Monolith mystery reemerges in Wales, prompting speculation of space aliens

A newly discovered 10-foot-tall silver monolith on a muddy bluff in Wales has reignited wild speculation on its origin after similar obelisks appeared in Utah, California, England and Romania.

The shiny spear impaled in the ground near Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales, was discovered this month by construction worker Craig Muir while he was out for his regular hike.

Muir posted a video of the bizarre find on TikTok, saying, “I come up here most days, and I’ve never seen this before. Almost looks like a UFO just put it on the ground.”

He said that when he first discovered the object atop the roadless 2,221-foot Hay Bluff, he found no tire tracks or footprints around it that could explain a human connection.

Since word of the anomalous monolith spread through Wales and England, tourists and news crews have flocked to the bluff to get a look. Muir noted in a March 15 social media video that someone appeared to have hammered dents into what he said had initially been a polished silver facade.

Like others that have been discovered, the monolith harkens to those in the plot of moviemaker Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 science fiction classic, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Muir described the statue as appearing to be made of steel, roughly 10-foot-tall by a foot-and-a-half wide, and hollow inside. He also noted it appears quite hefty, adding to the riddle of how it got there.

While some observers of the monolith chalked it up as an elaborate prank, others found the extraterrestrial angle plausible.

After posting his videos on the Hay-on-Wye Community Notice Board Facebook page, one person quipped, “I quite like the monolith, hope the aliens don’t come and get it too soon.”

No one has claimed responsibility for placing the monolith on the bluff.

The discovery was one of several that have occurred since 2016 around the world.

In November 2020, one was found in Utah’s remote Red Rock desert, attracting spectators before a group of unidentified men removed it to parts unknown, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which denied any involvement in taking down the beam.

“We recognize the incredible interest the ‘monolith’ has generated worldwide. Many people have been enjoying the mystery and view it as a welcome distraction from the 2020 news cycle,” the Bureau of Land Management said in a Nov. 29, 2020, statement. “Even so, it was installed without authorization on public lands and the site is in a remote area without services for the large number of people who now want to see it.”

An artist collective calling itself “The Most Famous Artist” claimed responsibility for planting the Utah monolith and a replica beam that appeared around the same time near Atascadero, California.

The group, however, did not claim it was behind a monolith that appeared in northeastern Romania, whose origins remain unsolved.

A British designer claimed responsibility for a monolith that appeared on a beach in the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England in December 2020. Tom Dunford told the BBC he designed the piece “purely for fun.”