As mysteriously as they appeared, the Georgia Guidestones were demolished on Wednesday during the early morning hours.
Video surveillance from July 6 shows a large explosion destroying one of the four Guidestones, then 10 minutes later, a car is seen driving away from the monument in Elberton, Georgia. While the three remaining Guidestones initially remained intact, a backhoe came later Wednesday afternoon, around 4:45 p.m., and knocked the remaining monuments over, reportedly because of safety concerns.
There is no known motive for why the Guidestones were demolished after 40 years of existence or why an explosion occurred on the site.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the incident, stated that “unknown individuals” detonated explosives around 0400 ET. Residents living nearby reported that the blast woke them up.
Often referred to as the “Southern Stonehedge,” the four granite pillars were erected in 1979. Each of the four main pillars is 19 feet high and weighs 119 tons. The stones have 4,000 sandblasted letters containing what some believe were instructions and lessons for rebuilding humanity in several different languages. The construction is estimated to have cost $500,000.
The Georgia Guidestones were constructed on five acres of property purchased by a man who used the pseudonym “Robert C. Christian” and wanted to keep his identity and the identity of the group he represented secret. In exchange for selling the land, “Christian” promised land owner Wayne Moleanex that he and his children could have a lifetime of cattle grazing rights on the Guidestones site.
One of the slabs is inscribed with the controversial phrase, “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature,” convincing some that the Guidestones were demonic.
One notable person who believed the Georgia Guidestones were tied to Satanism was Kandiss Taylor, a third-place finisher in the recent Republican gubernatorial primary in the state. One of her top priorities during her campaign was to have the Guidestones torn down.
After news of the demolishment was released, Taylor told the Georgia Recorder, “… the Georgia Guidestones, a demonic monument that calls for the depopulation of the earth, as well as for the extermination of 7.5 Billion people, has no place in the Christian state of Georgia, or in America for that matter! This looks like another Act of God to me. Today, it is another defeat of the devil. Never underestimate the power of Prayer!”
The monument has been targeted several times; once it was defaced with red paint reading, “Death to the New World Order.” Some believe the Guidestones were funded by a small group of philanthropists and proponents of population control. It is also speculated that a time capsule lies beneath the stones.