A Second, Mysterious Monolith Appears In Romania (npr.org) 106
Joe2020 shares a report with the caption, "Yeah, this happened." NPR reports: Less than two weeks after authorities stumbled across a mysterious metal object standing freely in the Utah desert -- and just days after it disappeared -- a similar monolith has been reported nearly halfway around the world. Residents in the Romanian city of Piatra Neamt say they have found another odd item that could have been ripped from the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The local newspaper reports that the monolith, like the one discovered in Utah, is about 10 to 12 feet tall and apparently composed entirely of a dimly reflective metal. It was reportedly found standing on the Batca Doamnei plateau, near an archaeological site overlooking the city. Jurnal FM, a local radio station, recorded video of the purported object, revealing an eye-aching sheen and looped markings along its surface. Andrei Carabelea, mayor of Piatra Neamt, appears to be taking the news in stride. "There is no reason to panic for those who think there is still life in the universe," Carabelea quipped, according to a translation by The Independent. "My guess is that some alien, cheeky and terrible teenagers left home with their parents' UFO and started planting metal monoliths around the world. First in Utah and then at Piatra Neamt," he added. "I am honored that they chose our city." According to The New York Times, an adventure photographer said he spotted four men dismantling the structure. The Bureau of Land Management denied moving the structure.
The local newspaper reports that the monolith, like the one discovered in Utah, is about 10 to 12 feet tall and apparently composed entirely of a dimly reflective metal. It was reportedly found standing on the Batca Doamnei plateau, near an archaeological site overlooking the city. Jurnal FM, a local radio station, recorded video of the purported object, revealing an eye-aching sheen and looped markings along its surface. Andrei Carabelea, mayor of Piatra Neamt, appears to be taking the news in stride. "There is no reason to panic for those who think there is still life in the universe," Carabelea quipped, according to a translation by The Independent. "My guess is that some alien, cheeky and terrible teenagers left home with their parents' UFO and started planting metal monoliths around the world. First in Utah and then at Piatra Neamt," he added. "I am honored that they chose our city." According to The New York Times, an adventure photographer said he spotted four men dismantling the structure. The Bureau of Land Management denied moving the structure.
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Pity the poor souls who had to listen to that drivel for the better(worse) part of 7 hours.
But hey, what's an impeached autocrat supposed to do when faced with loss of power?
Dust for prints? (Score:3)
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Has anyone thought of dusting the thing for fingerprints to try to ID who's involved with this?
Do tentacles have prints?
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Does it leave tomato sauce tracks as it moves?
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Don't bring hentai into this.
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ID who's involved with this?
Nike
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No, it's just not at all important to find out who did this. Boring. And for all the journalists and scifi fans out there, "monolith" is Latin/Greek for single stone. A monolith is essentially a standing stone, not some sheet metal welded together.
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Different monolith too. The second has this type of polishing swirls the first does not have. Those who made the second do not need to know those who made the first box. It's just a 'fun idea' which could turn into a meme.
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There are several definitions for monolith:
\monolith noun
monolith | \ mä-n-lith
\
Definition of monolith
1 : a single great stone often in the form of an obelisk or column A granite monolith stands at the center of the park.
2 : a massive structure The 70-story monolith is one of Europe's tallest buildings.
3 : an organized whole that acts as a single unified powerful or influential force The movie company grew into a monolith of the entertainment industry.
https://www.merriam-webster.co... [merriam-webster.com]
Depending on what you would consider "a massive structure" one could argue that the second definition fits these items. Just because the word originally meant a single stone structure doesn't mean that that is the only current meaning of the word. There are hundreds of words that now have meaning other than there original meaning. Language is a fluid living thing so is subject to these kinds of changes.
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I made sure everyone wore gloves.
With these stunts my new startup of garden monoliths is going to be a smashing success!
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Why waste the time on what is quite obviously a marketing stunt. It reminds me of the time the Big Mango got stolen. All over the news for days. https://www.pri.org/stories/20... [pri.org] just a marketing stunt by Nandos for a new sauce.
I fully expect news of a new 3D re-release of 2001 A Space Odyssey is coming shortly.
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Well, it's gone now:
https://www.ziarpiatraneamt.ro... [ziarpiatraneamt.ro]
Article is written in some strange alien language but I think I understand the pics.
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I think you'll find it's Romanian - I can ask my neighbours if you like, them being Romanian.
And as for "strange alien", I can "gloss" it and I've never studied a word of Romanian (and only worked on a Romainian company's project for a couple of months). But with reasonable French and workable Spanish, with a little exposure to Portuguese, Latin and Italian, it's very obviously a language in the "Romance" group. Which is not exactly surprising, since Romania
Alternate headline (Score:5, Insightful)
Town in Romania, facing covid-related budget shortfall, comes up with new scheme to gain attention and attract tourists.
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Bloody gypsies... Only question is how they got it from Utah to Romania.
They had a round trip ticket. Monolith first class.
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Only question is how they got it from Utah to Romania.
This wouldn't be a question in any year other than 2020.
Slow news days started already (Score:2)
It is normal to have slow news days around Christmas, but has it started early this year?
Re:Slow news days started already (Score:5, Insightful)
It's Monolith Mania (Score:3)
Maybe a probing will soon follow!
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They are not even using the word correctly. As the word implies, a monolith is a single rock. ... sculpture?
Like Ayers Rock, or a carved pillar.
This is a metal
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It fell off an aircraft or satellite. Or, it is the treasure that sits at the end of a rainbow. Did they open it?
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More properly, they should call it a pylon [google.com].
