Bemused Locals Have Mixed Reaction to Destruction of Georgia Guidestones Monument

Many theories are circulating about what blew up one of the five pillars of the Georgia Guidestone monument in Elberton, Ga., on July 6, 2022. (Courtesy of Arlayne Thomas)

ELBERTON, Ga.—The Georgia Guidestones monument has left locals as confused by its destruction as by its creation.

In 1980, a mysterious man using the pseudonym of Robert C. Christian built the monument out of local granite.

Into it, he had carved a series of laws meant to guide humanity after a nuclear war.

Early on July 6, another mysterious person blew up one of the monument’s pillars, leaving the small town of Elberton with another big mystery.

Nat, an Elberton local, says of the destruction of the Georgia Guidestones monument, “It was one of those spooky stories of Nowhere, U.S.A.,” on July 7, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

The first ones to know something had happened were the monument’s neighbors Arlene Padgett and Bud McClure. The blast woke them both and left their team of horses on edge even hours later.

Padgett and McClure heard the explosion at 4 a.m. At first, both said they thought it was thunder and returned to sleep.

But even then, McClure said it seemed unusual.

“It didn’t echo. When you hear thunder down here, you'll hear it go all over,” he said.

Whatever happened destroyed one of the Guidestones monument’s five pillars.

“They were terrorists on a budget,” McClure said of the attacker.

‘Asleep at the Wheel’

Whatever happened, there’s no shortage of means and motive, locals say.

Around Elberton, theories fluttered as to what happened. Some favored an “Act of God” from a lightning strike.

Others believed the monument was destroyed by a “Rod from God,” an orbital weapon that drops heavy metal rods that strike with explosive force.

Still, others said the destruction came from a missile.

Neighbor Arlayne Thomas said she guessed it was dynamite.

Elberton refers to itself as the “Granite Capital of the World” and isn’t short on high explosives.

“It’s probably dynamite with all the quarrying around here,” she said.

Thomas slept through the explosion.

Many locals disliked the monument, said Padgett. It was vandalized several times, leading to the installation of a security camera linked to the town’s emergency services.

But no one answered.

“Somebody must’ve been asleep at the wheel,” said Padgett.

Nevertheless, Padgett and McClure say they feel ambivalent about the monument’s destruction.

“There was nothing worth seeing to start with, in my opinion,” said McClure.

The neighbors agreed that they looked forward to the end of people turning around in their driveway to see the monument.

Many in town believed it was satanic in origin, locals said. But no one interviewed by The Epoch Times expressed this belief.

“Personally I don’t think it’s satanic,” local Carol Beckton said unprompted.

But many people do, she added.

“I’ve had mixed feelings about it,” said Eliot, a new arrival to the Elberton area. “It was interesting as a spectacle, but very foreboding at the same time. It was a place where I was on edge.”

Written in Stone

The monument had the following laws written on it, among others:

“Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

“Guide reproduction wisely—improving fitness and diversity.

“Unite humanity with a living new language.

“Rule passion—faith—tradition—and all things with tempered reason.”

Georgia politicians seem to believe that dislike for the monument was strong enough to make it a campaign plank.

Gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor made demolishing the monument part of her platform.

Construction crews later took down the remainder of the monument because it was unstable without the destroyed stone, neighbors said.

One local said she was disappointed that the monument was removed and wondered if its mysterious creators would return.

“I was wanting to see if the secret people would come back,” said Dianne Tucker.

However strange the monument gave the town a touch of character, said some locals.

“It was one of those spooky stories of Nowhere, U.S.A.,” said Nat, another recent arrival to Elberton.