Earthlings, It Seems, Not Aliens, Removed the Utah Monolith - The New York Times

A photographer said four men dismantled the mysterious shiny object that has captivated the country.

The pop-up metal monolith that became the focus of international attention after it was spotted in a remote section of the Utah desert on Nov.

Bernards, 34, of Edwards, Colo., was visiting the monolith on Friday night when, he said, four men arrived as if out of nowhere to dismantle the sculpture.

Suddenly, around 8:40 p.m., he said, the men arrived, their voices echoing in the canyon.

“This is why you don’t leave trash in the desert,” one of them said, suggesting that he viewed the monolith as an eyesore, a pollutant to the landscape, according to Mr.

Nick Street, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety, said last week that the monolith had been embedded into the rock.

David Zwirner, the New York art dealer who represents the artist’s estate and first identified the monolith as an authentic McCracken, stepped forward on Monday to tell The Times that he had studied photographs of it and no longer had any idea who had made it.

Almine Rech, who represents the artist at her galleries in Paris and Brussels, also contacted a reporter to deny that the desert monolith was a McCracken.

On the plus side, the monolith that captivated the country over the past week, then disappeared as quickly as it entered public consciousness, continues to provide a pleasant sensation of uncertainty