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How expensive would a solid piece of metal that size be?
It looks like aluminum. Someone posted 23.5" x 23.5" x ~144" as the dimensions. This comes out to be 46 cubic feet, and would weigh about 7,700 lbs. A floor of the price would be ~40 cents/lb scrap price, or ~$3,100. Ballpark 80-120 cents/lb might be a more realistic price if it were straightforward to manufacture like that (which it's certainly not).
As an industrial engineer and former employee of one of the largest aluminum plants in the world, I can safely say I doubt it is solid rolled aluminum, and bet it would be way bigger of an extrusion that is possible. And logistically, it would be far easier to transport to a remote location via helicopter if it wasn't solid. Any machining, metal forming, etc. would require specialized large equipment, and would quickly drive the cost up, potentially an order of magnitude higher than material costs.
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Too late it's been found [1]. [1] https://www.google.com/maps/place/38°20'35.2%22N+109°39'58.5...
The point still stands, it shouldn't be allowed. It's a natural area for animals and it is a dangerous location. Those well trained/equipped who would normally explore areas like this would be fine -- but this could encourage people with less experience to venture into these areas unprepared for what they will face. That terrain in Utah is no joke and many people have gone missing in those areas.
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That's quite bizarre logic. I'd prefer the natural areas stay pristine and not cluttered up with art that was left randomly in the middle of nowhere. This isn't that great, it's not worthy of any sort of exception here. People are really suffering from "it's new and shiny" syndrome.
"I'd prefer" isn't logic either so clearly we're in the realm of what we each find comfortable.
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I think stele would be the right word maybe? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele
Probably not. Solid metal objects at that scale have not been a feature of human history for particularly long, they probably don't have a name that's normally used in an archaeological context.
What rare material could a monolith be made from that would almost certainly suggest extraterrestrial origin?
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Eh, it's not good enough to get that kind of treatment.
What isn't good to get that kind of treatment. The purpose of the law is to improve the quality of life. Nothing wrong with changing the law to further that goal. Just give the monolith a permit to make it legit.
Maybe we can set up a Starbucks next to it and some bathrooms too. It's the famous monolith! Come one come all!
> The purpose of the law is to improve the quality of life.
I don't see how litter in my national parks is improving my quality of life.
Monoliths are supposed to be made of stone, hence the name...