A mysterious monolith that popped up in a parking lot in San Diego County this week has just as quickly disappeared – following in line with the strange trend of the metal structures suddenly appearing and disappearing all over the globe.
It’s not clear when the monolith first arrived in the parking lot of Scripps Ranch Marketplace just east of Mira Mesa and Interstate 15, but people took notice Tuesday.
Many San Diegans dropped by to see the object and snap a picture or two.
“No idea how it got here,” said Lisa Flanders Gorski, owner of Massage Green Spa, which is located in the shopping center. “They’re popping up in places – Utah, Russia, Las Vegas, and now, it’s here in Scripps Ranch.”
Similar monoliths have been spotted all over the world, including in a Utah desert, Romania, and Atascadero.
California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium even had some fun this week with this faux monolith, encountered by some cute critters getting in on the trend.
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The monolith mystery has been a game of sorts around the world. How does the structure get there? Who brings it? How does it vanish?
Some people consider it public art.
Others consider it a fun distraction from the difficult times of the pandemic.
San Diego’s monolith moment in the spotlight was short-lived.
On Tuesday night, San Diego Police Department Officer John Buttle said police received a report of a group who came up to the monolith in Mira Mesa and knocked it over. Buttle said the group then loaded the monolith into a truck and left.
Buttle said it was unclear if anyone in that group owned the monolith or if the group was partaking in the game.
Perhaps – as in cases of monoliths on the move all over the world – the monolith will show back up in another part of San Diego County. Maybe it won’t.
Either way, Flanders Gorski told NBC 7 she was happy to see it near her business this week. It gave her something to take her mind off things.
“We need something fun and different to think about,” she said, referencing the ongoing pandemic. “It’s pretty unusual. We’ve never seen this here before,” Flanders Gorski said.
