Mysterious mirrored monolith discovered on Isle of Wight

A monolith has been discovered on the Isle of Wight, days after similar structures were discovered in the US and Romania.

Tom Dunford, 29, was out walking the dog with his fiancee and sister at 7.30am on Sunday when he saw the mysterious mirrored object ahead of them on the island's Compton Beach.

He said: "We went down the steps and to the right about 100 yards in front us we saw this big reflection of the sun.

"I knew about all the monolith stories recently, so I recognised it straight away."

It is unclear who is responsible for the installation.

Within the last week, so-called monoliths have appeared in the Utah desert, on a hill in Romania and atop a Californian mountain.

They bear a resemblance to the one that features in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The structure discovered on the Isle of Wight was around 10ft tall and "really reflective", Mr Dunford said.

"The person who put it there knows what they're doing. It's really reflective. It's someone playing a practical joke, I don't believe in any of these conspiracy theories."

It has caused quite a stir on the island, with more people going to visit it as the day went on.

Islander Lee Peckham tweeted: "Strange monolith on Compton Beach today. Any ideas?"

Mr Dunford added: "When we came back around half an hour later there were more dog walkers crowding around it - probably about a dozen.

"There's been quite a few people flocking down to see it today.

"It's something a bit different and interesting to happen at this time of year."

The first monolith reported in Utah was originally spotted by state wildlife officials who were helping to count bighorn sheep from a Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter.

The 10-12 feet (3-3.6-metre) structure was discovered in the ground and tucked into a red rock cove, sparking speculation about how it had come to be there and attracting the attention of conspiracy theorists.

But days later, the Utah Bureau of Land Management said the structure had been removed.

An anonymous collective called The Most Famous Artist has taken credit for the Utah structure and also the one in California.