gingerbread monlith san francisco
© Alexis GallagherA monolith made of gingerbread appeared at the top of Corona Heights Park Friday morning.
A new monolith has mysteriously appeared in San Francisco — although it's perhaps not the kind one may expect if you've been paying attention to the news recently.

Rather than the smooth-sided, metal monolith seen in Utah, and later other parts of the world, San Francisco received a quirkier version. In particular, this monolith seems to be made of ... gingerbread.

gingerbread monolith san francisco
© Alexis GallagherThis closeup shows the detail on the frosting and gingerbread.
Posts on the gingerbread structure seen in Corona Heights Park circulated via social media Friday morning. Twitter user @RaemondBW saw the monolith and confirmed to SFGATE that it does, indeed, appear to be made of real gingerbread and frosting.

They described it as triangular in shape "like the one in Utah," and approximately 10 feet in height.
gingerbread monolith san francisco
© Anand SharmaA monolith made of gingerbread appeared at the top of Corona Heights Park Friday morning.
Others who saw the monolith guessed the monolith was closer to 5 or 6 feet in height, however. Anand Sharma happened upon it during a morning run in the park at about 7:30 a.m.

"I think I smelled it before I actually saw it, must have been fresh," he told SFGATE in a Twitter message.

"At first I was distracted by the double rainbow and walked by it to get a better photo," he added in a later message. "Then I smelled something and realized what it was."


Alexis Gallagher also happened upon the sweet monolith at about 8:25 a.m. Friday morning, confirming it was made of gingerbread, frosting and gumdrops.

"Saw it from a distance approaching the park, which I visit often," Gallagher said to SFGATE in a Twitter message. "Wasn't sure what it was. ... I had a closer look and it looks like there's a plywood skeleton underneath, but I try not to dwell on such mundane realities."

Gallagher added that he had to "stop my dog from nibbling on it."

Other people in the area shared their own photos and reaction upon discovering the monolith via Twitter:


This is perhaps the most playful version of a monolith that has happened since the discovery of a monolith in Utah over a month ago. The monolith's appearance among the red rocks of Utah fueled fierce debate over its origins, before it mysteriously disappeared 10 days after it was found — although a group has since claimed it is responsible for removing it. Other metal monoliths have appeared in other parts of the world, including Romania and Atascadero, Calif. (And OK, while we're at it, this structure technically doesn't count as a monolith as some have pointed out. It is made up of multiple gingerbread pieces, rather than one, but ... let's just pretend.)

Unfortunately those looking to check out the tower of baked gingerbread monolith goodness might be out of luck: Sharma noted that it began raining in San Francisco as of 11:30 a.m., writing, "...not sure what happens to gingerbread in the rain but it probably isn't good."