Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:01,067 --> 00:00:05,089
Subtitles downloaded from www.OpenSubtitles.org
2
00:00:23,656 --> 00:00:26,557
They are mysterious markers
with bizarre messages.
3
00:00:26,626 --> 00:00:28,253
Artists or pranksters
4
00:00:28,328 --> 00:00:30,387
have been sticking these
plaques on roadways
5
00:00:30,463 --> 00:00:33,091
and other places around
the globe for years now.
6
00:00:37,037 --> 00:00:39,972
"Toynbee Idea
in Kubrick's 2001... "
7
00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,508
Resurrect Dead on
Planet Jupiter."
8
00:00:42,575 --> 00:00:43,872
I have no idea
what it means.
9
00:00:43,943 --> 00:00:45,877
Maybe it's
a message from space.
10
00:00:50,383 --> 00:00:52,851
The plaques were first
sighted in the early 1980s.
11
00:00:52,919 --> 00:00:55,683
There are 130 known
plaques, most in the US.
12
00:00:55,755 --> 00:00:57,313
Philadelphia, Baltimore...
13
00:00:57,390 --> 00:00:59,449
New York, Washington D.C.,
Chicago, Saint Louis...
14
00:00:59,526 --> 00:01:01,994
Plus, they have been
spotted in South America.
15
00:01:05,632 --> 00:01:07,065
City officials we contacted
16
00:01:07,133 --> 00:01:10,102
were not aware of
their existence.
17
00:01:10,170 --> 00:01:12,798
It's anybody's guess what
the meaning really is,
18
00:01:12,872 --> 00:01:14,533
or who's behind it.
19
00:01:14,607 --> 00:01:16,438
So who is placing these
tiles all over Philadelphia,
20
00:01:16,509 --> 00:01:18,739
and all over the world,
for that matter?
21
00:01:18,812 --> 00:01:20,473
It's like a scene from
"The Twilight Zone."
22
00:01:20,547 --> 00:01:21,741
I've never seen one.
23
00:01:47,107 --> 00:01:49,905
Well, I have all these...
24
00:01:49,976 --> 00:01:52,376
Toynbee tile photographs
and artifacts.
25
00:01:55,014 --> 00:01:56,709
Here's one that
was in New York
26
00:01:56,783 --> 00:01:58,910
on Fifth Avenue and West 34th
27
00:01:58,985 --> 00:02:00,247
in front of
the Empire State Building.
28
00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,221
This is from December of 1998.
29
00:02:03,289 --> 00:02:06,190
Here's one from Maryland
and Meridian in Indianapolis.
30
00:02:08,995 --> 00:02:11,327
Here's that D.C. one.
31
00:02:12,565 --> 00:02:14,556
We don't have this one on
the website and it's in reverse.
32
00:02:14,634 --> 00:02:15,760
It's in mirror writing.
33
00:02:20,140 --> 00:02:23,473
These old New York ones
were so incredible.
34
00:02:23,543 --> 00:02:25,670
You know, I always
had this idea, like,
35
00:02:25,745 --> 00:02:27,303
someday maybe there could be
a museum
36
00:02:27,380 --> 00:02:28,870
and I could get
each one of these photos
37
00:02:28,948 --> 00:02:30,381
in a little frame or something.
38
00:02:39,225 --> 00:02:41,693
The first time I noticed
a Toynbee Idea tile
39
00:02:41,761 --> 00:02:44,195
in the street
was on South Street.
40
00:02:50,170 --> 00:02:53,697
It was this tile,
like a floor tile or whatever,
41
00:02:53,773 --> 00:02:56,901
embedded in the asphalt
in the crosswalk
42
00:02:56,976 --> 00:03:00,707
that bears this message on it.
43
00:03:00,780 --> 00:03:03,908
"Toynbee Idea
In Movie 2001
44
00:03:03,983 --> 00:03:06,144
Resurrect Dead
on Planet Jupiter."
45
00:03:09,989 --> 00:03:11,013
I started really thinking,
46
00:03:11,090 --> 00:03:12,819
that's weird,
what's that all about?
47
00:03:12,892 --> 00:03:14,120
Why was it there?
48
00:03:14,194 --> 00:03:15,661
What did it mean,
who made it?
49
00:03:17,497 --> 00:03:19,624
Me and some of my
friends lived in this squat
50
00:03:19,699 --> 00:03:22,497
on Fifth and Bainbridge
at the time.
51
00:03:22,569 --> 00:03:26,596
It was a chaotic squat
full of 17-year-old runaways
52
00:03:26,673 --> 00:03:31,110
and, you know, people like that.
53
00:03:31,177 --> 00:03:32,405
It just caught
my eye one day.
54
00:03:32,478 --> 00:03:33,638
I started thinking about it
55
00:03:33,713 --> 00:03:35,340
'cause I guess we were sitting
on that corner
56
00:03:35,415 --> 00:03:36,746
and we were
looking at that tile.
57
00:03:36,816 --> 00:03:38,909
And I said, "Hey, Vern,
isn't that weird?
58
00:03:38,985 --> 00:03:40,646
"That there's
that thing in the street
59
00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,281
that says, 'Resurrect the Dead
on Planet Jupiter'?"
60
00:03:51,631 --> 00:03:55,123
A couple years later, I got
this job as a foot courier
61
00:03:55,201 --> 00:03:57,066
for this company,
Kangaroo Couriers.
62
00:04:00,473 --> 00:04:03,067
I began to notice more of these
cryptic street messages
63
00:04:03,142 --> 00:04:04,905
all over the place...
64
00:04:04,978 --> 00:04:06,639
y'know, from
walking around the city
65
00:04:06,713 --> 00:04:09,113
and looking down all the time,
delivering packages.
66
00:04:11,417 --> 00:04:12,679
I would walk over the tiles
67
00:04:12,752 --> 00:04:13,946
over and over
and over and over again.
68
00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:15,783
So I'd think about them
every single day.
69
00:04:15,855 --> 00:04:18,085
And, you know, I would
just constantly think,
70
00:04:18,157 --> 00:04:19,488
like, "I wonder how
long they've been there?
71
00:04:19,559 --> 00:04:21,652
I wonder what they mean?"
72
00:04:21,728 --> 00:04:25,186
So I started following them when
I'd see them around downtown.
73
00:04:25,265 --> 00:04:26,562
I would make sure
to take note of them
74
00:04:26,633 --> 00:04:28,123
and I started to write down
where they were all at.
75
00:04:28,201 --> 00:04:29,725
I had a little notebook
I would take around.
76
00:04:32,138 --> 00:04:35,107
Around 1996, 97,
it became possible to go to
77
00:04:35,174 --> 00:04:38,234
the Philadelphia Public Library
and get on the Internet.
78
00:04:38,311 --> 00:04:40,404
So I thought,
"Oh, I can't wait.
79
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,107
"I'm gonna do an Internet
word search
80
00:04:42,181 --> 00:04:44,376
on this Toynbee message."
81
00:04:44,450 --> 00:04:48,250
So I actually
took off work the next day.
82
00:04:48,321 --> 00:04:50,414
I called in sick to work
83
00:04:50,490 --> 00:04:52,754
so that I could go to the
library as soon as it opened.
84
00:04:52,825 --> 00:04:54,918
And I went to the library
as soon as it opened
85
00:04:54,994 --> 00:04:56,325
and I ran up the steps.
86
00:05:00,099 --> 00:05:01,464
"Toynbee Idea"
was the first thing
87
00:05:01,534 --> 00:05:03,593
I ever typed into an Internet
search engine.
88
00:05:06,039 --> 00:05:10,339
"Your search
returned zero results."
89
00:05:10,410 --> 00:05:12,571
You've got to be kidding me,
there's nothing?
90
00:05:12,645 --> 00:05:14,704
This term has
never been mentioned
91
00:05:14,781 --> 00:05:16,908
on the Internet ever,
y'know?
92
00:05:16,983 --> 00:05:18,746
And I'm like, "Whoa.
93
00:05:18,818 --> 00:05:21,412
Y'know, this is, like,
weird and kinda creepy."
94
00:05:23,656 --> 00:05:25,283
I went back a couple
months later.
95
00:05:25,358 --> 00:05:27,383
It might have even been
as much as a year later.
96
00:05:27,460 --> 00:05:30,691
This time... I think I pulled up
about ten results.
97
00:05:33,499 --> 00:05:35,899
Toynbee.net had
occurred and I was like--
98
00:05:35,968 --> 00:05:37,230
it blew my mind.
99
00:05:52,752 --> 00:05:56,347
I start to see listings
for all of them.
100
00:05:56,422 --> 00:05:58,390
I'm like, "It's spreading!"
101
00:05:58,458 --> 00:06:00,619
You know, I was,
like, just ecstatic.
102
00:06:02,395 --> 00:06:05,796
Then-- this is what blew my mind
right out of the water--
103
00:06:05,865 --> 00:06:09,266
I start going down
and it's Baltimore, Maryland.
104
00:06:09,335 --> 00:06:10,802
This isn't just a Philadelphia
thing.
105
00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:16,308
Y'know, these things are,
like, in New York, D.C., Boston.
106
00:06:16,376 --> 00:06:19,743
And the person who made them
was a compete mystery.
107
00:06:22,148 --> 00:06:25,242
I was like, "I've got to find
out who made these things."
108
00:06:32,125 --> 00:06:34,218
I think one of
the best descriptions
109
00:06:34,293 --> 00:06:38,354
that I've ever heard of Justin
is the "unstoppable force."
110
00:06:39,966 --> 00:06:41,900
He's very stubborn once
he gets his mind set
111
00:06:41,968 --> 00:06:44,562
that he's going to do something.
112
00:06:44,637 --> 00:06:49,097
Y'know, he's just constantly
on the move and, uh...
113
00:06:50,643 --> 00:06:53,009
... he's at least trying to
take down everything in his way,
114
00:06:53,079 --> 00:06:54,103
in his path.
