Why did the people ask Aaron to make them gods while they were camped at Sinai?

Answer: Moses was delayed on the mountain

Seeing that Moses was delayed, they said, "Make us gods who will go before us... we do not know what has happened to him!"

“Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!””— Exodus 32:1 (BSB)