Aliens, artists, or pranksters? Another ‘mysterious’ monolith appears in Nevada, in the US

Another “mysterious” monolith has been spotted — this time on a hiking trail in Nevada, USA, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).

“We see a lot of weird things when people go hiking like not being prepared for the weather, not bringing enough water … but check this out,” the department wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday showing images of a mirrored structure.

“How did it get up there?”

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The monolith was found over the weekend near Gass Peak north of Las Vegas, it added.

LVMPD did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The pillar is reminiscent to ones which popped up all over the world after a helicopter crew flying over a Utah desert discovered a 3m-tall silver monolith in late 2020.

Similar structures soon appeared on a California mountaintop, a forest in Romania, and the Isle of Wight off England’s south coast, to name a few.

Sightings have largely slowed down since 2021, but this March in Powys County, Wales, local builder Craig Muir stumbled on one during a walk up a hill. He told the BBC it seemed to be carefully planted.

“There were no obvious tracks around it, and one would think that something like that would cause a lot of mess,” he said.

As for the one found on the Las Vegas hiking trail, social media users claimed the monolith isn’t actually new.

“Anyone who lives on the west side sees this weekly,” one person commented on the LVMPD’s Facebook post.

“Yes! Been seeing this for years,” another person wrote, amid posts joking about aliens, pranks and that it could be a portal to other dimensions.

“Obelisks have unknown power and purpose. I think it’s man-made, but aliens are still among us. Keep your eyes open and cameras ready,” another person suggested.

Others assumed it was a work of art, something that has been speculated about previous monoliths.

Gallerist David Zwirner in 2020 argued the Utah monolith was the work of the late minimalist sculptor John McCracken, which was somehow installed after his death in 2011.

He later retracted the theory, saying: “When you look closely at the photos … you will see rivets and screws that are not consistent with how John wanted his work to be constructed. He was a perfectionist.”

Meanwhile, designer Tom Dunford claimed to the BBC in December 2020 he erected the monolith on the Isle of Wight “purely for fun”.

“When I saw the first one pop up (in Utah) I thought it was brilliant, the second one popped up and I had a text from a friend which said ‘You’re the man who can do this on the island’,” he told the BBC.

“I’m absolutely fascinated in futuristic design, science and space. The actual idea sparked when I was walking back to the office, and we had an old sheet of mirrored perspex.”

In Nevada, Las Vegas police used the opportunity to remind hikers heading out on the trails to be safe out there — bring plenty of food and water, a first aid kit, a light source, check the weather and tell people where you intend to go and when you expect to return.

The LVMPD said it would leave internet sleuths to get “to work on this mystery”.