A strange monolith was found sticking out of the ground in a remote desert in Utah as state employees were counting sheep from a helicopter.

Utah Highway Patrol posted a photo of the confounding monolith. According to their post, it was found in the "middle of nowhere."

They started taking in suggestions and one person said the monolith may have "fell off the UFO we've been seeing in Ogden lately."

Utah had not officially reported any alien aircraft flying about in the area, but nothing can be ruled out.

(Photo : Utah Highway Patrol) Utah Highway Patrol's photo of strange monolith with caption: (Did you know that @utahdpsaerobureau helps @utahdwr with counting big horn sheep every year? During the count they came across this (sheet of metal?), buried in the middle of nowhere... what do you think it is?)

The crew took a closer look at the structure, joking around as they investigated. "[I]f one of us suddenly disappears, then I guess the rest of us make a run for it," pilot Bret Hutchings told NBC affiliate KSL TV.

According to a report from The Guardian, it was estimated to be at least 10 feet high (about 3 meters) and appeared to be planted on the ground instead of simply being dropped onto the location.

It appears to be made out of some kind of metal as it shone in sharp contrast to the big red rocks that were surrounding it, reported New York Post.

Hutchings said the "strangest thing" he's come across in his years of flying for the Utah Department of Public Safety.

He recounted first seeing the monolith, noting that one of the biologists on-board was the one to spot it before everyone else.

Hutchings said the crew just happened to be flying directly over the top of the monolith when the biologist told him to turn around, saying: "There's this thing back there - we've got to go look at it!"

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Authorities Discourage Visiting Strange Monolith

According to FOX 13 Salt Lake City, the state officials won't announce the exact location of the monolith since it was very remote. They warned that if people attempt to visit the area, they will likely get stranded and may require rescue.

Hutchings said the object is likely manmade. They also speculated that the craft must be something made for scientific purposes.

"We were, like, thinking is this something NASA stuck up there or something," said Hutchings, suggesting perhaps the space administration was bouncing off satellites on the structure.

But they dropped that theory, saying the monolith did not appear to have any scientific purpose to it.

Hutchings also suggested the structure must be a manmade art piece instead of alien life forms showing signs to earth.

"I'm assuming it's some new wave artist or something or, you know, somebody that was a big 2001: A Space Odyssey fan," he said, referring to a famous scene from the 1986 film.

The monolith does look like the giant slab found in a famous scene in Stanley Kubrick's film in which a group of apes discovered it on planet Jupiter.

Some said the monolith was comparable to the plank structures of artist John McCracken, who lived in New Mexico and New York until his death in 2011.

His gallerist, David Zwirner, did not provide immediate comment to the news.

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