By Tim Binnall
Those hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious monolith that was discovered near Las Vegas this past week are out of luck as authorities have removed the puzzling piece from the hiking trail where it was found. The presence of the peculiar pillar came to light on Monday when the city's police department posted photos of the sizeable metallic object with an explanation that members of the Las Vegas Metro Search and Rescue Team had stumbled upon it a few days earlier. The sudden appearance of the mysterious object immediately brought to mind the strange monolith craze that swept the globe back in late 2020.
However, like so many pieces that popped up during the frenzy a few years ago, the Las Vegas monolith's presence turned out to be rather fleeting. No doubt thinking that the pillar could become a point of interest to tourists who may not be best equipped to explore the area, the city's police department provided an update on Friday wherein they revealed that they had removed the object "due to public safety and environmental concern." They went on to indicate that the 77-inch-tall monolith was constructed out of a singular piece of "reflective sheet metal folded into a triangle" and then planted into the ground using concrete and rebar.
As for the fate of the monolith, the department suggested that this remains to be determined as it is currently "being stored at an undisclosed location while public authorities determine the most appropriate way to dispose of or store the item." To that end, one imagines that there are more than a few people who would be willing to take the weird object off their hands, so hopefully it does not wind up in a dumpster somewhere. While the department conceded that the origins of the monolith remain a mystery, they consider the case closed as there are no plans to investigate "the circumstances surrounding its existence."