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"We require more minerals."
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The rectangular (1 x 4 x 9) thing in Clarke's books (2001, 2010, 2061, 3001) is referred to as a monolith. It certainly is a single object, although not made of rock.
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Don't be so offensive, this metal monolith clearly identifies as a rock.
Why do folks find this so intriguing? (Score:5, Insightful)
Someone erects a stupid piece of scrap metal (not even deserving the classification of monolith) and it draws the attention of people apparently hungry for intrigue in their lives. No wonder click bait works.
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Forget Ancient Aliens... we have contemporary aliens!.
"Aliens."
Plot twist: It's actually Tom DeLonge erecting them.
Re:Why do folks find this so intriguing? (Score:5, Insightful)
o The Pandemic
o The U.S. election
o Trump
o China
o Russia
o Iran
o Imminent economic collapse
o Unemployment
o Rampant homelessness
o Racism
o White nationalist/neo-n@ziism
It's a giggle someone is having, at considerable expense I'm sure, that they're sharing with everyone else.
Harmless.
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Correction: mostly harmless.
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It is a reference to a book. Turn in your geek card and leave the site immediately.
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But it is related to the election! (Score:2)
The monolith was full of votes for Trump!
Biden is working with the Vulcans to bring us to a socialist future without money!
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Feel free to keep hoarding your pointless gold-pressed latinum and kvetching endlessly about old fat politicians that aren't even relevant anymore. I'm sure Federation doctors will have a cu
Re: But it is related to the election! (Score:2)
</thread>
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Did someone say 'erect'?
https://www.dw.com/en/bavaria-... [dw.com]
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Yeah monolith literally means "single stone" - these things are quite clearly some polished and welded steel. Not only quite obviously human made, but they look like some high school art project.
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Other than the polishing, welding and such - sure.
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Other than the polishing, welding and such - sure.
https://youtu.be/Cmy-4QC0U0g [youtu.be]
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I don't think you parsed my sentence correctly. The welding, polishing, etc are why I said it was "quite obviously human made".
Re: Why do folks find this so intriguing? (Score:2)
Indeed click bait, and also we all clicked on the Slashdot link!
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Someone erects a stupid piece of scrap metal (not even deserving the classification of monolith) and it draws the attention of people apparently hungry for intrigue in their lives. No wonder click bait works.
Quick I can help: Did you hear Trump is forcing Biden to ban Huawei because they financed systemd's adoption in Debian which forced a Tesla to catch fire leading to car companies to adopt Windows instead?
There, happy! I just summarised Slashdot for you in one post. Now you can enjoy the monolith since you've read all of today's news.
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*achoo* sorry. COVID-19. I knew I forgot something.
Hidden Message (Score:4, Funny)
BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR OVALTINE [youtube.com]
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Why do they call it Ovaltine? The mug is round. The jar is round. They should call it Roundtine.
Re: Hidden Message (Score:2)
Ovo = egg
alt = (m)alt
It's or was originally mostly malt and egg I guess.
(Egg was popular as a thickener for milk-based drinks in the past. Especially raw egg yolk. But I guess powdered too. But because of being overly cautious to a level that is simply irrational, I don't think it's used anymore.)
Just my educated guess.
Also: The more you know...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Also: The more you know...
Next thing, the Chinese lander (Score:2)
Is it a real monolith this time? (Score:2)
Is it a real monolith this time or some sloppily put together sheet metal that some undereducated journalist who has never been to a machine shop calls "monolith"?
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The "looped markings" look a lot like really bad milling. like someone was trying to finish a surface and they had to throw it out.
Re: Is it a real monolith this time? (Score:2)
Lesson for Apple to make their products even shittier and make more money, there. "It's not a blemish. It's /DeSiIiGn/!" ;)
More than one? (Score:1)
So its a multilith?
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No, there's only been two so far. So it's stereoliths.
Not to be outdone ... (Score:2)
All these lands are yours, except Romania (Score:5, Funny)
Attempt no landing there.
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Because if you do, you'll be making crop circles in the fields.
Re: All these lands are yours, except Romania (Score:2)
Because of you do, you'll get abducted by chainsaw murderers and sucked dry by Dracula.
Especially if you're an American teen.
Seen too many movies like that.
Better go rent Tucker and Dale's cabin. :)
I woke up this morning (Score:1)
with a monolith in my pants. What do I do now?
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My god, it's full of sp.. erm..
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Have you tried to empty it like a bottle of ketchup? [youtube.com] (NSFW but funny as %$#)
Re: I woke up this morning (Score:2)
That's a quite old joke that they took there. Original joke was funnier too.
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And why don't you enlighten the rest of us instead of just referencing something without actually saying what it is?
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There's a secret message here. (Score:1)
I think it says ... "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine."
Stupid "art project". (Score:2)
It's gonna be some turtleneck sweater moron too full of himself, presenting this as a great art project, in a few months.
Listen, "modern art" people: It's not art if it's useless! (No it's not.) Get us some deep insights or touching emotions or GTFO.
Roadside Picnic Reloaded (Score:1)
Don't know about the one in Utah, but this one is actually an alien barbecue grill photographed from the back side.
Attention seekers (Score:2)
UFO (Score:1)
Their parents' Unidentified Flying Object? How did they get on board if it was already flying? How did they know it was their parents' if they couldn't identify it?
mysterious? (Score:2)
We went through crop cycles now we'll go through "mysterious" monoliths.
Performance art. (Score:3)
Child of Banski (Score:1)
is going to have monoliths mysteriously appear and disappear all over the world until they get caught.