115
00:06:56,649 --> 00:06:59,413
He's manic when it comes
to that stuff
116
00:06:59,485 --> 00:07:02,147
and he can't
stop thinking it,
117
00:07:02,221 --> 00:07:03,882
he can't turn it off.
118
00:07:03,956 --> 00:07:07,153
There could be an explosion
in front of him
119
00:07:07,226 --> 00:07:09,751
and the fire
could be burning,
120
00:07:09,829 --> 00:07:12,229
there could be people running
out of the fire,
121
00:07:12,298 --> 00:07:15,563
like, screaming...
122
00:07:15,635 --> 00:07:19,332
I got the Toynbee Idea flier
up there at all times, y'know?
123
00:07:21,974 --> 00:07:23,202
I see it every
night when I go to sleep
124
00:07:23,276 --> 00:07:25,210
and I also keep these things
next to my bed.
125
00:07:27,046 --> 00:07:30,106
I know he used to go
all over the city and...
126
00:07:30,183 --> 00:07:32,583
you know, be like,
"There's one here."
127
00:07:32,652 --> 00:07:34,017
And then he used to
take bus trips
128
00:07:34,086 --> 00:07:37,055
with his girlfriend
and drag her along.
129
00:07:43,162 --> 00:07:45,130
We were in New York City
and going to New York City,
130
00:07:45,198 --> 00:07:46,825
to me, is kind of a big deal.
131
00:07:53,906 --> 00:07:56,374
I was, like, elected to be
the Toynbee secretary
132
00:07:56,442 --> 00:08:00,344
and it seemed
like an important job.
133
00:08:00,413 --> 00:08:03,576
We were there for one reason,
you know?
134
00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:05,981
And that was to look
on the asphalt for tiles.
135
00:09:50,423 --> 00:09:52,891
The Toynbee Idea tiles'
message
136
00:09:52,959 --> 00:09:54,586
is basically a four-part
message.
137
00:10:03,402 --> 00:10:04,528
So what are all
of these things?
138
00:10:04,604 --> 00:10:05,866
What do all of these
things mean?
139
00:10:05,938 --> 00:10:08,463
Well, the Toynbee referenced
140
00:10:08,541 --> 00:10:11,806
is almost definitely
the historian, Arnold Toynbee.
141
00:10:13,813 --> 00:10:16,304
Toynbee was known as
a universal historian
142
00:10:16,382 --> 00:10:18,748
because he was not only
a historian
143
00:10:18,818 --> 00:10:20,843
but a philosopher as well.
144
00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,084
So he would write books dealing
with all of human history.
145
00:10:25,157 --> 00:10:27,523
The general sweeping
arch of the history
146
00:10:27,593 --> 00:10:29,185
of the human species
on the planet Earth.
147
00:10:39,639 --> 00:10:40,867
The movie "2001," of course,
148
00:10:40,940 --> 00:10:43,408
is the movie
"2001 : A Space Odyssey,"
149
00:10:43,476 --> 00:10:45,000
directed by Stanley Kubrick.
150
00:10:45,077 --> 00:10:47,136
And that was considered,
when it came out,
151
00:10:47,213 --> 00:10:48,578
I mean, I think it
was pretty much--
152
00:10:48,648 --> 00:10:50,206
as far as special effects
and everything--
153
00:10:50,282 --> 00:10:51,715
pretty much
the most spectacular movie
154
00:10:51,784 --> 00:10:54,514
that anybody had ever seen
on the big screen.
155
00:10:54,587 --> 00:10:56,817
And, y'know, I'm sure
that it was a...
156
00:10:56,889 --> 00:10:59,790
y'know, some sort of
proto-religious experience
157
00:10:59,859 --> 00:11:01,486
for many people
that saw it.
158
00:11:10,736 --> 00:11:12,397
Frankenstein's daughter.
159
00:11:13,572 --> 00:11:16,598
Resurrect dead, obviously,
is the idea that
160
00:11:16,676 --> 00:11:18,541
there will be some sort of
161
00:11:18,611 --> 00:11:20,340
physical resurrection
of the dead.
162
00:11:28,354 --> 00:11:29,685
And then planet Jupiter,
163
00:11:29,755 --> 00:11:32,986
the largest planet
in the solar system by far.
164
00:11:33,059 --> 00:11:35,584
And it's a gas giant,
165
00:11:35,661 --> 00:11:37,026
it's mostly
made out of gas.
166
00:11:37,096 --> 00:11:39,189
I don't think it has too much
of a solid surface, really.
167
00:11:41,067 --> 00:11:43,592
The message itself
has been such a mystery
168
00:11:43,669 --> 00:11:46,866
to people over the years,
and each of the parts,
169
00:11:46,939 --> 00:11:48,964
in and of themselves,
makes sense.
170
00:11:49,041 --> 00:11:50,565
The mystery mainly
lies in the way that
171
00:11:50,643 --> 00:11:52,804
the parts intermesh
with one another.
172
00:12:00,252 --> 00:12:04,279
There was always these little
sidebar text pieces
173
00:12:04,356 --> 00:12:05,846
on tiles, and after a while,
174
00:12:05,925 --> 00:12:07,552
those started to become
more interesting to me
175
00:12:07,626 --> 00:12:10,186
than the main message 'cause
I had seen the main message
176
00:12:10,262 --> 00:12:11,729
hundreds of times,
177
00:12:11,797 --> 00:12:13,992
but these little
sidebar texts started to
178
00:12:14,066 --> 00:12:15,499
get really exciting because
I'd be like--
179
00:12:15,568 --> 00:12:17,399
sometimes they would say
stuff that was unprecedented.
180
00:12:47,500 --> 00:12:48,728
Sometimes there would be
tantalizing clues
181
00:12:48,801 --> 00:12:50,200
where one would say:
182
00:12:55,141 --> 00:12:56,574
People had always speculated,
183
00:12:56,642 --> 00:12:57,836
"Well, do you think it's more
than one person
184
00:12:57,910 --> 00:12:58,842
making the tiles?"
185
00:12:58,911 --> 00:12:59,969
And I always said
no way.
186
00:13:00,045 --> 00:13:01,273
I always
thought it was one person
187
00:13:01,347 --> 00:13:02,974
'cause they all look so similar,
et cetera, et cetera,
188
00:13:03,048 --> 00:13:05,209
but it was always
open to conjecture.
189
00:13:05,284 --> 00:13:07,775
We see this claim on this tile,
"I am only one man,"
190
00:13:07,853 --> 00:13:09,377
so, all of a sudden,
we know more information
191
00:13:09,455 --> 00:13:12,754
than we knew before,
that it's one man.
192
00:13:12,825 --> 00:13:15,817
There'd be this other
sidebar text that said:
193
00:13:15,895 --> 00:13:18,022
That's when I begged them not to
destroy it.
194
00:13:18,097 --> 00:13:20,429
Thank you and goodbye.
195
00:13:20,499 --> 00:13:22,126
I always pictured him
on his hands and knees
196
00:13:22,201 --> 00:13:23,828
in front of the table
at the board room,
197
00:13:23,903 --> 00:13:26,167
y'know, where the Cult of
the Hellion is gathered,
198
00:13:26,238 --> 00:13:29,002
begging them not to
destroy it, with tears,
199
00:13:29,074 --> 00:13:31,838
of course, streaming down
his face, y'know?
200
00:13:31,911 --> 00:13:35,745
"Please, I beg you,
don't destroy this movement."
201
00:13:35,815 --> 00:13:38,147
They're cackling and they're not
taking him seriously.
202
00:13:41,620 --> 00:13:43,485
And then he says,
"Thank you and goodbye."
203
00:13:48,594 --> 00:13:49,686
It's sort of sad, y'know?
204
00:13:49,762 --> 00:13:51,627
It's sort of like a--
I don't know.
205
00:13:51,697 --> 00:13:53,528
That was a heavy
extra message, that one.
206
00:13:59,038 --> 00:14:02,337
The Manifesto Tile was a tile
that was on 16th and Chestnut
207
00:14:02,408 --> 00:14:03,807
in Philadelphia,
208
00:14:03,876 --> 00:14:08,506
with just hundreds of words
inscribed on it.
209
00:14:08,581 --> 00:14:12,381
It has this very long,
paranoid, rambling message.
210
00:15:32,865 --> 00:15:33,991
It was pretty wild.
211
00:15:34,066 --> 00:15:35,829
I mean, it was probably
in the top five
212
00:15:35,901 --> 00:15:39,166
most intense things
I've ever seen in my life.
213
00:15:39,238 --> 00:15:41,297
It's not an art project
put together by some
214
00:15:41,373 --> 00:15:42,738
art students or something.
215
00:15:42,808 --> 00:15:45,140
It's like something
that's insane.
216
00:15:45,210 --> 00:15:48,646
Y'know, it's, like,
something that's real.
217
00:15:48,714 --> 00:15:51,877
The Toynbee Idea tiles
were something that
218
00:15:51,951 --> 00:15:55,785
had this quality to it
that was very, sort of,
219
00:15:55,854 --> 00:16:01,520
frightening and disturbing
and strange.
220
00:16:01,593 --> 00:16:03,117
And yet, at the same time,
221
00:16:03,195 --> 00:16:06,358
because it was occupying space
in this very public sphere,
222
00:16:06,432 --> 00:16:10,095
people just kind of tended
to pass it by and ignore it.
223
00:16:10,169 --> 00:16:13,104
When you start to realize that
it's unusual and strange
224
00:16:13,172 --> 00:16:14,196
and unexplainable,
225
00:16:14,273 --> 00:16:16,332
it's like waking up
from this dream
226
00:16:16,408 --> 00:16:18,000
where you're like,
"Wait a minute.
227
00:16:18,077 --> 00:16:19,942
"This thing
that's been here all along
228
00:16:20,012 --> 00:16:21,377
doesn't make sense."
