At 4 a.m. on Wednesday, July 6, an explosion mysteriously destroyed the Georgia Guidestones, a granite landmark that was ambitiously called "America's Stonehenge."
The GA Bureau of Investigation released surveillance video (video below) of an explosion at a monument in Georgia's Elbert County. Also, a silver car speeds away from the scene. Authorities stated that they destroyed the monument's remnants "for safety reasons."
According to the agency, the device was detonated by "unknown persons" and the motive is not known. The monument has been linked to several conspiracy theories in the past and is now known to have had a lot of enemies.
The Georgia Guidestones were opened in 1980, a little after the construction in England of Stonehenge about 5,000 years earlier. They consist of four granite slabs measuring 5.87 meters (19 feet 3 inches) high. A capstone is placed on top. The 10-part message is inscribed in English, Swahili and Hindi as well as a 12-part message in Spanish, Swahili. Hebrew, Arabic, Russian Babylonian. Classical Greek, Sanskrit and Ancient Egyptian.
Its inscriptions talk of the preservation of humankind, truth and the age of reason. It also contains some dubious messages, which resonate with certain groups' fear about population control.
Many conspiracy theories have been linked to the Georgia Guidestones, including those linking them to Satanism, New World Order and, for some reason, Barack Obama. Hardcore Christian groups and far-right agitators have called it the "Ten Commandments of the Antichrist" as well as a part of a "Luciferian secret society" that is at the forefront of the New World Order.
It's always been a magnet for wild interpretations and vandalism. It was graffitied with the words "Death to new world order" in 2009. It was also spray-painted with slogans like "Obama is a Muslim" or "Jesus will triumph" the year before.
Many are also suspicious of its inscriptions because no one knows who funded its construction or put them in Georgia.
Kandiss Taylor was a Republican candidate in Georgi and ran a campaign ad calling to destroy the Georgia Guidestones. After hearing about the destruction of the monument, Kandiss Taylor tweeted: "God alone is God." He can do anything he wants. He can even strike down Satanic Guidestones."
