New mysterious monolith appears on top of mountain in California

It is the third sighting of a large metal monolith standing in a remote landscape

Another mysterious metal monolith has appeared in the US, this time atop a mountain in California, a week after a similar structure was discovered in the deserts of Utah.

The structure was spotted on Wednesday outside the small town of Atascadero, San Luis Obispo County, in central California. 

According to local newspaper Atascadero News, the monolith was spotted on Wednesday at the top of Pine Mountain. Several people have already rushed to the site to see the mysterious structure and take photos with it. 

The report said the structure appeared to be made of stainless steel, 10-feet tall and 18 inches wide and weighing about 200 pounds.

As with other monoliths sighted in recent weeks, there is no information about who installed the structure or why.

The object appeared welded together at each corner, with rivets attaching the side panels to a likely steel frame inside.

Unlike its Utah sibling, the monolith in California wasn’t strongly attached to the ground and looked like it could be easily knocked over, the local media report stated.

This is the third sighting of a monolith in less than 20 days after the first metal structure was spotted in Utah on 18 November, leading to speculations about why it was installed and by whom. Almost as mysteriously as it appeared, the structure was removed on 27 November by five men who told witnesses to “leave no trace”.

The pilot who first spotted the Utah structure said he believed it could be an artist’s installation, while many rival theories also cropped up, some inevitably involving aliens. 

During a site visit on Saturday, a bureau team in Utah confirmed that an unknown person or group had removed the illegally installed structure.

A similar metal structure was discovered on 26 November on Batca Doamnei Hill in northern Romania, prompting the local mayor to write a statement urging “those who think there is still life in the universe” not to panic.