229
00:16:31,590 --> 00:16:33,057
Well, this is Daisy.
230
00:16:33,125 --> 00:16:38,757
And, well, Daisy got hit by
a car or a bike or something.
231
00:16:38,831 --> 00:16:42,790
Maybe he'll be able to use his
legs again, but maybe not.
232
00:16:42,868 --> 00:16:44,335
So I'm kind of
trying to get him to do these
233
00:16:44,403 --> 00:16:46,871
balancing exercises
234
00:16:46,939 --> 00:16:48,372
where I just kind of push him
off his feet
235
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,307
and let him try to
stand on his own a little bit.
236
00:16:57,649 --> 00:16:59,617
But he's really a handsome dude.
237
00:17:02,221 --> 00:17:06,783
Me and Justin's grandfather
raised pigeons.
238
00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:08,486
Fancy pigeons, he had.
239
00:17:13,165 --> 00:17:15,133
We grew up in a barn
240
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,397
and half of it was our house
that our parents built.
241
00:17:31,583 --> 00:17:36,179
I got a-- went up in the rafters
and got a baby pigeon
242
00:17:36,255 --> 00:17:38,519
and...
243
00:17:38,590 --> 00:17:41,718
me and Justin used to feed that
pigeon popcorn.
244
00:17:44,797 --> 00:17:49,393
We built a pigeon coop
out in the barn.
245
00:17:49,468 --> 00:17:53,404
So we had, like...
the biggest amalgamation
246
00:17:53,472 --> 00:17:55,337
of different pigeons you could
possibly imagine.
247
00:17:55,407 --> 00:17:57,967
Like, we had-- it was like
the Noah's Ark of pigeons,
248
00:17:58,043 --> 00:18:00,341
we had two or three of
everything.
249
00:18:00,412 --> 00:18:02,039
And then they all
started interbreeding
250
00:18:02,114 --> 00:18:04,309
'cause...
251
00:18:04,383 --> 00:18:05,907
well, we just had no idea.
252
00:18:23,235 --> 00:18:25,703
I went to get a snack.
253
00:18:25,771 --> 00:18:28,331
This must have been now around,
like, 4:00 a.m. or so.
254
00:18:29,875 --> 00:18:32,776
On my way home
I see this mound.
255
00:18:32,845 --> 00:18:36,713
Just this black, shiny mound.
256
00:18:36,782 --> 00:18:40,809
It was tar paper
imbued with tar.
257
00:18:45,524 --> 00:18:47,424
I pull up the edge of the tar
paper and, sure enough,
258
00:18:47,493 --> 00:18:49,427
there's the edge of
a Toynbee Idea tile.
259
00:18:53,165 --> 00:18:54,598
I just...
260
00:18:59,805 --> 00:19:01,500
It was fresh,
261
00:19:01,573 --> 00:19:05,771
as in a-car-had-not-hit-it-yet
fresh.
262
00:19:05,844 --> 00:19:08,312
I'm sure that
there was no fresh tile
263
00:19:08,380 --> 00:19:11,349
there when I went to the deli.
264
00:19:14,353 --> 00:19:17,413
I thought, "Oh, man, y'know,
this person could be, like,
265
00:19:17,489 --> 00:19:20,890
on the block or something,"
y'know, so I leaped to my feet.
266
00:19:22,261 --> 00:19:25,424
I jogged down
the block to the north
267
00:19:25,497 --> 00:19:28,227
and I start shouting out,
"Toynbee Idea!
268
00:19:28,300 --> 00:19:29,961
"Toynbee Idea,
I believe it!
269
00:19:30,035 --> 00:19:32,936
I believe the Toynbee Idea!"
270
00:19:33,005 --> 00:19:36,736
I jogged down the other way,
"Toynbee Idea!"
271
00:19:36,808 --> 00:19:39,174
Nobody ever answers me
and there's nobody to hear me
272
00:19:39,244 --> 00:19:41,872
except a sleeping pigeon up
there somewhere or something.
273
00:19:46,451 --> 00:19:49,079
Yes, I came within minutes
274
00:19:49,154 --> 00:19:52,920
of solving
the Toynbee Idea mystery
275
00:19:52,991 --> 00:19:55,516
for all time with
my own two eyes
276
00:19:55,594 --> 00:19:58,961
because I missed the person
277
00:19:59,031 --> 00:20:01,329
putting down the tile
within minutes.
278
00:20:03,435 --> 00:20:05,403
Then I went back and I just
hung out with the tile
279
00:20:05,470 --> 00:20:07,062
until 7:00 in the morning
280
00:20:07,139 --> 00:20:09,232
and, uh, watched
the first sunrise
281
00:20:09,308 --> 00:20:11,071
on a new tile or something.
282
00:21:01,059 --> 00:21:03,050
I've been interested in
the tiles for years,
283
00:21:03,128 --> 00:21:04,152
since middle school,
284
00:21:04,229 --> 00:21:06,561
in the early
1990s in Philadelphia.
285
00:21:09,167 --> 00:21:10,828
Every few years I'd, like,
sort of get into it
286
00:21:10,902 --> 00:21:13,700
and see what more
had been found out.
287
00:21:16,074 --> 00:21:17,063
No one had solved it.
288
00:21:17,142 --> 00:21:18,541
It had been years,
so I was like,
289
00:21:18,610 --> 00:21:20,475
"All right, screw this."
290
00:21:26,418 --> 00:21:28,852
The aspect of the Toynbee tiles
that really spoke to me
291
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,013
was just the impossibility
292
00:21:31,089 --> 00:21:32,852
of the mystery.
293
00:21:32,924 --> 00:21:34,653
I was probably the most
skeptical person
294
00:21:34,726 --> 00:21:37,661
involved in the detective work.
295
00:21:37,729 --> 00:21:39,356
I really thought
we were just gonna say,
296
00:21:39,431 --> 00:21:40,693
"This is a black hole.
297
00:21:40,766 --> 00:21:42,131
"Here, look at this crazy
phenomenon
298
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,692
"that has absolutely
no possible explanation
299
00:21:45,771 --> 00:21:48,103
that we could ever come to."
300
00:21:48,173 --> 00:21:52,610
I remember my very first
e-mail to Justin.
301
00:22:00,218 --> 00:22:01,981
He was another person
who genuinely wanted to
302
00:22:02,054 --> 00:22:04,420
solve the mystery.
303
00:22:04,489 --> 00:22:07,458
As a team, we could
really pool our resources,
304
00:22:07,526 --> 00:22:09,824
come together,
and figure it out.
305
00:22:35,620 --> 00:22:37,645
So when we started
researching the tiles,
306
00:22:37,723 --> 00:22:41,819
we really only had a very small
number of clues to go on.
307
00:22:41,893 --> 00:22:45,351
We had an address to
a South Philadelphia home.
308
00:22:45,430 --> 00:22:47,728
We had an article from
1983 printed in
309
00:22:47,799 --> 00:22:49,733
the "Philadelphia Inquirer."
310
00:22:49,801 --> 00:22:51,666
And then
there was a play
311
00:22:51,737 --> 00:22:56,003
by playwright/film director
David Mamet.
312
00:22:56,074 --> 00:22:57,439
And these
three sources were basically
313
00:22:57,509 --> 00:23:00,069
where we began our quest
314
00:23:00,145 --> 00:23:01,942
to discover the identity
of the tiler.
315
00:23:11,723 --> 00:23:15,523
There was a tile
discovered in Santiago, Chile,
316
00:23:15,594 --> 00:23:18,688
and it gives
a specific street address
317
00:23:18,764 --> 00:23:20,698
of a row home in
South Philadelphia.
318
00:23:22,834 --> 00:23:24,961
Let's really
investigate this address
319
00:23:25,036 --> 00:23:27,197
because it's one of
the very few--
320
00:23:27,272 --> 00:23:29,103
it's one of just
one or two, really,
321
00:23:29,174 --> 00:23:31,699
actual concrete leads
that we have.
322
00:23:34,913 --> 00:23:36,471
"You may have information to
help solve
323
00:23:36,548 --> 00:23:38,516
"a 20-plus-year-old mystery.
324
00:23:38,583 --> 00:23:40,949
Do you know anything about
the below pictured message?"
325
00:23:44,823 --> 00:23:47,383
We went to Kinko's
and made these fliers
326
00:23:47,459 --> 00:23:51,020
and decided that we would give
them to everybody on the block.
327
00:23:58,703 --> 00:24:00,796
Resurrect the Dead
on the Planet Jupiter?
328
00:24:00,872 --> 00:24:02,134
Yeah.
329
00:24:04,676 --> 00:24:05,938
I don't know about it.
330
00:24:06,011 --> 00:24:08,241
One fellow named Frannie
talked to us a lot
331
00:24:08,313 --> 00:24:09,473
and he filled us in as to
332
00:24:09,548 --> 00:24:11,914
who had been living
in that specific house
333
00:24:11,983 --> 00:24:14,451
that was on the address
on the tile.
334
00:24:14,519 --> 00:24:16,316
He drives
a bike with no tires--
335
00:24:16,388 --> 00:24:18,288
with no-- rims with no tires.
336
00:24:18,356 --> 00:24:20,187
I don't know,
I don't fucking know.
337
00:24:20,258 --> 00:24:21,816
He lives over there, got all
birds in his house.
338
00:24:21,893 --> 00:24:24,418
Goats, geese,
things all over his house.
339
00:24:24,496 --> 00:24:26,760
The fellow living there now
340
00:24:26,832 --> 00:24:30,165
they call,
"Sevy the Birdman."
341
00:24:30,235 --> 00:24:31,327
My first impression,
342
00:24:31,403 --> 00:24:32,893
the very first thing
that I thought was:
343
00:24:32,971 --> 00:24:36,236
That must be the person
who made all the Toynbee tiles.
