SALT LAKE CITY – A Colorado photographer said he saw an existing famous monolith lying on the ground in southeastern Utah, and he knows exactly how and why it disappeared last week.
The Monolith of Mystery caught worldwide attention and intrigue after its discovery in a remote area southwest of Moab on the 4×4 road near the Canyonlands needle district.
Read: Mysterious monopoly in Romania emerges after others disappear in Utah
How he ended up in a secret location half a mile off the road is still a mystery, but photographer Ross Bernards continues to shed light on how he disappeared – and what the group that took him called him when he was torn to pieces. .
Ross Bernards is leading the way in adventures for his career.
“I am an adventure and outdoor lifestyle photographer, doing it for a living,” he said. “Therefore, it is up to me to find my work unique and cool spaces.”
The Colorado-based photographer explained that it is also a certified canyoning guide. Bernard said he has worked with outdoor brands such as Celtic, Sierra Designs and Utah-based Ogden Med.
He always finds himself in some of Utah’s most remote places, and said Eastern Utah is his “happy destination.”
Read: Dave Sparks of Discovery Channel’s ‘Diesel Brothers’ finds mysterious monotony in Utah desert
Last week when a mediocre spot in his happy space was found amidst some international monolith mystery, Bernard decided to check it out in person.
He said he wanted to go before the monopoly disappeared, or before the public could be found.
“I wanted to go there and try light painting from my drone,” Bernards said.
A few days after reading the article on the formation of metals, Bernards realized that the coordinates were posted online. Realizing that time is of the essence, he and three friends travel many hours on Fridays.
They arrive after dark, and Bernard explains that they end up with all of them alone.
Read: BLM says some monolith visitors damaged public land
All four took pictures of the monotony in the moonlight. About an hour later, Bernards said he saw what he saw after four other visitors left.
“Two of them are back-to-back, two of them walk forward and walk towards the monologue and start pushing a little on it,” he said. “And then one of them turns to my friends who are a little further into the valley in front of him – where I was a little further – and said, ‘Hope you got your photos.’
After that, Bernard said the two put some big pressure on the monolith, and it began to tilt.
“That’s when the rest of the people came up, and all four of them pushed him from one side, and then pushed him to the other.” “And it fell straight to the ground.”
In the same way, Bernards watched the monolith that became captivating and mysterious to people around the world, and knocked it down.
“After he fell down and raised his voice, one of them said, ‘So you don’t leave trash in the desert,'” Bernard said.
See: Aren’t we alone? A mysterious object was found in Utah during a sheep count
He explained that the group began to break the monopoly to throw a puck.
“When they were loading it and walking, they just said, ‘Leave no trace’ and left.
Bernards explained that he and his friends had set up camp overnight, and had also cleaned up some of the rivets left behind by the collapse of the monopoly.
Moving forward the next morning – the message of the monolithic destroyers on his mind – Bernards felt that he was hardly the only person who began to see the strange metal sculpture in person.
He took pictures showing many vehicles on the road and heading towards the area.
“You can only see the road coming out of the dust, and you can see the cars coming and going, car after car,” Bernard said. “I mean we saw maybe 70 or 80 different cars there.”
He said there were many people in each car, some stray and stray.
Bernards talked about how he saw people moving everywhere on the ground, some even stepping into the wrong valley in search of monotony.
Not to mention, people built miles high clearance, miles above the 4×4 road. Bernards described seeing minivans and sedans trying to navigate the route.
He expressed concern that this would lead to a search and rescue call, and would place an unfair emphasis on local authorities as well as the Bureau of Land Management.
“It simply came to our notice then why these people did this,” he said. “One reason we didn’t stop them is because we all agree with them.”
Bernard said people have been called in saying they are part of the problem, and he said he fully understands.
Bernard said he practices “don’t leave a trace” principal and expresses that his job is to visit the place responsibly, straight away.
He also explained having a lot of experience in cross-desert navigation and 4-wheel driving.
However, he said he later felt guilty about making the trip.
After seeing the amount of people who showed up, Bernard said the monolith didn’t need to get out there.
That said, leave art to places where there should be art and Mother Nature to have space for her art.
And for anyone who is buying conspiracy theories around and about the mysterious metal monument and its sudden disappearance, Bernards can at least set the record straight.
“The aliens were not involved in this thing in any way, shape or form. They had nothing to do with this. Nor was it a secret government project. None of this was to be done.” Bernard said with a smile and chuckled “It was clearly an art piece by someone.”
An art piece with a wild, whirlwind week and now a part of the desert past.
