las-vegas-mystery-monolith-removed-intl-hnk/index.html)** > > A strange monolith found jutting out of the rocks in a remote mountain range near Las Vegas has been taken down by authorities. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/4 "2024-07-04T22:11:08Z")
I’m not good with links, however I just did a google search with the subject line mysterious monoliths, and I got an embarrassment of riches, from news sites, blogs and the like, complete with pictures. So there it is! Thanks for the response. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/5 "2024-07-04T22:19:21Z")
How tall are they usually? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/6 "2024-07-04T22:22:23Z")
Google “public art." ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/7 "2024-07-04T22:28:07Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Google “public art." - Type _carefully._ ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/8 "2024-07-04T22:33:56Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Google “public art." I’m sorry, beowulff, I’m afraid I can’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/9 "2024-07-04T22:35:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How tall are they usually? _Standing at six feet, five inches tall and 13” wide on each of its three faces, the monolith was made of folded sheet metal and held together with rebar and concrete, authorities said._ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/10 "2024-07-04T22:35:52Z")
I don’t need any lip from you, HAL. > **[Mysterious monoliths are appearing across the world. Here’s what we know.](https://www.vox.com/culture/22062796/monoliths-utah-california-romania)** > > We don’t know where the mysterious monoliths come from. But we do know they’re art. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/11 "2024-07-04T22:57:03Z")
Once you learn how to weld stainless, all thing can be imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/12 "2024-07-04T23:02:18Z")
I’ll answer this factual OP with a factual answer: Yep, they are real. Don’t question the Art, man. Art for Arts sake. (sez, Paul Simon) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/13 "2024-07-04T23:06:41Z")
Fun Art as well. [Christo](https://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/realized-projects/) has a worthy successor. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/14 "2024-07-04T23:07:15Z")
I thought Garfunkel said that. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/15 "2024-07-04T23:22:57Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Once you learn how to weld stainless, all thing can be imagined. Steel, shmeel, I want to see a real monolith. That shit is heavy, however. I know a stonemason who _didn’t_ put a nice stone table in his own apartment, because he did not want to haul it up a couple of flights of stairs. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/16 "2024-07-04T23:24:11Z")
It is art, made of shiny metal, and they appear then move. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/17 "2024-07-04T23:24:53Z")
There are allegedly [246 monoliths](https://monolithtracker.com/) that have been observed since the initial finding in Utah. Many of them have been anonymously removed, which is also kind of awesome. Wiki article: > **[List of works similar to the 2020 Utah monolith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_similar_to_the_2020_Utah_monolith#cite_note-Monolith_Tracker_2020-4)** > > In late 2020, the appearance of a series of metal columns was reported internationally. Referred to as "monoliths", these sheet metal structures began to be constructed in the wake of the discovery of the Utah monolith, a 3 m (9.8 ft)-tall pillar made of metal sheets riveted into a triangular prism, placed in a red sandstone slot canyon in northern San Juan County, Utah. The structure was placed there sometime between July and October 2016 based on images from Google Earth, but only attracted... Relevant I think: Cecil’s 1990 article on crop circles: > **[What’s the deal with “crop circles”?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341842/what-s-the-deal-with-crop-circles)** ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/18 "2024-07-04T23:28:07Z")
> transparent things > Steel, not transparent. > office building-like towers > 6’5", for example. “All must not be art. Some art we must disintegrate.”–Patti Smith ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/19 "2024-07-04T23:42:32Z")
He wasn’t the front man, ya know 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744/20 "2024-07-05T01:01:49Z")
It was the Pandemic and a lot of artists were bored. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monoliths-real/1003744.md?page=2)