APRIL 2021
A Willing suspension of disbelief
Did you all hear about the monolith that mysteriously showed up in the Southern Utah desert last November?
I remember my reaction to seeing this story on the morning news. My world was already topsy-turvy with an apocalyptic-like plague that I’d never have believed a year ago. So, aliens visiting us? Hell, yeah. That could happen. But, the other half of my brain was saying, calm down, girl. It’s a trick. Someone track down the Myth Busters ASAP!
Looking back at satellite pictures, the anomaly had been there since 2016, but because it was in such a remote area, it wasn’t discovered until a group of biologists ran across it on November 18, 2021 as they were studying Bighorn Sheep.
However, for a moment in my COVID-obsessed year, it was nice to be distracted by such an intriguing morsel of brain candy. Alien evidence … maybe?
While world-wide speculation produced other theories, I was Team-Extraterrestrial. And, apparently, I wasn’t the only one who needed a break from the worry of the pandemic, because copycat monoliths began popping up all over the world. How fun is that?! What a perfect year to find that monolith.
However, for a moment in my COVID-obsessed year, it was nice to be distracted by such an intriguing morsel of brain candy. Alien evidence … maybe?
While world-wide speculation produced other theories, I was Team-Extraterrestrial. And, apparently, I wasn’t the only one who needed a break from the worry of the pandemic, because copycat monoliths began popping up all over the world. How fun is that?! What a perfect year to find that monolith.
Photo by Ross Bernards
Days after discovering this aberration in the desert, it disappeared almost as suddenly as it appeared, at least for most people.
One person happened to make the long and dangerous trek to photograph the curiosity on that fateful day — Ross Bernards. He witnessed the four individuals who removed it. They took down the monolith within 8 minutes and left him with three simple words:
“Leave no trace.”
You can check out his Instagram post > here, with cool pictures and a description of what happened.
The drama over the Utah monolith was too short. I would have liked to see it play out a little longer. But since people were risking their lives to go see the strange pillar, and tearing up the natural beauty of that corner of the world in the process, I suppose it was for the best.
Until the next extra-terrestrial surprise shows up, we have authors who can help spark our imagination and give us more of the magic that Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined: “That willing suspension of disbelief …”
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