Discovering the origins of the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey requires only a keen cinematic eye or a time spent with Arthur C. Clarke’s novel. But the mystery surrounding its apparent real-life counterpart just got stranger.

A metallic monolith of unknown origin, discovered more than a week ago, has vanished from the Utah desert as mysteriously as it appeared, according to the Bureau of Land Management’s Utah division.

“We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure,