Mysterious metal obelisk is found in a remote part of Utah

But unlike the alien structure made famous by the epic film "2001: A Space Odyssey," the metal monolith discovered Wednesday by public safety workers in southeastern Utah is real. The workers were scouring the redrock region by helicopter for bighorn sheep when a crew member spotted the object, pilot Bret Hutchings told KSL-TV.

"He's like: 'There's this thing! There's this thing back there! We got to go look at it!'" Hutchings said.

Joking that they were intrepid explorers investigating an alien life form, the crew members determined that the monolith was 10 to 12 feet tall and planted firmly in the ground. It seemed to them like more of an artistic expression than part of a scientific experiment.

But mostly, it looked like something out of a science-fiction novel.

"We were kind of joking around that if one of us just suddenly disappears, I guess the rest of us make a run for it," Hutchings told KSL, chuckling.

It was not clear who installed the monolith, which Hutchings designated the strangest discovery he's made in years of flying over Utah desert. The Utah Department of Public Safety will not disclose its exact location, warning that people who try to visit it might end up stranded amid the rocky terrain.

Officials noted that installing unauthorized structures on federally managed public lands is illegal, "no matter what planet you're from." The Bureau of Land Management is determining whether to investigate further.

For now, the monolith is delighting science-fiction fans all over the Internet, who noted the uncanny resemblance to the mysterious structure in "2001" that came from aliens and sped up human evolution.

Some people also posited that the discovery of a monolith in the wilderness was a fitting end to the wild ride of the past year.

"2001: A Space Odyssey in #2020," one Twitter user wrote. "What a long strange year it's been."