A strange boulder found buried in the rocks of a remote mountain range near Las Vegas has been removed by authorities.
How it got there remains unresolved.
On Friday, Las Vegas police announced the removal of the gleaming 6-foot-4 prism in a series of posts on the X website, saying “it is unclear how the item arrived at its location or who may be responsible.”
‘Mysterious’ Las Vegas monolith appears in desert
It was discovered over the weekend and quickly demolished due to public safety and environmental concerns, reviving a pandemic-era mystery that was reminiscent of the flashpoint seen in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. When bright boulders began to appear, the mystery captured the public’s imagination.
Members of the Las Vegas Police Search and Rescue Team discovered the object near Gas Peak, part of the vast Desert National Wildlife Refuge where bighorn sheep and desert tortoises can be found roaming.
It’s the latest discovery in a series of cryptic columns that have appeared since at least 2020.
In November of that year, a similar metal boulder was discovered deep in a Martian-like landscape in Utah’s red rock desert. Sightings followed in Romania, central California, New Mexico and on the famed Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.
The mysterious monolith was removed on Thursday, June 20, 2024, at Gass Peak, part of Nevada’s vast Desert National Wildlife Refuge. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)
All of them disappeared as quickly as they appeared, adding to the legend.
“This thing is not from another world,” Lt. Nick Street of the Utah Department of Public Safety said at the time.
The Utah monolith is believed to be the first in the series and is embedded in rock in an area so remote that officials did not immediately disclose its location for fear that people would get lost or trapped while searching for it. . But online sleuths soon found the coordinates, and hordes of curious tourists eager to see and touch the otherworldly object used their cars to flatten the plants and leave human waste in the remote area without bathrooms .
Authorities said the same concerns led them to remove the latest monolith on Thursday.
Installed illegally on federal land established to protect bighorn sheep, it is home to rare plants and desert tortoises. The Desert National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is the largest wildlife refuge outside of Alaska and can cover the state of Rhode Island twice.
Acting wildlife refuge manager Christa Weise confirmed Friday that the boulder had been removed but said she could not comment on whether federal authorities had opened a criminal investigation.
The object is being kept at an undisclosed location and authorities are working to figure out the best way to dispose or store the massive structure, which is made of reflective metal sheets molded into prisms and secured with steel bars and concrete, the police department said.
Photos posted by the department on social media showed the object lying on its side after being removed, leaving a large dent in the ground as the steel bars were buried deep in dirt and rock.
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The department said it “discourages anyone from venturing off marked trails or leaving objects and belongings behind.”
“This is a danger to you and the environment,” Las Vegas police said.
In Utah, a hole was left in the red rock after the boulder was removed. The Bureau of Land Management said Friday it remains actively investigating the Utah case.