344
00:24:36,308 --> 00:24:37,400
For sure.
345
00:24:43,748 --> 00:24:45,773
And equally exciting was they
told us about
346
00:24:45,851 --> 00:24:47,443
the fellow
who had lived there before.
347
00:24:47,519 --> 00:24:49,714
The guy that lived in there,
348
00:24:49,788 --> 00:24:51,585
we only can account
for, like, 30 years.
349
00:24:51,656 --> 00:24:53,089
Because he lived
in a green thing--
350
00:24:53,158 --> 00:24:54,523
That was Railroad Joe.
351
00:24:54,593 --> 00:24:57,892
Railroad Joe had lived in that
house into the late '80s
352
00:24:57,963 --> 00:25:00,022
and he had worked
for the railroad.
353
00:25:00,098 --> 00:25:02,532
His real name was
actually Julius Piroli.
354
00:25:04,469 --> 00:25:05,629
We went to the address
355
00:25:05,704 --> 00:25:07,672
that was listed on
the South American tile.
356
00:25:17,949 --> 00:25:19,439
No one answered the door
357
00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:23,079
and there's a bar
put through the door
358
00:25:23,154 --> 00:25:24,348
with two padlocks on it.
359
00:25:26,925 --> 00:25:28,449
Since no one
came to the door,
360
00:25:28,527 --> 00:25:30,495
it's sort of a dead end,
except for the fact that
361
00:25:30,562 --> 00:25:32,154
all around in
the surrounding blocks
362
00:25:32,230 --> 00:25:34,994
are these sort of proto-tiles,
test tiles.
363
00:25:35,066 --> 00:25:39,332
Sort of test materials
layered on top of each other.
364
00:25:39,404 --> 00:25:41,065
Random letters.
365
00:25:46,211 --> 00:25:49,977
Weird tiles,
a couple in Spanish.
366
00:25:50,048 --> 00:25:52,073
The blocks around it
are a testing ground
367
00:25:52,150 --> 00:25:53,447
for the tiles.
368
00:25:55,554 --> 00:25:57,545
And so I thought
this person
369
00:25:57,622 --> 00:25:59,749
Iived at this address
at some point, for sure.
370
00:26:04,596 --> 00:26:06,291
At some point, somebody
on the Internet
371
00:26:06,364 --> 00:26:08,764
mentioned this
newspaper article.
372
00:26:12,103 --> 00:26:14,628
It was such a weird thing that
just came out of nowhere.
373
00:26:19,144 --> 00:26:20,634
Well, here we are at
the Philadelphia Public Library.
374
00:26:20,712 --> 00:26:24,580
We're going to
the microfiche room.
375
00:26:24,649 --> 00:26:26,344
We're gonna get on microfiche
376
00:26:26,418 --> 00:26:30,047
the "Inquirer" article from
March 1 3, 1 983.
377
00:26:33,291 --> 00:26:36,089
"Theories: Wanna run
that one by me again?"
378
00:26:36,161 --> 00:26:37,492
by Clark DeLeon.
379
00:27:23,141 --> 00:27:24,233
Despite the fact
that the article
380
00:27:24,309 --> 00:27:26,072
is just a couple of
sentences long,
381
00:27:26,144 --> 00:27:28,271
it opens up
all these questions.
382
00:27:28,346 --> 00:27:31,838
It's more information than
we ever had from a tile.
383
00:27:31,916 --> 00:27:34,043
There was a time line put on
this stuff for the first time
384
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,213
where you're like, "Early '80s
was when whoever it was
385
00:27:37,288 --> 00:27:39,654
first had this idea and
really started to promote it."
386
00:27:41,893 --> 00:27:44,555
But now there was at least this
potential name of James Morasco
387
00:27:44,629 --> 00:27:46,722
that was brought up
into the fold.
388
00:27:48,033 --> 00:27:51,196
This person really
actually believed,
389
00:27:51,269 --> 00:27:53,794
quote unquote, "dead molecules
would be put back together
390
00:27:53,872 --> 00:27:55,032
on the planet Jupiter."
391
00:27:57,409 --> 00:27:58,467
There was this group,
392
00:27:58,543 --> 00:28:00,238
the Minority Association,
that existed.
393
00:28:00,311 --> 00:28:04,042
This was something
nobody ever heard of before.
394
00:28:04,115 --> 00:28:06,140
The way that I pictured it
in my mind
395
00:28:06,217 --> 00:28:09,584
was probably that it was
just at somebody's house
396
00:28:09,654 --> 00:28:13,351
in their front room,
in a living room or something.
397
00:28:16,127 --> 00:28:17,560
The Minority Association,
398
00:28:17,629 --> 00:28:19,028
at least according
to this article,
399
00:28:19,097 --> 00:28:21,657
according to what James Morasco
is saying on the telephone,
400
00:28:21,733 --> 00:28:24,668
had somebody
doing the typing.
401
00:28:24,736 --> 00:28:26,397
So then you think, "Oh, my gosh,
402
00:28:26,471 --> 00:28:28,371
"somebody doing the typing,
they had a newsletter?
403
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,433
They had a typist, so they
were typing stuff, right?"
404
00:28:32,510 --> 00:28:35,070
I was in love with the idea
of discovering
405
00:28:35,146 --> 00:28:39,082
whatever it was that was typed
because it must exist somewhere.
406
00:28:39,150 --> 00:28:40,777
And...
407
00:28:40,852 --> 00:28:42,251
I wanted to see it so bad.
408
00:28:55,834 --> 00:28:58,394
Toynbee tiles first
appeared in the early 1980s,
409
00:28:58,470 --> 00:29:00,461
around the same time
playwright David Mamet
410
00:29:00,538 --> 00:29:02,130
published "Four A.M."
411
00:29:02,207 --> 00:29:04,004
It's a one-act play
about a radio host
412
00:29:04,075 --> 00:29:06,043
and a strange caller
who wants to talk about
413
00:29:06,111 --> 00:29:09,239
his plan to, yes, resurrect
the dead on Jupiter.
414
00:29:10,648 --> 00:29:14,084
Now, all the sudden,
we've got this play.
415
00:29:14,152 --> 00:29:17,417
So David Mamet,
highly decorated playwright.
416
00:29:17,489 --> 00:29:19,582
He had won a Pulitzer Prize,
417
00:29:19,657 --> 00:29:21,318
nominated for an Oscar,
418
00:29:21,392 --> 00:29:24,452
wrote this one-act play called
"Four A.M."
419
00:29:29,300 --> 00:29:31,200
As you're going through
the play and you're reading
420
00:29:31,269 --> 00:29:33,100
the transcript of the play
you think,
421
00:29:33,171 --> 00:29:34,502
"Wow, this is uncanny.
422
00:29:34,572 --> 00:29:37,439
"I mean, this guy is calling up
this talk show host guy
423
00:29:37,509 --> 00:29:39,841
"and he's talking about,
okay, Arnold Toynbee.
424
00:29:39,911 --> 00:29:41,401
"That's a little bit weird.
425
00:29:41,479 --> 00:29:45,176
"Oh, jeez, he's talking about in
the movie '2001,'
426
00:29:45,250 --> 00:29:46,581
that's weird."
427
00:29:46,651 --> 00:29:49,620
And then he says, "Yes, we want
to resurrect the dead,"
428
00:29:49,687 --> 00:29:50,881
and you think,
"Whoa, that's crazy."
429
00:29:50,955 --> 00:29:52,183
And then, "The planet Jupiter."
430
00:29:52,257 --> 00:29:56,057
You're like, "All right, this is
no mere coincidence."
431
00:29:56,127 --> 00:30:00,689
He's basically
reiterating a conversation
432
00:30:00,765 --> 00:30:03,165
with the Toynbee tile guy
433
00:30:03,234 --> 00:30:05,168
or a member of the Minority
Association or something.
434
00:30:05,236 --> 00:30:06,464
And you just think,
435
00:30:06,538 --> 00:30:09,439
"So-- so David Mamet had
something to do with it."
436
00:30:09,507 --> 00:30:11,065
And it just makes your
head spin
437
00:30:11,142 --> 00:30:12,666
where you're like, "What?"
438
00:30:15,346 --> 00:30:17,211
But even more telling
439
00:30:17,282 --> 00:30:20,479
is he mentions that phrase,
"dead molecules."
440
00:30:20,552 --> 00:30:23,521
There had never been a tile
photographed or documented
441
00:30:23,588 --> 00:30:26,113
or described by anyone
442
00:30:26,191 --> 00:30:29,922
that mentions this phrase
"dead molecules."
443
00:30:29,994 --> 00:30:33,794
The only time that
the term "molecules"
444
00:30:33,865 --> 00:30:37,096
has ever connected,
is in, of course,
445
00:30:37,168 --> 00:30:39,762
the Clark DeLeon
newspaper article.
446
00:30:39,838 --> 00:30:42,204
Y'know, it's the same--
it's the same concept.
447
00:30:44,175 --> 00:30:46,302
Mamet wrote that piece
448
00:30:46,377 --> 00:30:48,937
but it was-- y'know, it didn't
appear anywhere publicly.
449
00:30:49,013 --> 00:30:51,846
And then DeLeon's
1983 article was published.
450
00:30:51,916 --> 00:30:55,181
And then Mamet's play
was published.
451
00:30:55,253 --> 00:30:57,084
It seems like they
were working independently
452
00:30:57,155 --> 00:30:58,486
and that was the assumption
that we had
453
00:30:58,556 --> 00:31:00,683
going into our detective work.
454
00:31:04,028 --> 00:31:07,225
Mamet insists the play is
not based on a real caller.
455
00:31:07,298 --> 00:31:08,959
People used to ask me
where I get my ideas
456
00:31:09,033 --> 00:31:11,900
and I would always
say, "I think of them."
457
00:31:11,970 --> 00:31:13,631
There was no call on the radio,
I made it up.
