[ad_1]
Residents set fire to a mysterious monolith that appeared in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 17, 2021. REUTERS / Kenny Katombe
KINSHASA – The latest in a series of mysterious monoliths to capture the imagination of science fiction fans around the world came to a fiery end in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday when it was set ablaze at a roundabout in the capital.
The 12-foot metal structure first appeared in Kinshasa’s Bandal neighborhood over the weekend of Sunday morning. On Wednesday morning, a crowd of curious onlookers took selfies and debated the possible origins of the structure.
Videos posted on social media later that day showed residents destroying the structure with sticks and then setting it on fire.
Similar alien-looking pillars were spotted in a Utah desert in the United States in November, and later in Romania and Turkey, prompting conspiracy theories and comparisons to monoliths in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey “.
In the movie, an alien monolith is a recurring symbol that seems to play a role in human evolution.
“We woke up and saw this metallic triangle,” said Serge Ifulu, a local resident. “We were surprised because it is a triangle that we often see in documentaries about Freemasons or Illuminati.”
Similar mysteries have gone viral on Congolese social media before.
In August, an unidentified flying object was parachuted into a dense jungle in the north of the country, briefly puzzling local authorities.
Local authorities detained two people for questioning until a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet confirmed that the device was an internet balloon.
This time again, alien intervention seemed unlikely: Residents said they saw people digging a hole in the roundabout on Saturday.
“On Sunday morning, I got a call when I was playing sports to tell me that they found something strange. I came and said, ‘This is cultural, this is extraordinary,’ “said the mayor of the neighborhood, Thierry Gaibene.
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
