By Tim Binnall
'Mystery monoliths' have become a bonafide global phenomenon with the puzzling pieces appearing in all manner of places around the world since the start of the month. The strange trend began back in late November when the first such object was found in a remote corner of the Utah desert. This led to a bevy of news stories about the bizarre discovery which captured the imagination of the public. The appearance of a second monolith soon occurred in Romania, followed by a third in California. And with that, it appears, the proverbial floodgates were opened.
Over the past few weeks, the mystery monoliths have multiplied at an astounding rate with new pieces popping up in random places several times a day in both urban and remote locations. In some instances, artists have taken credit for creating and installing the objects and, in other cases, their origin remains a mystery. And, more often that not, the monoliths only appear for a short period of time before they are removed by local governments or sticky-fingered individuals looking to get their hands on the latest sensation.
While documenting each and every monolith to appear since the craze began seems nearly impossible, dutiful Wikipedia editors are attempting to do just that and have compiled a comprehensive and ongoing list of locations where the objects have been found so far. As of this writing, the pieces have appeared twice in Canada, 14 times across 11 European countries as well as in South America via a monolith spotted in Colombia and in Africa by way of an object in Morocco. Meanwhile, here in America, 12 monoliths have appeared throughout eight states and the District of Columbia. At this rate, it is no longer a question of if we'll see more monoliths, but rather where the next one will appear and, perhaps more importantly, when the odd fad will finally come to an end.