Utah park rangers want us to know that this is NOT allowed:
A mysterious metal monolith was discovered in Utah after public safety officers spotted the object while conducting a routine wildlife mission.
A helicopter crew with the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau was assisting Wildlife Resources on Wednesday to count bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah, the department said…
Hutchings said the origins of the silver metal monolith still remained a mystery, but it appeared to be a “new wave” art installation that stood “between 10 and 12 feet high.”
Wilson Wong, “Mysterious metal monolith discovered in rural Utah” at NBC News
Why rush to conclude intelligent design?, asks philosopher and photographer Laszlo Bencze
He writes us to recommend a proper Darwinian view of the problem:
Having studied the pictures of the “mysterious metal monolith” which appears to be about two feet wide and ten feet high, it is clear to me that this is a natural object, a crystal of pure iron. As we know, tiny crystals of pure iron can be grown under laboratory conditions. I see no reason to suppose that they might not also grow under natural conditions. Moreover, I see no reason why the growth of a microscopic crystal might not, under favorable conditions, grow to macroscopic size. We need only imagine soil conditions of high iron content, ground water, a lightning strike, and some phosphoric salts to understand how such a crystal might well grow unimpeded from a damp spot in the desert.
Yes, exactly. The desert version of Darwin’s Warm Little Pond, where life might just happen to originate…
Only a creationist would suggest that a local artist created it after spending too much time rewatching Space Odyssey 2001 (1968):
See also: Darwin’s notebooks apparently stolen – But wait! A proper Darwinian response would say that the books evolved away from the Library “daily and hourly” during those twenty years. Seriously, we sure hope they get them back.