Far right called U.S. "Stonehenge" satanic — and cheered when it blew up

The enigma of the Guidestones, located in Elberton, a city roughly 110 miles east of Atlanta that calls itself “the Granite Capital of the World,” can be traced to the late 1970s. Around that time, a man identified as R.C. Christian commissioned the project on behalf of a group of out-of-state Americans who wanted to remain anonymous, according to the Elberton Granite Association, a trade group. People who knew Christian’s real identity took an oath of secrecy that has not been broken.

The Guidestones’ funders wanted to make “a moralistic appeal” to humanity, according to the trade group, and etched 10 guiding principles onto the stones. The multilingual manual for humanity has been a popular spot for visitors over the past four decades.

The instructions, repeated in eight languages on the four upright slabs, are largely uncontroversial. They urge humanity to protect nature and care for fellow citizens. But two entries raised eyebrows: They called for the world’s population to be capped at 500 million and encouraged reproduction to improve “fitness and diversity.” (There were some 4 billion humans alive in the late 1970s.)