458
00:31:19,177 --> 00:31:21,338
Severino Verna,
AKA Sevy.
459
00:31:21,412 --> 00:31:23,346
He's the resident of
this address
460
00:31:23,414 --> 00:31:25,211
that was found
on the tile in Chile.
461
00:31:33,124 --> 00:31:34,614
I don't think
he's answering.
462
00:31:34,692 --> 00:31:36,683
Yeah, I don't know
if he wants to talk to us.
463
00:31:38,329 --> 00:31:41,662
We didn't really know what to do
other than try and talk to him.
464
00:31:41,733 --> 00:31:44,793
So we talked to
some of the people
465
00:31:44,869 --> 00:31:47,099
from his neighborhood, who were
very personable.
466
00:31:47,171 --> 00:31:50,868
Frannie: They think it's him
putting the tiles all over.
467
00:31:50,942 --> 00:31:53,934
Like, South America had his
address on it.
468
00:31:54,012 --> 00:31:55,843
Down here,
like, 7th Street,
469
00:31:55,914 --> 00:31:57,176
9th Street had one
I think...
470
00:31:57,248 --> 00:31:59,648
Sevy don't go anywhere.
471
00:31:59,717 --> 00:32:01,150
Sevy goes nowhere.
472
00:32:01,219 --> 00:32:03,710
He just worries about
his birds.
473
00:32:05,523 --> 00:32:08,492
Sevy's a very a guy--
a very hard guy to talk to.
474
00:32:08,559 --> 00:32:09,583
I know.
475
00:32:09,661 --> 00:32:10,855
Well, did you
knock on his door?
476
00:32:10,929 --> 00:32:12,396
Yeah, I don't
think he's home.
477
00:32:12,463 --> 00:32:13,487
See you, Frankie.
478
00:32:13,564 --> 00:32:15,054
And he wouldn't answer?
479
00:32:15,133 --> 00:32:16,122
Yeah, we've knocked on
his door a bunch of times,
480
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:17,690
I don't think
he'll answer the door
481
00:32:17,769 --> 00:32:19,031
'cause he doesn't
know us, y'know?
482
00:32:19,103 --> 00:32:20,331
Yeah.
483
00:32:22,974 --> 00:32:24,805
I'll walk down with you
and knock on his door.
484
00:32:24,876 --> 00:32:26,241
Yeah?
485
00:32:28,046 --> 00:32:29,343
Sevy?
486
00:32:33,084 --> 00:32:34,381
Sevy?
487
00:32:41,426 --> 00:32:42,450
Sevy's very intelligent.
488
00:32:42,527 --> 00:32:43,653
Yeah, yeah,
he seems like it.
489
00:32:43,728 --> 00:32:45,286
Very, very intelligent man.
490
00:32:45,363 --> 00:32:47,593
You just talk about, like,
plants and stuff with him?
491
00:32:47,665 --> 00:32:48,927
Anything, anything
he feels--
492
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,900
- Sevy's very quiet.
- Yeah, yeah.
493
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:52,402
Very quiet person.
494
00:32:57,275 --> 00:32:58,469
After knocking on his
door and everything
495
00:32:58,543 --> 00:33:00,443
we decided an obvious step
496
00:33:00,511 --> 00:33:03,036
is to try to call this person
on the telephone.
497
00:33:03,114 --> 00:33:04,342
Dude, my adrenaline is like--
498
00:33:04,415 --> 00:33:06,144
I'm gonna say something stupid,
I just know it.
499
00:33:16,461 --> 00:33:18,088
His phone has been
disconnected.
500
00:33:18,162 --> 00:33:20,960
So we call, actually,
his mother.
501
00:33:21,032 --> 00:33:24,934
And Justin...
has a conversation with her.
502
00:33:25,003 --> 00:33:26,300
I'm trying to get in touch,
I think, with
503
00:33:26,371 --> 00:33:27,497
a relative of yours?
504
00:33:27,572 --> 00:33:30,132
Um, Severino, Sevy?
505
00:33:30,208 --> 00:33:32,676
I'm doing some research
into an art project
506
00:33:32,744 --> 00:33:34,974
that I think that
he might be involved in.
507
00:33:35,046 --> 00:33:36,877
And I've been trying to get
ahold of him
508
00:33:36,948 --> 00:33:39,314
but he's kind of
hard to get ahold of, so...
509
00:33:39,384 --> 00:33:41,181
I don't know if you ever
heard of this thing,
510
00:33:41,252 --> 00:33:43,618
Toynbee Idea.
511
00:33:43,688 --> 00:33:47,715
It's, like,
it's in Philadelphia, New York,
512
00:33:47,792 --> 00:33:48,781
it's all up and down
the east coast
513
00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:50,293
and then it's
also in South America.
514
00:33:50,361 --> 00:33:51,487
Like, do you know if he ever--
515
00:33:51,562 --> 00:33:53,462
has he been to
South America or...
516
00:33:53,531 --> 00:33:57,194
So somebody contacted him
before about it?
517
00:33:57,268 --> 00:33:58,758
Uh-huh.
518
00:33:58,836 --> 00:34:01,862
She said he's never been to
South America.
519
00:34:01,939 --> 00:34:04,703
And she said
we weren't the first person
520
00:34:04,776 --> 00:34:07,267
to bring this up to her.
521
00:34:07,345 --> 00:34:10,246
And she said that Sevy
had mentioned that somebody
522
00:34:10,314 --> 00:34:12,407
had come to his door
asking about it.
523
00:34:12,483 --> 00:34:15,008
And he told her he
didn't know anything about it.
524
00:34:15,086 --> 00:34:17,281
So, I mean, you definitely don't
think that your son
525
00:34:17,355 --> 00:34:18,447
has any involvement it in?
526
00:34:18,523 --> 00:34:21,014
Like, he never talked about
Arnold Toynbee
527
00:34:21,092 --> 00:34:22,821
or anything like that, like--
528
00:34:22,894 --> 00:34:24,418
Yeah.
529
00:34:24,495 --> 00:34:25,553
Uh-huh.
530
00:34:25,630 --> 00:34:28,064
Is he, like,
into history of anything, like--
531
00:34:28,132 --> 00:34:29,463
No?
532
00:34:29,534 --> 00:34:32,935
She said there's no way he has
anything to do with this
533
00:34:33,004 --> 00:34:35,802
and I don't know
what you're talking about.
534
00:34:35,873 --> 00:34:38,967
He can't travel because he has
a lung condition.
535
00:34:39,043 --> 00:34:40,237
Your son,
with his lung condition,
536
00:34:40,311 --> 00:34:44,077
like, he never travels or
anything, so...
537
00:34:44,148 --> 00:34:45,775
Yeah, huh.
538
00:34:45,850 --> 00:34:47,010
Yeah, because that
would really put him
539
00:34:47,085 --> 00:34:48,382
out of the picture for
being the person
540
00:34:48,453 --> 00:34:50,512
because whoever's done it
has at least traveled,
541
00:34:50,588 --> 00:34:51,748
you know, up and down
542
00:34:51,823 --> 00:34:53,688
the east coast
of the United States.
543
00:34:53,758 --> 00:34:55,988
All right, thanks for your time.
544
00:34:56,060 --> 00:34:57,357
Okay, goodbye.
545
00:35:03,801 --> 00:35:05,325
When I heard the name
Railroad Joe
546
00:35:05,403 --> 00:35:06,961
associated with that address
547
00:35:07,038 --> 00:35:09,973
and that he worked for
Conrail Railroad,
548
00:35:10,041 --> 00:35:11,167
I went and found a Conrail map.
549
00:35:16,147 --> 00:35:19,480
Not only did Conrail pass
through every city
550
00:35:19,550 --> 00:35:22,417
that had a tile
in North America,
551
00:35:22,487 --> 00:35:25,945
but... the tiles stretch
552
00:35:26,023 --> 00:35:29,982
exactly as far as Conrail's
routes travel.
553
00:35:31,062 --> 00:35:32,529
No further west
554
00:35:32,597 --> 00:35:34,155
and no further south,
555
00:35:34,232 --> 00:35:36,359
with the exception
of South America.
556
00:35:36,434 --> 00:35:39,995
However, we found an article
about a telescope.
557
00:35:43,608 --> 00:35:44,802
It was, at the time,
558
00:35:44,876 --> 00:35:46,571
in the early 1970s
when it was made--
559
00:35:46,644 --> 00:35:50,740
the largest telescope ever made.
560
00:35:50,815 --> 00:35:52,783
And bits of it
were being shipped,
561
00:35:52,850 --> 00:35:58,117
one-by-one, to Chile,
South America.
562
00:35:58,189 --> 00:36:01,090
They were
going through the railyard
563
00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:03,093
that Railroad Joe worked at
at the time.
564
00:36:03,161 --> 00:36:04,753
The article
mentions him by name.
565
00:36:34,659 --> 00:36:36,149
I went to the library
566
00:36:36,227 --> 00:36:39,253
and did some research
on his family name.
567
00:36:39,330 --> 00:36:40,592
The only reference I found
568
00:36:40,665 --> 00:36:45,625
in the early '80s
Philly directories
569
00:36:45,703 --> 00:36:50,037
were tombstone carving.
570
00:36:50,107 --> 00:36:52,302
Railroad Joe's family
is carving tombstones.
571
00:36:52,376 --> 00:36:54,367
It's not a whole huge leap
to get from
572
00:36:54,445 --> 00:36:57,710
carving tombstones
to carving tiles.
573
00:36:57,782 --> 00:37:00,478
Railroad Joe...
574
00:37:00,551 --> 00:37:03,179
really fit my mental image
of the tiler.
575
00:37:05,623 --> 00:37:07,181
Working on the railroad
as a profession
576
00:37:07,258 --> 00:37:10,625
is someone who is
gonna fit this profile.
577
00:37:10,695 --> 00:37:12,856
Traveling, traveling
late at night.
