What Is It? Mysterious Metal Slab Found In Rural Utah

Utah Department of Public Safety can't explain what its helicopter crew found in a remote part of Utah this week.

The Utah Highway Patrol shared a photo on social media of a silver slab coming out of the ground. A DPS pilot spotted the strange object while helping Utah Division of Wildlife Resource officers count big horn sheep.

“That’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all my years of flying,” helicopter pilot Bret Hutchings told KSLTV.

The thing was found hidden among red rocks and is sticking out of the ground. Hutchings thinks it's 10 to 12 feet tall.

So what is the shiny object? DPS and wildlife resource officers don't know. The pilot and his crew don't think the thing serves a scientific purpose and it looks man-made. Hutchings guesses that it might be a piece of art or a homage to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

On UHP's Facebook page, followers guessed that it's part of an UFO, it's a sun dial, a wormhole to another dimension, or an aerial trail marker. Others suggested that whatever it is it should be left alone because there's been enough surprises in 2020.

This isn't the first mystery item to be found in the Southwest this month. A satellite, weather balloon, or something similar floated to the ground last week in northeast Arizona.

Photo: Utah Highway Patrol