Ep 196: The Christmas Monolith and the Warminster Thing
"The air was brazenly filled with a menacing sound. Sudden vibrations came overhead, chilling in intensity. They tore the quiet atmosphere to raucous rags and descended upon her savagely. Shockwaves pounded at her head, neck and shoulders."
– Descriptions of the “Thing” by Arthur Shuttlewood, as reported in his book, The Warminster Mystery
Description:
In a rare dual-subject episode for us, we take a look at two somewhat Christmas-themed stories, the mysterious yet not-so-mysterious "Utah Monolith" and the Warminster "Thing." In the first part of the show, we discuss the recent discovery of a 9.8-foot-tall metal triangular prism-shaped pillar we've dubbed "The Christmas Monolith." This story made the rounds after state biologists from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources spotted the out-of-place-artifact while conducting a survey of bighorn sheep by helicopter over San Juan County in southeastern Utah on November 18, 2020. Two days later, the Utah Department of Public Safety posted a photo of the monolith on Instagram, with more pictures and videos of the puzzling pillar to follow. The internet and media outlets were soon abuzz with speculation about who, human, alien, or otherwise, would've illegally planted the iconic looking structure in such a remote red sandstone slot canyon in the middle of nowhere and why. Other metal columns have appeared in Romania and California, prompting the question, are these pranks, artworks, a message, or perhaps all three? The second part of our show tonight examines a freakish "flap" of High Strangeness that's so fantastic in its details and so widely experienced at the time that it's baffling why the story has mostly become forgotten. Generally considered to have gotten its start in the early hours of Christmas morning in 1964, this saga of shocking incidents in hindsight seems to have only publically peaked on December 25th and continued well into the following year, and only gradually declined in the decade to follow. The holiday literally started with a bang for the residents of the town of Warminster in Wiltshire County in southwestern England. Numerous citizens and British soldiers training nearby awoke to a medley of piercing, thundering, clattering, metallic noises in the sky and on their rooftops, the nature of which nearly defies description. The strange and untraceable sounds would continue to accost the townsfolk, with some reporting these sonic attacks were so violent it threw them to the ground and sickened their pets. As 1965 wore on, the unearthly rackets would eventually coincide with sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena and craft so unique they sound unusual even for a UFO wave. And what bouillabaisse of the bizarre would be complete without cattle disappearances, freaky interstellar messengers, and tall, humanoid-alien visitors? Warminster had it all. All told, this series of strangeness was so beyond comprehension, and with no vocabulary to satisfactorily describe it, the phenomena became simply known as the Warminster "Thing."
Location:
The former site of the “Utah Monolith” a.k.a. “The Christmas Monolith.” The 9.8-foot tall metal prism-shaped triangular pillar was discovered on November 18, 2020, in a red sandstone slot canyon in the former Lockhart Basin in northern San Juan County, Utah. The structure was spotted by state biologists from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources while conducting a survey of bighorn sheep by helicopter. The monolith was seen being removed by four unknown men on November 27, 2020. If you zoom in all the way on the above map you can see its shadow.
Location:
The town of Warminster in the western part of Wiltshire county in southwestern England. Warminster sits on the western edge of Salisbury Plain, famous for the standing stones of Stonehenge and Avebury as well as other ancient landmarks, and known as “crop circle country.” Wiltshire is also home to training facilities for the British military.
Reference Links:
“The mystery of Warminster's 'UFO'“ By Kevin Goodman on the BBC News website
“UFO called “The Thing” celebrates 50th anniversary in Warminster” on OpenMinds.tv
“BBC Documentary on the Warminster UFO Flap” on AboveTopSecret.com
“1964, United Kingdom, The Warminster Thing (UFO)” on UFOCasebook.com
“10 Unsolved Christmastime Mysteries” by Robin Warder on Listverse.com
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Credits:
Episode 196: The Christmas Monolith and the Warminster Thing. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2020 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.