578
00:37:14,765 --> 00:37:16,858
Just that sort of lonely,
579
00:37:16,934 --> 00:37:21,394
"moving through empty space"
sort of person.
580
00:37:21,472 --> 00:37:25,806
I imagine the tiler to
have a lot of those qualities.
581
00:37:25,876 --> 00:37:29,334
And Railroad Joe...
582
00:37:29,413 --> 00:37:30,471
fit that.
583
00:37:34,986 --> 00:37:36,578
So many things line up:
584
00:37:36,654 --> 00:37:40,021
the map, the profession,
the address,
585
00:37:40,091 --> 00:37:44,391
the tombstone-carving
business in the family.
586
00:37:44,462 --> 00:37:47,056
All of these things were coming
together on this one suspect.
587
00:37:53,871 --> 00:37:56,237
The fatal flaw of
588
00:37:56,307 --> 00:37:58,468
the "Railroad Joe as tiler"
theory is that...
589
00:38:00,111 --> 00:38:02,204
... he died.
590
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:06,842
You need to find a way for him
to be tiling beyond the grave.
591
00:38:06,917 --> 00:38:09,681
Short of resurrecting himself,
592
00:38:09,754 --> 00:38:11,483
it's difficult to
make that argument.
593
00:38:18,763 --> 00:38:23,791
So James Morasco called up
Clark DeLeon in 1983
594
00:38:23,868 --> 00:38:25,961
and was interviewed
595
00:38:26,037 --> 00:38:29,097
espousing the same ideas
that the tiles have.
596
00:38:29,173 --> 00:38:31,232
Clearly this is
a leading suspect.
597
00:38:31,309 --> 00:38:34,801
It's the only real tangible
piece of evidence.
598
00:38:34,879 --> 00:38:36,608
I contacted
Clark DeLeon via e-mail
599
00:38:36,681 --> 00:38:39,707
and I started to kinda get him
talking about
600
00:38:39,784 --> 00:38:41,649
anything that he
remembered about this caller,
601
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:43,744
that the caller might have said
in addition to
602
00:38:43,821 --> 00:38:45,789
the basic message that
he wrote about in the article.
603
00:38:47,658 --> 00:38:50,718
"I think that Morasco said he
lived in Fishtown or Kensington,
604
00:38:50,795 --> 00:38:53,195
"which are working-class, mostly
white neighborhoods
605
00:38:53,264 --> 00:38:54,526
"that run along
the Delaware River
606
00:38:54,598 --> 00:38:55,929
"north of Center City.
607
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,468
"He sounded blue collar,
proud of his education,
608
00:38:58,536 --> 00:39:00,197
"certain of his information,
609
00:39:00,271 --> 00:39:02,569
"but not confident of his
presentation to me
610
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:04,335
"or, rather,
to the 'Inquirer.'
611
00:39:04,408 --> 00:39:06,399
"He had a soft bass voice
612
00:39:06,477 --> 00:39:08,968
"which was definitely
Philadelphia working class.
613
00:39:09,046 --> 00:39:10,206
And that's about it,
my friend."
614
00:39:13,117 --> 00:39:15,085
Yeah, this is sort of pointing
to a different area of the city.
615
00:39:15,152 --> 00:39:16,676
It's giving a little bit
of a profile
616
00:39:16,754 --> 00:39:18,881
of Morasco as a person.
617
00:39:18,956 --> 00:39:20,583
But that's about
all we know about him.
618
00:39:20,658 --> 00:39:22,250
There's not a whole lot more
information
619
00:39:22,326 --> 00:39:24,590
aside from that about
James Morasco as a person.
620
00:39:26,731 --> 00:39:29,029
Based on trips to
the library and looking at
621
00:39:29,100 --> 00:39:31,933
old, early '80s--
1983 or so--
622
00:39:32,002 --> 00:39:33,333
telephone directories,
623
00:39:33,404 --> 00:39:37,170
the only James Morasco that
existed was not in Fishtown,
624
00:39:37,241 --> 00:39:39,175
not in Kensington,
not in South Philadelphia,
625
00:39:39,243 --> 00:39:42,144
but in the northwest
of the city,
626
00:39:42,213 --> 00:39:45,307
in a very
not working-class neighborhood
627
00:39:45,383 --> 00:39:46,816
called Chestnut Hill.
628
00:39:53,524 --> 00:39:55,992
He's been interviewed by
reporters.
629
00:39:56,060 --> 00:39:59,393
"Cincinnati City Beat" ran an
article in, I think, in 2001.
630
00:40:04,535 --> 00:40:06,059
The person who answers
the phone says,
631
00:40:06,137 --> 00:40:07,866
"Well, Mr. Morasco can't speak
632
00:40:07,938 --> 00:40:10,998
because he's had his
voice box removed."
633
00:40:11,075 --> 00:40:12,235
His wife spoke for him and said
634
00:40:12,309 --> 00:40:15,244
he had nothing
to do with the tiles.
635
00:40:15,312 --> 00:40:17,041
Based on his age,
636
00:40:17,114 --> 00:40:20,447
when the tiles would have been
put down across the country,
637
00:40:20,518 --> 00:40:22,748
he would have been
in his 70s and even 80s.
638
00:40:24,488 --> 00:40:26,456
It doesn't fit, obviously.
639
00:40:26,524 --> 00:40:27,684
We're looking for
a social worker
640
00:40:27,758 --> 00:40:29,055
named James Morasco.
641
00:40:29,126 --> 00:40:31,720
We've never found a social
worker named James Morasco.
642
00:40:31,796 --> 00:40:34,162
The more we looked
into James Morasco,
643
00:40:34,231 --> 00:40:38,395
the less likely it seemed that
he even existed.
644
00:40:38,469 --> 00:40:40,027
There's still this
lingering question,
645
00:40:40,104 --> 00:40:41,799
"Who's James Morasco?"
646
00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:57,919
The cutting of the cake!
647
00:40:57,988 --> 00:40:59,478
Whoo!
648
00:41:04,662 --> 00:41:07,859
Justin's exhibit will be up
for the next month,
649
00:41:07,932 --> 00:41:10,366
so please come over
and take in the art.
650
00:41:20,978 --> 00:41:23,708
When he came into 7th grade,
he was a really talented artist.
651
00:41:25,115 --> 00:41:28,141
He had the same art teacher from
7th grade to 12th grade
652
00:41:28,219 --> 00:41:30,744
and she loved him.
653
00:41:30,821 --> 00:41:32,789
I remember being in 9th grade
and I had an art class
654
00:41:32,857 --> 00:41:34,984
and she had all of
his art laid out.
655
00:41:35,059 --> 00:41:37,892
She brought everybody from
our class over and was like,
656
00:41:37,962 --> 00:41:40,260
"Look how good this kid is,
he's gonna be great,"
657
00:41:40,331 --> 00:41:42,196
and she was like, "You should
really be proud of him."
658
00:41:44,869 --> 00:41:46,393
It just seemed like
she just always had one kid
659
00:41:46,470 --> 00:41:48,062
that was, like, her favorite.
660
00:41:48,138 --> 00:41:50,265
And she put all their artwork
in these art competitions
661
00:41:50,341 --> 00:41:52,809
and you'd win
these gold keys.
662
00:41:56,413 --> 00:41:59,280
Where I think things
all went--
663
00:41:59,350 --> 00:42:02,581
took a turn for the worse was,
664
00:42:02,653 --> 00:42:05,178
she really...
665
00:42:05,256 --> 00:42:08,885
wanted him
to just kind of conform
666
00:42:08,959 --> 00:42:11,553
to this thing that she
thought was going to
667
00:42:11,629 --> 00:42:14,097
win him these awards
in this competition.
668
00:42:18,102 --> 00:42:20,070
He didn't take instruction well
669
00:42:20,137 --> 00:42:22,867
and he didn't do
what he was told.
670
00:42:22,940 --> 00:42:26,068
That naturally put him at odds
with the art teacher.
671
00:42:32,216 --> 00:42:35,777
He was on
a controversial mind trip.
672
00:42:39,657 --> 00:42:41,284
It was a slap in the face to her
673
00:42:41,358 --> 00:42:44,850
that somebody that she
championed as being talented
674
00:42:44,929 --> 00:42:48,695
could not be exactly the person
that she wanted them to be.
675
00:42:48,766 --> 00:42:50,791
It was a love affair
gone sour, y'know?
676
00:42:53,571 --> 00:42:55,266
So there was just
a conflict about that
677
00:42:55,339 --> 00:42:56,636
and then the conflict
just escalated
678
00:42:56,707 --> 00:42:58,368
and got worse and worse.
679
00:42:58,442 --> 00:43:02,208
My day-to-day life in school
was pretty much a war.
680
00:43:02,279 --> 00:43:03,610
I would walk through the hallway
681
00:43:03,681 --> 00:43:06,411
and kids would open up a locker
and smash me into it
682
00:43:06,483 --> 00:43:08,610
and, y'know,
push me down the stairs.
683
00:43:08,686 --> 00:43:11,120
And then they'd be like,
"Fucking pigeon man."
684
00:43:12,356 --> 00:43:15,291
He received a lot of abuse.
685
00:43:15,359 --> 00:43:18,590
It was personal, y'know?
686
00:43:18,662 --> 00:43:21,790
They were anti-Justin
and he was anti-them.
687
00:43:25,035 --> 00:43:27,560
He definitely has
always been an outsider.
688
00:43:29,540 --> 00:43:30,905
It really got to a fever pitch.
689
00:43:30,975 --> 00:43:32,203
I would skip classes
690
00:43:32,276 --> 00:43:34,801
and I would just go back behind
the auditorium
691
00:43:34,878 --> 00:43:36,505
where there was
a area back there
692
00:43:36,580 --> 00:43:38,241
that was dark and lonely
and gloomy
693
00:43:38,315 --> 00:43:39,976
and I would just
draw pictures, y'know?
