Since the 1980s, mysterious linoleum tiles bearing the same bizarre command — 'TOYNBEE IDEA IN MOVIE 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPITER' — have been turning up fused into asphalt in over 200 cities across the Americas. No one ever saw them being made. The maker was never caught. And new ones are still appearing today.
The essential reference: how the tiles are made (linoleum fused to asphalt by passing traffic), the 1983 Philadelphia origin, and the leading suspect theory.
A photo-heavy overview mapping the strange geographic spread of the tiles — a rough box stretching from Kansas City to Boston to Washington D.C.
The Sundance-winning investigation: three Philadelphia friends follow shortwave radio broadcasts and tile clues across the country to track down the man behind it all.
Background on how amateur investigators Justin Duerr, Colin Smith, and Steve Weinik traced the trail of tiles to a specific rowhouse in Philadelphia.
Digs into the cryptic phrase itself: historian Arnold Toynbee's writings on resurrecting the dead, the Kubrick '2001' connection, and Ray Bradbury's eerily similar short story.
A clear, accessible synthesis of the entire case for anyone arriving fresh — the tiles, the radio broadcasts, the suspect, and what's still unresolved.
Explains the actual installation method — tar paper and asphalt sealant melted into the road by passing tires — and notes a wave of new tiles appearing after the documentary's release.
A newer treatment of the case for a fresh generation of mystery hunters, proof that the tiles have never stopped fascinating the internet.