Two days after the mysterious monolith disappeared from a desert in Utah, a similar structure appeared on the Batca Doamnei Hill in the city of Piatra Neamt in Northern Romania, sparking speculations of alien work. The structure in Utah went missing on Friday.
Monoliths hit the spotlight after they were mentioned in Arthur C Clarke's fiction novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The structure, which also appeared in the movie made on the book, provided wisdom to a tribe of apes. In the book, the monolith first appeared in South Africa.
Romanian Monolith Appears Almost Similar to the Utah Structure
Bearing an almost similar appearance, the monolith discovered in Romania is 13ft (4m) in height and bears a triangular shape. Further, the structure, which has a mirror finish, is covered in a looping scrawl all over.
According to Daily Mail, the monolith was spotted a few metres away from the well-known archaeological landmark the Petrodava Dacian Fortress, a fort built by the ancient Dacian people between 82 BC and AD 106, on Thursday.
One side of the mysterious structure faces Mount Ceahlau, known locally as the Holy Mountain, and is listed as one of the seven natural wonders of the country. Expressing ignorance over the appearance of the structure, Neamt Culture and Heritage official Rocsana Josanu said: "We have started looking into the strange appearance of the monolith. It is on private property, but we still don't know who the monolith's owner is yet. It is in a protected area on an archaeological site.'
"Before installing something there, they needed permission from our institution, one that must then be approved by the Ministry of Culture,' Josanu was quoted by the outlet.
Social Media Divided Over the Authenticity of Romanian Monolith
The disappearance of the monolith in Utah was revealed by the Utah Bureau of Land Management which said the structure had been removed without its knowledge on 27 November. A triangular piece of metal covering a triangular-shaped hole in the rocks was found in the spot where the structure was erected.
Despite bearing an almost similar appearance, the Romanian monolith is being termed as a fake by several netizens. "For a second there, I thought Romania was trending in the US because they found out tomorrow is Romania's national day... but no... it's that fake monolith bull-stuff," wrote a user.
"Utah's monolith has visible screws and seams, Romania's looks like a sad art project with awful welding skills and some sort of texture clearly made with a sander typically seen on every apartment door in Bushwick. Aliens, please improve your buffering technique. Score," tweeted a user.
"Hours after the Utah desert art project vanished, some artist(s) now installed another, similarly metallic monolith art project in Romania. What fun!" expressed another.