694
00:43:42,453 --> 00:43:43,852
Once he got kicked out
of art class,
695
00:43:43,921 --> 00:43:47,152
I think in
the beginning of 11th grade,
696
00:43:47,224 --> 00:43:48,987
his high school days
were numbered.
697
00:43:58,736 --> 00:44:01,432
Justin was out of step
with the world
698
00:44:01,505 --> 00:44:06,909
from the very beginning
to what he is now.
699
00:44:06,977 --> 00:44:08,501
He's a strange bird.
700
00:44:10,581 --> 00:44:12,640
Think he's gonna
carry that right on out.
701
00:44:17,721 --> 00:44:20,451
Let's see this.
702
00:44:31,969 --> 00:44:33,300
Bill O'Neill eventually
lost interest
703
00:44:33,370 --> 00:44:35,964
in the whole
phenomenon and decides,
704
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:37,632
"I'm just going to hand it over
to you guys.
705
00:44:37,708 --> 00:44:39,039
"I'm passing the torch.
706
00:44:39,109 --> 00:44:41,304
"It seems like you guys are
keeping up
707
00:44:41,378 --> 00:44:43,744
"on investigating
the mystery and everything.
708
00:44:43,814 --> 00:44:44,906
So here you go."
709
00:44:44,982 --> 00:44:47,177
And he hands over
the access codes
710
00:44:47,251 --> 00:44:49,310
and everything to
Toynbee.net for us.
711
00:44:52,289 --> 00:44:53,119
There we go.
712
00:44:53,190 --> 00:44:55,988
Aw, shit,
here it is, man.
713
00:44:56,060 --> 00:44:58,995
So we start going through
the back--
714
00:44:59,063 --> 00:45:01,463
the back catalog
of all these e-mails.
715
00:45:06,103 --> 00:45:09,300
Most of it is just this endless
array of people
716
00:45:09,373 --> 00:45:11,170
who believe that
they've figured out
717
00:45:11,241 --> 00:45:12,572
the Toynbee tile message
718
00:45:12,643 --> 00:45:14,838
or they know
what it's really all about.
719
00:45:14,912 --> 00:45:16,812
And it's anything you can
think of.
720
00:45:20,451 --> 00:45:23,852
People have conspiracy theories
about the Toynbee tiles.
721
00:45:29,727 --> 00:45:32,321
And people who believe that
they've solved the mystery.
722
00:45:46,744 --> 00:45:50,145
There were multiple
who mentioned seeing the tiles
723
00:45:50,214 --> 00:45:51,579
in the early '80s.
724
00:45:55,385 --> 00:45:56,409
We're not the first
people
725
00:45:56,487 --> 00:45:58,819
to try and solve this mystery.
726
00:45:58,889 --> 00:46:00,481
Yeah, it's definitely
been investigated
727
00:46:00,557 --> 00:46:03,390
in depth by other people.
728
00:46:03,460 --> 00:46:05,121
We learned from
the Toynbee.net e-mails,
729
00:46:05,195 --> 00:46:07,060
there's two other groups of
people who had resolved
730
00:46:07,131 --> 00:46:09,599
to make documentary
films about it, even.
731
00:46:13,604 --> 00:46:15,504
Everybody
who researches this
732
00:46:15,572 --> 00:46:18,268
seems to just hit
a brick wall.
733
00:46:18,342 --> 00:46:21,573
And this has been going on
for decades, yes.
734
00:46:21,645 --> 00:46:23,909
A detective tried and failed.
735
00:46:23,981 --> 00:46:26,677
Two documentary teams
tried and failed.
736
00:46:26,750 --> 00:46:30,015
Countless other
people tried and failed
737
00:46:30,087 --> 00:46:32,021
to solve this mystery.
738
00:46:32,089 --> 00:46:34,785
It seemed to me like
we weren't special.
739
00:46:34,858 --> 00:46:39,386
Y'know, we had, y'know,
no training in being detectives.
740
00:46:39,463 --> 00:46:40,930
We're not gonna make
this discovery.
741
00:46:40,998 --> 00:46:42,693
Y'know, we're wasting our time.
742
00:46:42,766 --> 00:46:44,427
We're barking up
the wrong tree, it's--
743
00:46:44,501 --> 00:46:46,332
You know, it's a quagmire.
744
00:46:46,403 --> 00:46:48,997
Ahh, like, who is--
it's a person.
745
00:46:49,072 --> 00:46:52,599
Like, it is
someone... somewhere.
746
00:46:52,676 --> 00:46:54,610
There are so many ghosts
and phantoms
747
00:46:54,678 --> 00:46:57,909
and shadows to chase.
748
00:46:57,981 --> 00:47:00,472
But the tiles
are a physical thing.
749
00:47:00,551 --> 00:47:02,644
They exist in physical reality.
750
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:06,018
We're not dealing with
the supernatural.
751
00:47:06,089 --> 00:47:10,856
The tiles are being cut
out with some kind of blade.
752
00:47:10,928 --> 00:47:13,863
A hand is holding
the blade.
753
00:47:13,931 --> 00:47:15,159
It's totally real.
754
00:47:15,232 --> 00:47:17,996
It's physical,
it's tangible.
755
00:47:18,068 --> 00:47:19,433
It's not a shadow.
756
00:47:19,503 --> 00:47:21,733
It's not a phantom,
it's not a ghost.
757
00:47:21,805 --> 00:47:24,035
Somewhere
there's a human being
758
00:47:24,107 --> 00:47:25,972
who's behind all of this.
759
00:47:33,750 --> 00:47:36,878
One interesting thing that came
out of the Toynbee.net e-mails
760
00:47:36,954 --> 00:47:39,752
was an e-mail that came
from a guy named Joe Raimondo.
761
00:47:41,825 --> 00:47:43,588
He said that in 1985,
762
00:47:43,660 --> 00:47:47,027
this really strange broadcast
came over his TV.
763
00:47:47,097 --> 00:47:50,362
Look, I got a real story here
'cause I heard this.
764
00:47:50,434 --> 00:47:53,301
I was watching
"Eyewitness News"
765
00:47:53,370 --> 00:47:56,100
at 11:00 on Channel 3.
766
00:47:56,173 --> 00:47:59,074
I was by myself, kind of
in the dark, just chillin' out.
767
00:47:59,142 --> 00:48:00,939
All of a sudden,
768
00:48:01,011 --> 00:48:03,707
I heard this thing about
Toynbee's conception
769
00:48:03,780 --> 00:48:08,046
of 2000-- of Clarke's
"2001" or whatever it was.
770
00:48:08,118 --> 00:48:10,518
Like, the television newscaster
is talking
771
00:48:10,587 --> 00:48:12,350
and, all of a sudden,
like, they kind of faded out
772
00:48:12,422 --> 00:48:14,720
and then this voice comes in,
you know.
773
00:48:14,791 --> 00:48:16,190
And then they
said it real fast
774
00:48:16,260 --> 00:48:19,252
and then there's all this static
and then it went away.
775
00:48:19,329 --> 00:48:21,854
Somebody hijacked the TV news
776
00:48:21,932 --> 00:48:27,495
and they're beaming this
Toynbee Idea thing at me.
777
00:48:27,571 --> 00:48:30,665
Like, it took me a minute to get
my head together, like,
778
00:48:30,741 --> 00:48:32,003
"What's going on here?"
779
00:48:32,075 --> 00:48:35,306
So I thought, I gotta find out
what's going on here.
780
00:48:35,379 --> 00:48:37,370
So I called Channel 3.
781
00:48:37,447 --> 00:48:40,143
I called-- like,
I called them up.
782
00:48:40,217 --> 00:48:42,845
I'm like, "I'm watching
your news
783
00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:47,857
and I just heard
this thing about Toynbee."
784
00:48:47,925 --> 00:48:51,861
And the person who's
the operator is like,
785
00:48:51,929 --> 00:48:53,419
"Um, yeah, well, you're not
the only one."
786
00:48:56,066 --> 00:48:58,034
The voice of the Toynbee
tiler
787
00:48:58,101 --> 00:49:00,592
is apparently coming through
his TV set.
788
00:49:00,671 --> 00:49:01,660
This is just fascinating.
789
00:49:01,738 --> 00:49:04,036
So... how is
this happening?
790
00:49:05,642 --> 00:49:10,045
I mean, that's like some
"Twilight Zone" thing, y'know?
791
00:49:10,113 --> 00:49:11,410
I'm not crazy.
792
00:49:11,481 --> 00:49:13,278
I definitely--
I definitely heard this.
793
00:49:24,428 --> 00:49:27,522
This guy, Nathan Mehl
wrote into Toynbee.net
794
00:49:27,597 --> 00:49:29,997
many, many years ago
with this story
795
00:49:30,067 --> 00:49:33,195
of running into
this street prophet guy
796
00:49:33,270 --> 00:49:35,261
in the Greyhound Bus Terminal
in Philadelphia.
797
00:49:35,339 --> 00:49:37,466
And he's giving out
these pamphlets
798
00:49:37,541 --> 00:49:39,600
or pieces of paper with
the Toynbee message on them.
799
00:49:52,656 --> 00:49:56,251
Steve Weinik...
decided he was going to
800
00:49:56,326 --> 00:49:59,090
track down this Nathan Mehl guy
because we were thinking,
801
00:49:59,162 --> 00:50:00,959
well, maybe he's
got one of these pamphlets
802
00:50:01,031 --> 00:50:02,362
or something, still.
803
00:50:27,691 --> 00:50:29,352
Nathan Mehl
told us this story,
804
00:50:29,426 --> 00:50:31,451
"Oh, Bill O'Neill misquoted me.
805
00:50:31,528 --> 00:50:34,588
"There was no street prophet guy
or whatever.
806
00:50:34,664 --> 00:50:37,394
"I didn't meet a guy on
a Greyhound bus or anything.
