The deceptively simple stone block turned out to be a hidden teleportation portal. Previous scans of the object showed that it was nothing special. It contained no detectable exotics or anything of value. It also lacked signs of sophisticated technology.
What was even more peculiar was that it did not contain any biological matter at all. That alone was enough to generate considerable suspicion. The citizens of the Life Research Association generally tried to use as little conventional technology as possible. While this was not always feasible, there were plenty of cloistered Lifers who never held a conventional piece of mechanical technology in their lives!
The disregard for conventional technology was so deeply rooted in the minds of the locals that a simple massive rock would never register as anything valuable in their minds!