A few months ago, a series of metal monolith sightings had been reported, with the first one found in the Utah Red Rock County Desert. The appearance and disappearance of these metal monoliths have left many people around the world thinking that this could be an "extraterrestrial" phenomenon.

Then a few days ago, another metal monolith appeared and disappeared on a field in southeast Turkey. The farmer who saw it first said that he does not know how the mysterious monolith got there and why it has suddenly disappeared.

But a recent announcement from the Turkish government has revealed the mystery monolith's sudden appearance and disappearance.

Part of the Publicity Stunt

The mystery metal monolith found in Turkey has the ancient Turkish words etched on it, which translates to: "Look at the sky, you will see the Moon." 

It turns out that the mystery metal monolith was placed there by the Turkish government itself as part of the publicity stunt as they make an important announcement. Although it seems a little bit lame, the publicity stunt did catch the attention of many people around the world.

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New Space Program

During a press conference, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented on February 9 a new space program for Turkey, much like NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, JAXA, and China's space programs with the Arabs catching up as well.

"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.

The Guardian reported that the Turkish space agency (TUA) is hoping to contact the moon by 2023, send astronauts to space, build their own spaceport, and develop sophisticated satellite and meteorology technology. 

"I hope that this roadmap, which will carry Turkey to the top league in the global space race, will come to life successfully," the president said.

"Our feet will be on Earth, but our eyes will be in space. Our roots will be on Earth; our branches will be up in the sky."

Turkey seeks to re-establish itself as a world power, hoping that the expansion of the Turkish space agency will make them one of the handfuls worldwide capable of space exploration.

The Turkish space agency, locally known as Türkiye Uzay Ajansı (TUA), was founded in December 2018 as part of the promise made by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the campaign earlier that year. However, the Turkish space agency has had trouble getting off the ground because of its complexity and the country's economic crisis.

Critics have opposed the astronomical costs that the Turkish government has been allocating to the space programs. Still, the space agency's supporters said that this innovation will create technical and highly specialized jobs in the future and will reduce the brain drain of emigrating Turkish scientists and researchers.

Last month, SpaceX partnered with Ankara company to launch the Türksat 5A communications satellite used for both civilian and military operations. 

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