Salt Lake City (Dec. 12, 2018) — The two videos from Monday depicting the destruction of an arch and hoodoos allegedly somewhere in Utah have been reviewed by the Intermountain West Regional Computer Forensics Lab in Salt Lake City, an agency that assists law enforcement throughout the Intermountain West.
It is the opinion of the lab that the videos are more than likely computer generated, and therefore, fake. Employees from the Utah Department of Natural Resources, including geologists from the Utah Geological Survey and law enforcement from the Division of Parks and Recreation have also reviewed both videos and are unable to identify the locations of these two alleged explosions. Additionally, we have received no investigative leads or information from the public.
While the experts believe these videos are fake, the fact still remains that many of Utah’s natural resources are damaged from careless and irresponsible act of vandalism and destruction. These acts include spray painting over rock art, carving into sandstone and outright destroying natural rock formation. In these cases, those involved are demonstrating poor judgement and disrespect.
Formations like hoodoos and arches take tens of thousands of years to form and can be destroyed in seconds through the careless acts of some. We hope those visiting our beautiful public lands appreciate and enjoy the natural scenery Utah has to offer and realize their responsibility as stewards to protect it. We encourage anyone that witnesses acts of vandalism on public land to report it to the appropriate land managing agency immediately. Enjoy it. Don’t destroy it.