Ripley’s Believe it or Not! wants that Utah monolith and it’s willing to pay — a lot

The mysterious Utah “monolith” vanished, but Ripley’s Believe It or Not! will pay good money for it.

The company known for its museums and books packed full of bizarre artifacts and odd fun facts wants its hands on the metal object that was found in Utah’s desert late November.

“Its brief appearance has the world wondering — what was this unusual structure?” Ripley’s said in a Monday news release. “Who placed it there, and where has it gone? We have questions (and a $10,000 reward for the answers).”

Officials found the sheet of metal while flying over “the middle of nowhere” to count bighorn sheep. News of the mysterious object went viral and spread uncontrollably on social media and in the news.

The Bureau of Land Management begged people not to go looking for it, and they didn’t post the object’s location. It was found anyway, and many people posted the coordinates of the monolith to social media and posed for photos with the alluring object.

Days later, the object vanished. It was removed by an “unknown party” sometime on Friday, the Bureau of Land Management said.

Then, residents in Piatra Neamt in Romania said they found another monolith-looking object in their town, NPR reported. It looks just like the one found in Utah.

“Naturally, as curators of the odd, unusual, and unknown, we’re on the hunt for the missing extraterrestrial artwork,” Ripley’s said. “Ripley’s will pay $10,000 to the first person who comes forward as the proud legal owner of the monolith or who provides accurate information exclusively to Ripley’s on where to find it.”

Tips can be submitted anonymously, but the reward expires at the end of 2020.

This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Ripley’s Believe it or Not! wants that Utah monolith and it’s willing to pay — a lot."