The Brief: As mysterious metal monoliths have appeared in Utah and Romania, people are making memes about the meaning and origin of these objects.

DEEP DIVE
Monolith memes abound after two similar metal monoliths have been found in Utah and Romania in the past several weeks. On November 18, a monolith that was approximately 11-feet tall was discovered in the remote desert in Utah. The origins of this metal slab remain unknown and it was removed by four anonymous men on the 27th. Also on the 27th, a Romanian newspaper reported that a similar monolith had been found on a plateau near the city of Piatra Neamt.
Regardless of the actual origin of these monoliths, people have speculated dozens of possible explanations for these appearances including that they’re art installations, extra-terrestrial artifacts, or marketing stunts. Memes about these monoliths remark at the strangeness of the monoliths’ appearances and poke fun at less-likely reasons that they’re popping up.
Monolith Memes
Everything seems to have stories these days, so why wouldn’t the monoliths?
BREAKING: Monolith Inexplicably Returns… With Stories pic.twitter.com/If61Aj0iaC
— TQ ⚡️ (@timquirino) November 30, 2020
In this day and age, people are wary of the likelihood that the monoliths are part of a PR campaign.
I can just feel the monolith thing is going to somehow be an ad for diet coke or some shit
— James Colley (@JamColley) December 1, 2020
Or worse…
What if the monolith thing is the sequel to the Imagine video
— Carey O'Donnell (@ecareyo) December 1, 2020
Brands have started sharing their takes on the meme:
You see a monolith, we see a giant I-Tetrimino. pic.twitter.com/lI2vxE7XCr
— Tetris (@Tetris_Official) November 30, 2020
BREAKING: Another mysterious monolith appears, this time in @flavortown pic.twitter.com/dbp4FcKQJZ
— Guy Fieri (@GuyFieri) December 1, 2020
There are also jokes about the multiple meanings of the word “monolith.”
please stop generalizing about mysterious alien artifacts they are NOT a monolith
— Kumars Salehi (@KumarsSalehi) December 1, 2020
i hope we can all agree to boycott whatever company is doing the mysterious monoliths as a marketing stunt. do NOT use the VERY REAL existence of aliens in such a crass manner!!!!
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) December 1, 2020
Memes about these strange metal objects can be found on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and beyond.