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Historical Google Earth Pro images reported by fact-checker Teyit show the Utah monolith absent in July 2016, present by October 2016, and still visible in 2019. That means it was apparently standing for at least several years before state personnel spotted it from a helicopter on November 18, 2020. The imagery does not reveal the exact installation date or identify who put it there.
What the historical images show
Teyit’s comparison of Google Earth Pro views found three relevant points:
| Image date reported by Teyit | What the image showed | What can safely be concluded |
|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | No monolith visible | It was not visible in that image. |
| October 2016 | The monolith visible | The structure was apparently in place by the time that image was captured. |
| 2019 | The monolith still visible | It remained at the site in the latest image Teyit found. |
Teyit did not independently establish the original capture metadata for the July and October images against a primary Google archive. A month displayed in Google Earth is an imagery date, not an installation record. The comparison therefore narrows the window in which the structure appeared—from after the July 2016 image to no later than the October 2016 image—without supplying a particular day or builder. See Teyit’s analysis.
Discovery and removal timeline
- January 2015: Utah’s Geospatial Resource Center announced a statewide license for high-resolution aerial photography. The available imagery came from 2013 and 2014 flights and covered about 98% of Utah, with southwest San Juan County expected later that year. (UGRC announcement)
- July–October 2016: Teyit’s reported Google Earth Pro comparison changes from no visible structure to a visible monolith.
- 2019: The latest image Teyit found for the location still showed the structure.
- November 18, 2020: Utah state personnel reportedly encountered it during a helicopter operation to survey bighorn sheep.
- November 23, 2020: Utah Department of Public Safety personnel published images of the object through official accounts and the department website.
- November 27, 2020: The Bureau of Land Management said an unknown party or parties removed the structure that evening.
- November 29, 2020: The BLM confirmed the removal and said the agency itself had not taken it away. Its release identified the location as public land in the Monticello Field Office. (BLM release)
What “existed for years” means—and what it does not
The evidence supports a restrained statement: the monolith was apparently present by October 2016 and remained through 2019, so it had been standing for roughly four years or more when it was discovered in November 2020. It does not prove that it was installed in October 2016, nor does it establish its maker, purpose, or exact age.
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Utah imagery also does not follow one uniform statewide schedule. The Utah Geospatial Resource Center says urban areas are updated more regularly while some rural locations retain older Google imagery; it later selected Hexagon imagery for statewide coverage and continues to provide older Google imagery through its services. The licensed 2015 aerial product was described as 6-inch-pixel photography with approximately 0.5-meter horizontal positional accuracy, but that specification applies to the licensed product—not automatically to every consumer Google Earth image at the monolith site. (UGRC licensed imagery documentation; UGRC aerial photography data)
Where it stood and why officials discouraged visits
The BLM said the unauthorized structure was on remote, undeveloped public land in its Monticello Field Office. Publicity produced a surge of visitors to a site without infrastructure for heavy use. The agency reported parking on vegetation and human waste, and warned that the location had:
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- no cell service;
- no restroom or parking lot;
- high-clearance vehicle requirements; and
- illegal off-road driving when visitors leave designated roads and trails.
The BLM advised people not to attempt to visit the site. Those statements came from its November 29, 2020 release; anyone seeking current conditions should consult the BLM directly rather than rely on reports about the former monolith location. Monticello Field Manager Amber Denton Johnson said it had been “installed without authorization on public lands” in a remote area without services for the sudden crowds. The agency also urged visitors to follow Leave No Trace principles and applicable federal and local laws. (BLM release)
Other ways to investigate Utah’s imagery record
For broader historical context, the Utah Geological Survey’s public aerial imagery database catalogs collections by acquisition agency, date range, project code, map location, and image markers. An article published in January 2022 said the database then covered imagery from 1935 through 2020. It reported an archive snapshot of more than 1,200 imagery projects and more than 277,000 air photos—283,218 items across 1,231 collections as of October 2021. Those are archive-wide totals, not evidence about the monolith itself. (Utah Geological Survey database overview)
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The database can point users to external sources such as USGS EarthExplorer; a free user login is required there to complete downloads. Confirming the monolith’s age would require locating imagery that covers the exact site, checking its acquisition metadata, and comparing dates—not simply reading a month label in a consumer map interface.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The evidence-based answer
According to the reported Google Earth Pro comparison, Utah’s monolith was not visible in July 2016, was visible by October 2016, and remained visible in 2019. It was therefore there for years before its November 2020 discovery, but the available record cannot date its installation more precisely or identify who installed it. The BLM confirmed that an unknown party removed the unauthorized structure on November 27, 2020.
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