LAS VEGAS (AP) — The strange monolith looks like it could come from another world.

The shimmering rectangular prism protrudes from the rocks of a remote mountain range near Las Vegas, and its reflective surface mimics the vast desert landscape that surrounds the mountaintop on which it is built.

But where did the object come from and is it still there? This is the mystery the US Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to solve after learning about it through a social media post on Monday.

Las Vegas police said on social media platform X that members of their search and rescue unit found the alien object over the weekend near Gass Peak, part of the vast Desert National Wildlife Refuge that is home to bighorn sheep and desert tortoises. At 2,114 meters, the mountain is one of the highest peaks in the area north of Las Vegas.

“We see a lot of strange things when people go hiking, like not being prepared for the weather or not bringing enough water,” police wrote. “But look at this!”

Photos accompanying the agency’s post show the strange structure towering against a bright blue sky, with views of the Las Vegas Valley in the distance, reminiscent of the object featured in Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Neither police nor their search and rescue unit immediately responded Monday to requests for further information about their discovery – the latest in a series of mysterious glowing pillars that have appeared around the world since at least 2020.

In November of that year, a similar metal monolith was found deep in the Mars-like landscape of Utah’s red desert. Sightings later followed in Romania, central California, and on downtown Las Vegas’ famous Fremont Street.

They all disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

The Utah structure that captured the world’s imagination during the pandemic is believed to be the first in the series. It was about 12 feet tall and embedded in the rock, in an area so remote that authorities did not immediately disclose its location for fear that people might get lost or stranded while searching for it.

Hordes of curious tourists have managed to find it anyway, flattening plants with their cars and leaving human waste in the toilet-less wilderness. Two men known for extreme sports in Utah’s vast landscapes say it was this kind of damage that made them step in late at night and tear it down.

Now the US Fish and Wildlife Service has expressed concern that the same level of damage could occur in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, which was established to protect bighorn sheep and is home to rare plants. It is the largest wildlife refuge outside Alaska and could cover the state of Rhode Island twice over.

“Perhaps people are looking for them and arrive with unsuitable vehicles or drive into areas where they shouldn’t and trample plants in the process,” says Christa Weise, the deputy director of the protected area.

The structures in Utah and Nevada were built illegally on federal land.

Rio Yamat, The Associated Press