Metal Monolith #3 Appears in California – Is It Aliens Yet?

The Year of the Monolith continues with the discovery of another standing metallic triangle on the top of a mountain in California. This follows the appearance and quick disappearances of similar monoliths in Utah and Romania. Is it time to blame aliens? And let’s not forget the Germans, who have their own 2020 monolith-palooza with structures in the shape of giant phalluses – anatomically correct, not just long, tall erections. 2020, what did we do to deserve this?

“I was hiking Stadium Park this morning, which I do about once a week, and as I was walking up the trail I was surprised to see something shiny at the top of the hill. When I got to the top, it was a triangular prism and it looked to be about 10-feet tall and it was metal.”

Paso Robles resident Ronelle Volk told the Paso Dobles Daily News about her close encounter of the monolith kind on December 2 on the top of a Santa Lucia Mountain range peak in nearby Atascadero in San Luis Obispo county. (Photos here and here.) Another hiker told her the monolith wasn’t there the previous day, and Volk and other hikers took numerous pictures and posted them on the Internet, as did reporter Connor Allen of the Atascadero News. The three-sided, 10-foot obelisk appears to be made of stainless steel and 18 inches wide.

“I guess this is a thing now. Be prepared to see these everywhere.”

Another hiker, Gary Lyons, posted a video of the California monolith and speculated that this is a trending “thing.” According to the City of Atascadero, this monolith weighs hundreds of pounds and is not attached to the ground, making it subject to toppling. That would also make it easy to install and remove, although spokespersons for the Atascadero Land Preservation Society which oversees the property at Pine Mountain say they have no information on how it got there.

I’m not saying it’s aliens … but could this one finally be aliens? The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFROC) has reports of more than 100 UFO sightings in the past 20 years in San Luis Obispo county of all sizes, shapes, colors and encounters, with 21 in Paso Robles alone. It’s probably not an alien monolith – it appears to be manmade -- but that’s enough to make one wonder. It’s also the third mysterious monolith to appear in less than two weeks, so it’s worth investigating of this is some sort of marketing or movie promotion stunt, which is more likely than an Internet challenge since these things are so big and heavy. Regardless, we should “Be prepared to see these everywhere.”

Meanwhile, in Germany …

Monoliths of a different kind are appearing, disappearing and appearing again on the 1,738-meter (5,702-foot) high Grünten mountain southwest of Munich. It began about five years ago when a 2 meter (6.5 foot), 200 kg (440 pound) wooden phallus mysteriously appeared. It quickly became a beloved local landmark visited by hikers and tourists … when it fell over a few weeks ago, it was quickly re-erected (insert your own erectile disfunction joke here). Unfortunately, last week it was mysteriously chopped down and hauled off. Before police could find the penile pilferer, a new wooden phallus appeared in the same spot – larger and with a couple of added features (use your imagination or view it here).

Metal monoliths. Wooden phalluses. Will these continue or does 2020 have more surprises up its weird sleeves?