Mysterious monolith pops up in SLO County — the first to appear in California
Update to this story >> >> Where did it go? Mysterious monolith disappears from SLO County hillside
Update to this story >> >> Young men drove 5 hours to rip out Atascadero monolith and replace with cross, video shows
A giant mystery awaits at the top of the Pine Mountain loop in Atascadero’s Stadium Park.
The first glimpse of something unusual is the glint of sunlight off metal as you round a curve on one of the many trails hugging the hillside above the city.
There, nestled above the brown and gold wild grasses and shrubbery, a structure can be seen jutting out of the ground.
As you wind further up the hill, the silver structure comes into full view: A gleaming, manmade monolith.
The sudden appearance of a metallic monolith on a California hillside will be the cause for excitement for many.
A similar monolith captured the public’s imagination after the illegally installed structure was discovered on lands owned by Utah’s Bureau of Land Management in mid-November.
Officials attempted to dissuade hikers from trekking out to the mysterious structure by refusing to reveal its location, but that didn’t stop scores of people from making a pilgrimage to the monolith over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the Utah monolith vanished.
Utah’s Bureau of Land Management said an “unknown party” removed the structure sometime in the evening of Nov. 27.
Ripley’s Believe it or Not is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the structure’s whereabouts.
Days later after the Utah monolith disappeared, another mysterious monolith popped up in the Romanian city of Piatra Neamt. Then it vanished as well.
Like the Utah and Romanian monoliths, the monolith seen in Atascadero is a tall, three-sided metal structure that appears to have been welded along the seams.
How did it get to the top of a Central Coast peak? That’s a mystery.
Terrie Banish, Atascadero deputy city manager, said the city is aware of the structure, which she said measures about 12 feet tall.
She directed requests for comment on the monolith to the Atascadero Land Preservation Society, which maintains Pine Mountain.
Atascadero Land Preservation Society president Mike Orvis said his organization does not have any information on the monolith, including when it appeared or who is responsible for erecting it.
“2020 continues to be an interesting year,” Orvis wrote in an email to The Tribune.
When reached again for comment, Banish couldn’t offer any insight into what might be going on.
“A mystery indeed,” she told The Tribune.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Mysterious monolith pops up in SLO County — the first to appear in California."
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