On Friday, a farmer in Turkey's Snliurfa province noticed a large metal monolith in a field near Göbekli Tepe, home to the world's oldest megaliths. This was the first mystery monolith discovery of the year. The new monument had the following inscription in the Turki Goktuk alphabet: "Look at the sky, you will see the moon." Overnight Monday, the monolith vanished even as it was protected by military personnel carrying machine guns.
It's now been revealed that the monolith was a publicity stunt instigated by the Turkish government as marketing for their new space program. From the Associated Press:
An image of the monolith was later projected on a screen as [Turkish president Recep Tayyip] Erdogan presented Turkey's space program during a televised event.
"I now present to you Turkey's 10-year vision, strategy and aims and I say: 'look at the sky, you will see the moon,'" Erdogan said.
