Days after authorities removed a mysterious monolith found along a popular hiking trail in Nevada, another one popped up in Colorado.
The shiny rectangular-shaped monolith, which measures about 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide, is situated on a hill in the town of Bellvue in the northern part of the state, local outlets such as The Denver Post, ABC affiliate KMGH and Fox affiliate KDVR reported.
Lori Graves, the owner of the Howling Cow Cafe, which is the near monolith, is just one resident wondering how, and why, it got there.
“I mean, I don’t know what aliens drive these days, whether they flew it in, whether it was, I mean… we’ve run the gamut of it; could be some local artist. It could be a bunch of kids,” said Graves, per KGMH. “That took some work and some planning. You don’t build one of those overnight.”
As she told The Denver Post, Graves first learned of the mysterious structure on June 23 and heard that people had seen it even earlier.
“It’s huge and it’s heavy,” she told the newspaper, quipping that “if anybody had an easy time getting it there it would be the aliens.”
The monolith’s presence has generated interest on social media and attracted spectators, including Jorie and Mark Kramer, who told KMGH: “We were afraid we’d miss it, because they do take them down. So, it’s good to be able to see it.”
Fort Collins Police Services did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The unexpected arrival of the monolith in Colorado comes just days after the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department(LVMPD) announced in a June 21 post on X that they had removed a similar mysterious structure that was seen north of Las Vegas.
“It is being stored at an undisclosed location while public authorities determine the most appropriate way to dispose/store the item,” the LVMPD wrote. “It is 77” tall and each face is 13” wide. It was made out of reflective sheet metal folded into a triangle and secured with rebar and concrete.”
“It remains unknown how the item got to its location or who might be responsible,” the police statement continued. “At this time, there is no LVMPD investigation into the object or the circumstances surrounding its existence.”
Police also mandated that hikers and visitors stay on marked trails, adding, “The LVMPD discourages anyone from venturing off marked trails or leaving objects and items behind. This poses a danger to you and the environment.”
The recent scenes in Colorado and Nevada are the latest in a series of monolith sightings in the last few years. This past March, a hiker came across one such structure during an excursion on the Hay Bluff in Wales. In late 2020, a monolith popped up on Pine Mountain in Atascadero, California. That was preceded by two more sightings that same year in Utah and Romania.
