monolith toronto

Toronto man captures monolith arrival on balcony webcam and unravels part of mystery

The arrival of two monoliths in Toronto remains a mystery, but one Toronto resident thinks he has some clues.

The first monolith arrived at Humber Bay Shores on Dec. 31 and a second one was installed on a break wall in the area the next day.

Humber Bay Shores resident and kite surfer Lukas Novak put together a mock news story about the arrival of the monolith, jokingly attributing the arrival to aliens. However, as part of his post he included real webcam video of the event from his balcony, which has a view over the bay where the monolith was placed.

"The distance to the monolith site from our balcony is 1.15 km as the crow flies," Novak told blogTO.

Novak said he has been interested in the monoliths since the first one appeared in Utah.

"The monolith appearing in Toronto, right in the park in front of our condo building, was quite a surprise," he said.

He was inspired to write a humorous article after neighbour Jamie Crawford created an illustration of an alien with the Toronto monolith.

The footage, dated Dec. 31 starting around 2:30 a.m., shows fuzzy images of two trucks driving into the area, lights around the site and then the trucks leaving around 4:20 a.m.

Novak feels sure the trucks were driven by the people who set up the monolith.

"I feel quite certain of it, even though I can't prove it," Novak wrote in an email to blogTO. "The arrival of the 2 vehicles followed by the lights at the monolith site, as well as the later departure of the two vehicles together seems to be enough evidence to draw these conclusions."

Novak said the webcam has been on his 30th floor balcony for about two years to observe views, interesting weather and to watch Lake Ontario for sports. He kitesurfs, stand-up paddles, and swims all year around.

"I love to be able to check the 'lake status' when I am at work, and I love to be in the know when some interesting weather occurs," he said.

He also posts short time-lapses of beautiful sunrises and sunsets on Humber Bay Moments. His family in Toronto and abroad enjoy seeing the live view via the connected app.

Unfortunately, his webcam doesn't have view of the second monolith site.

"It is definitely intriguing to think about how they mounted the monolith onto the breakwall," he said. "It definitely must have been well thought out because the monolith was able to withstand pretty gnarly waves that day."

So for now, that monolith remains a mystery.

Lead photo by

Lukas Novak


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