They were on a mission to count sheep when they found something they had not counted on.

As a Utah helicopter crew buzzed over the southeastern part of the state looking for big horn sheep last week, sitting beneath them in the middle of the desert was a bright shiny monolith, the stuff of sci-fi sagas.

Pilot Bret Hutchings of the state Department of Public Safety recalled someone on board spotting the gleaming metal object firmly implanted in a small clearing set against the redness of the rocks and sand below.