The discovery of a monolith at the top of a hill in Wales follows a series of similar monoliths discovered around the world in 2020, sparking a renewal of the curiosity that gripped the world four years ago, which led to countless conspiracy theories.
The latest monolith to grace an unsuspecting landscape was spotted by two locals in Wales on the weekend of 9-10th March 2024.
It's the second monolith to be found in the UK – the first was discovered in December 2020 on the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England.
Craig Muir, a builder residing near Hay-on-Wye, on the border between England and Wales, stumbled upon a triangular-shaped tower during a hike to the summit of a Hay Bluff in Powys uplands.
Richard Haynes, a local area runner, speculated it might be a scientific equipment when he first spotted it. "I thought it looked a bit bizarre and might be a scientific media research thing collecting rainwater. But then realised it was way too tall and strange for that," he told WalesOnline.
A relatively recent phenomenon, the first monolith appeared in Utah, USA in November 2020. A mysterious metal structure was discovered in the remote desert by Utah Department of Public Safety officers during a routine wildlife survey.
It too measured approximately 3m in height, and sparked a frenzy of speculation and intrigue, with theories ranging from artistic installations to extra-terrestrial origins. Others appeared in Poland, Romania and Belgium.
However, as is so often the case, the truth behind these monoliths transpired to be a little more prosaic.
It was since discovered that the Utah monolith and a similar monolith that appeared in Atascadero, California later the same year were claimed to be the work of an artist group based in New Mexico called The Most Famous Artist.
Consequently, a monolith that appeared in Turkey in 2021 was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the government ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announcing the country’s new space program.
But at the time of writing, no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the Welsh monolith, and while some of these monoliths have been confirmed as art installations or publicity stunts, some have remained unexplained, adding to the mystique and intrigue surrounding this phenomenon.