Another mysterious metal sculpture pops up, this time in Iron County

Written by Jeff Richards
April 4, 2021
Hikers and UTV riders visit the site of a metal sculpture in Three Peaks Recreation Area, Iron County, Utah, April 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Once again, a mysterious metal monolith has materialized in Utah. This time in Iron County.

Hikers and UTV riders visit the site of a metal sculpture in Three Peaks Recreation Area, Iron County, Utah, April 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Acting on a reader’s tip, Cedar City News set out Saturday afternoon to locate and document the large metal sculpture within the Three Peaks Recreation Area.

The reader’s photo depicted a person standing next to a steel panel jutting upward, with an outcropping of rock visible in the background – giving it an appearance similar to the one discovered in southeastern Utah last November.

That piece of metalwork, whose creator/installer remains unknown, attracted national attention and eventually brought hordes of people to the remote site in San Juan County like moths to a flame, until it was dismantled and stealthily removed by a disgruntled group of four men less than a week later.

To find the Three Peaks installation on Saturday, Cedar City News followed the GPS coordinates that had been provided by the reader, but those only led as far as a nearby dirt road that turns south off Midvalley Road. After an hour or more of aimlessly hiking around in the area known as Easter Rock or Chris Castle Mountain (and receiving a more accurate GPS pin via text message from the helpful reader), the correct location was eventually found near a confluence of ATV trails.

Highly polished reflective metal sculpture in Three Peaks Recreation Area, Iron County, Utah, April 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cedar City News wasn’t alone in that spot for long, as within 10 minutes several off-road vehicles converged on the area and folks hopped out to take pictures of their new-found find.

The sculpture, or whatever it is, appears to be made of three large upright stainless steel panels joined together in a triangular prism shape. The panels stand about 10 feet tall and are approximately four feet across.

Adding to the mystery, there is a red button located on the panel that faces east. When the button is pushed, a small drawer opens up, and one can see a blue LED light illuminating a stylized Egyptian-looking eye, along with a message imprinted on the back of the drawer.

A mysterious copper strip found inside a drawer in the side of a metal sculpture in Three Peaks Recreation Area, Iron County, Utah, April 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Several small copper strips were also inside the drawer, each bearing the same cryptic three-line message: “HUMAN MAY 4TH | 37.3179604 | 114.9597835.”

Inputting those GPS coordinates into Google Maps brings up a location in Hebei, China. If a minus sign is added in front of the latter coordinate, it shifts to a location southwest of the town of Caliente in southern Nevada. Either way, the locations do not seem to refer to a place that is anywhere near the installation itself.

Another interesting feature is a counter located beneath the drawer, which advances by one number every time the drawer is opened with a push of the button. Contrary to some speculation, the button does not appear to activate any sort of teleportation device or open a gateway to another dimension.

Hikers take photos at the site of a metal sculpture in Three Peaks Recreation Area, Iron County, Utah, April 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

One man at the scene, who gave his name as Bruce, said the count was in the 100s when he first saw it a few days earlier. By Friday, he said, it was around 250. Then on Saturday afternoon, it jumped from 427 to 463 in the hour or so that Cedar City News was at the scene, as several children were observed gleefully pushing the button over and over.

“The secret is starting to get out,” Bruce said.

Multiple people in the utility terrain vehicle group, who frequently ride the trails in the area, told Cedar City News they do not believe the object has been there for very long.

Atop the triangular piece that serves as the roof of the sculpture, there appears to be a solar panel serving as the power source for the automated drawer and the LED light inside.

As for the May 4 date, it’s anyone’s guess what that means. May the Fourth be with anyone clever enough to figure it out.

To see what it’s like to visit the Iron County’s enigmatic UFO (Unidentified Fixed Object), check out Cedar City News’ photo gallery below.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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