The Toynbee Tiles: A Great American Urban Legend

The image that you see above is a photo of one of many asphalt tiles that were found throughout the east coast of the United States, and even in Africa during the 1990's. The tiles were placed on city streets bearing the message:

"TOYNBEE IDEA
IN MOViE `2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER."

In the United States, tiles have officially been sighted as far west as Kansas City, Missouri,[1] as far north as Boston, Massachusetts,[1] and as far south as Washington, D.C.[1] Since 2002, very few new tiles considered to be the work of the original artist have appeared outside of the immediate Philadelphia area, although one notable sighting appeared in suburban Connecticut in 2006[7] and others appeared in New Jersey in 2008. Presumed copycat tiles have been spotted in Noblesville, Indiana, Buffalo, New York, and on the West Coast, including San Francisco, California and Roswell, New Mexico.[8] Many older tiles considered to be the work of the original tiler have been eroded by inner-city traffic, but as of 2011 older tiles remain in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; St. Louis, Missouri; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; and South America, among other locations. Newer style tiles have been embedded on several major highways, including Interstate 476 in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Interstate 95. About six more were found on Route 1 North bound starting in Drexel Hill in Delaware County in 2007 and 2008. The plates are much larger than the originals and have red italic writing on them.

Many tiles had accompanying messages that referenced a conspiracy between big government and many corporations, specifically telecommunication organizations. Hints of murder and a secret plan to create or destroy something was usually the basis of these added messages.

On of the most alarming and puzzling accompanying messages reads as follows:

John Knight Ridder is the Philadelphia thug hellion Jew who'd hated this movements guts- for years- takes money from the Mafia to make the Mafia look good in his newspapers so he has the Mafia in his back pocket. John Knight sent the Mafia to murder me in May 1991 [illegible] journalists [illegible] then gloated to my face about death and Knight Ridder great power to destroy. In fact John Knight went into hellion binge of joy over Knight-Ridder's great power to destroy. I secured house with blast doors and fled the country in June 1991. NBC attorneys journalists and security officials at Rockefeller Center fraudulently under the "Freedom of Information Act" all [illegible] orders NBC executives got the U.S. federal district attorney's office who got FBI to get Interpol to establish task force that located me in Dover England. Which back home Inquirer got union goons from their own employees union to [illegible] down a "sports journalist." Who with ease bashed in lights and windows of neighborhood car- as well as men outside my house. They are stationed there still waiting for me. NBC CBS group "W" Westinghouse, Time, Time Warner, Fox, Universal all of the "Cult of the Hellion" each one were Much worse than Knight-Ridder ever was[,] mostly hellion Jews. When K.Y.W. and NBC executives told John Knight the whole coven gloated in joyous fits on how their Soviet pals found a way to turn it into a...

The tiles went unnoticed for some time before small groups of individuals began to investigate their origin, but more importantly their purpose. After some time, they began to make quite a few connections. One theory is that "Toynbee" is a reference to an author named Arnold Toynbee, who wrote a book called, "Experiences" which was widely based on the human soul and it's connection with the universe on a molecular level. Another theory is that it is a reference to Ray Bradbury's book entitled, "The Toynbee Convector" which is based on the progression of the human race through the means of continuous development and advancement of technology.

If I have caught your attention, there is far more to learn about this topic. So, I will let you do further research on the tiles by providing you links that delve further into the topic.

en.wikipedia.org...

www.wired.com...

www.damninteresting.com...

There is an amazing documentary on this subject entitled, "Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles"
It can be found on NetFlix for those that have it.

Here are some more photos:

This thread had my curiosity. But now, it has my attention. I shall look deeper, thank you.

Ya, man. I'm watching the documentary right now on Netflix. Half way though so far.... It sparked my interest, to say the least. I'll have to post again when I'm done watching.

I just started watching the documentary on netflix too!

www.abovetopsecret.com...