807
00:50:37,467 --> 00:50:40,698
"What happened was, in those
days, in the early '80s,
808
00:50:40,771 --> 00:50:43,467
"there were wheat-pasted
fliers all over the city...
809
00:50:46,643 --> 00:50:48,543
"... with the Toynbee message
on them.
810
00:50:48,612 --> 00:50:53,242
"And then a pirate
shortwave radio address,
811
00:50:53,316 --> 00:50:54,806
so you could tune in."
812
00:50:56,286 --> 00:50:58,277
Now, we knew something
we never knew before,
813
00:50:58,355 --> 00:51:02,314
which was somebody involved
in the Minority Association
814
00:51:02,392 --> 00:51:05,225
or in spreading the Toynbee
message
815
00:51:05,295 --> 00:51:09,356
had involvement in
the shortwave radio community.
816
00:51:11,668 --> 00:51:15,570
So I thought somebody in
the shortwave world
817
00:51:15,639 --> 00:51:18,767
knows who these people
were or who this person is.
818
00:51:25,315 --> 00:51:28,216
Well, we're here at
the shortwave radio convention
819
00:51:28,285 --> 00:51:31,584
in order to track down people
who may remember
820
00:51:31,655 --> 00:51:33,987
the shortwave radio
broadcasts from the 1980s.
821
00:51:34,958 --> 00:51:35,925
Is this fictitious?
822
00:51:35,992 --> 00:51:37,584
No, it's not fictitious.
823
00:51:37,661 --> 00:51:39,219
- I mean, I don't know--
- Well, who--
824
00:51:39,296 --> 00:51:41,628
I've never-- I don't know
what you're talking about.
825
00:51:41,698 --> 00:51:43,859
And they were
propagating this message
826
00:51:43,934 --> 00:51:48,030
of Arnold Toynbee's
ideas in the movie "2001"
827
00:51:48,105 --> 00:51:51,040
to reconfigure dead molecules
on the planet Jupiter.
828
00:51:54,578 --> 00:51:55,977
This is the thing,
you found it.
829
00:51:56,046 --> 00:51:58,310
That's the gold mine.
830
00:51:58,381 --> 00:52:01,145
We found a schedule of
events.
831
00:52:01,218 --> 00:52:03,709
Most of the discussions were
just technical
832
00:52:03,787 --> 00:52:05,914
radio things that
were way over our heads
833
00:52:05,989 --> 00:52:08,958
but there was one thing that did
sound interesting.
834
00:52:09,025 --> 00:52:11,687
So now what I'm gonna do
is conduct
835
00:52:11,761 --> 00:52:14,559
this paranormal
experiment with you.
836
00:52:14,631 --> 00:52:17,964
I'm going to think of
one of these cards
837
00:52:18,034 --> 00:52:19,433
and then we're
going to find out
838
00:52:19,503 --> 00:52:21,801
if my messages got out to you.
839
00:52:31,715 --> 00:52:35,446
How many people think that
I thought about the star?
840
00:52:35,519 --> 00:52:37,111
One, two, three, four.
841
00:52:37,187 --> 00:52:40,281
How many people think I thought
about the square?
842
00:52:40,357 --> 00:52:43,451
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
843
00:52:43,527 --> 00:52:45,552
11, 12, 13, 14.
844
00:52:45,629 --> 00:52:48,598
How many people think I thought
about the wavy line?
845
00:52:48,665 --> 00:52:50,963
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
846
00:52:51,034 --> 00:52:53,696
11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19,
847
00:52:53,770 --> 00:52:56,068
20, 21, 22,
23, 24, 25, 26...
848
00:52:56,139 --> 00:53:01,634
So all of you thought,
in my fine thinking apparatus,
849
00:53:01,711 --> 00:53:03,736
that I was thinking about
the wavy line.
850
00:53:03,813 --> 00:53:06,373
That was
the majority of the people.
851
00:53:06,449 --> 00:53:10,385
Well, I'll show you what
I was thinking about.
852
00:53:10,453 --> 00:53:13,081
I was thinking--
see, there's nothing here.
853
00:53:13,156 --> 00:53:15,624
That's the-- I was thinking of
the wavy line.
854
00:53:15,692 --> 00:53:18,388
Maybe there's
something to this.
855
00:53:18,461 --> 00:53:21,521
At the end of the lecture,
the guy who did it
856
00:53:21,598 --> 00:53:23,691
opens up a little forum
for people to ask questions.
857
00:53:23,767 --> 00:53:25,166
Question and answers, you know.
858
00:53:25,235 --> 00:53:27,032
I apologize, it's kind
of off the subject,
859
00:53:27,103 --> 00:53:30,402
but it's a mystery
that we're trying to solve.
860
00:53:30,473 --> 00:53:33,704
Somebody's been creating
sort of like an art piece
861
00:53:33,777 --> 00:53:35,210
or whatever that's--
862
00:53:35,278 --> 00:53:39,715
somehow, Arnold Toynbee's ideas
in the movie "2001" would--
863
00:53:39,783 --> 00:53:42,513
people would be able to raise
the dead on the planet Jupiter.
864
00:53:42,586 --> 00:53:44,577
They were doing
shortwave radio broadcasts
865
00:53:44,654 --> 00:53:46,053
in the early '80s.
866
00:53:46,122 --> 00:53:47,612
What we were
basically trying to do here
867
00:53:47,691 --> 00:53:49,090
is see if anybody remembered
868
00:53:49,159 --> 00:53:52,595
those shortwave broadcasts
talking about this stuff.
869
00:53:52,662 --> 00:53:55,426
And I figured this
would be as good of a place--
870
00:53:55,498 --> 00:53:56,863
You've got an
old-fart audience here,
871
00:53:56,933 --> 00:53:58,195
so they ought to...
872
00:53:58,268 --> 00:54:02,295
Anybody remember
any of that stuff?
873
00:54:02,372 --> 00:54:03,464
Big zip here.
874
00:54:03,540 --> 00:54:04,905
Sorry.
875
00:54:06,610 --> 00:54:09,670
Right after everybody
says nobody knows anything
876
00:54:09,746 --> 00:54:12,340
and the guy says, "Okay, well,
we're gonna move on then,"
877
00:54:12,415 --> 00:54:14,679
somebody
sitting in front of me
878
00:54:14,751 --> 00:54:15,945
turns around their little
879
00:54:16,019 --> 00:54:18,647
metal folding chair a little bit
and whispers to me,
880
00:54:18,722 --> 00:54:21,520
"Hey, listen, I know
some guys that probably
881
00:54:21,591 --> 00:54:23,525
"know about what you're
talking about.
882
00:54:23,593 --> 00:54:25,458
"It's some of the pirate guys.
883
00:54:25,528 --> 00:54:28,326
Y'know, just catch up with me
after it's over, all right?"
884
00:54:32,636 --> 00:54:35,104
We were going to go upstairs
and we were gonna be let in
885
00:54:35,171 --> 00:54:39,437
on this secret part of
the shortwave fest.
886
00:54:39,509 --> 00:54:41,067
So we've been led to believe
887
00:54:41,144 --> 00:54:42,577
they may know
something about this.
888
00:54:42,646 --> 00:54:44,011
So we are on the mission.
889
00:54:51,054 --> 00:54:55,218
Over here is a very
low-power transmitting device
890
00:54:55,292 --> 00:54:59,558
that is radiating a signal
around the hotel here.
891
00:54:59,629 --> 00:55:02,894
He's actually performing
a shortwave broadcast
892
00:55:02,966 --> 00:55:05,594
on the fourth floor of the hotel
893
00:55:05,669 --> 00:55:07,466
or whatever where
the shortwave fest is at.
894
00:55:10,540 --> 00:55:13,600
This is Radio Clandestine.
895
00:55:22,686 --> 00:55:25,883
All right, on this broadcast
from Radio Tim Tron Worldwide
896
00:55:25,955 --> 00:55:28,423
here in room 412,
897
00:55:28,491 --> 00:55:31,551
we have some gentlemen
from another aspect
898
00:55:31,628 --> 00:55:33,493
of an interesting
life form that have arrived.
899
00:55:33,563 --> 00:55:36,691
And who do we have seated at
the guest microphonium?
900
00:55:36,766 --> 00:55:40,634
Well, my name is Justin Duerr
and I'm from Philadelphia.
901
00:55:40,704 --> 00:55:44,834
And we're filming
a documentary about
902
00:55:44,908 --> 00:55:49,402
a mysterious phenomenon that
has been unfolding,
903
00:55:49,479 --> 00:55:51,970
as far as we
know, well over a decade.
904
00:55:52,048 --> 00:55:53,879
Wow.
905
00:55:53,950 --> 00:55:55,747
There was a distinct
possibility that
906
00:55:55,819 --> 00:55:58,219
Tim Tron might say,
907
00:55:58,288 --> 00:56:00,153
"Oh, back in the early '80s,
908
00:56:00,223 --> 00:56:02,783
"I mean, everybody knew
the Toynbee tile station.
909
00:56:02,859 --> 00:56:05,384
Y'know, we used to listen to it
all the time."
910
00:56:05,462 --> 00:56:08,226
And maybe he'd even have
a tape of it or something.
911
00:56:08,298 --> 00:56:11,665
This is the first time
I've ever heard of this,
912
00:56:11,735 --> 00:56:15,603
so I guess putting it
out there
913
00:56:15,672 --> 00:56:17,139
in shortwave radio land
914
00:56:17,207 --> 00:56:20,199
we'll get it out there
and maybe somebody who has
915
00:56:20,276 --> 00:56:23,643
experienced this phenomenon
can get back to you all.
916
00:56:25,615 --> 00:56:26,912
There.
917
00:56:26,983 --> 00:56:29,747
Colin was in and out of the room
during Justin's interview.
918
00:56:29,819 --> 00:56:31,480
And he comes back in...
919
00:56:31,554 --> 00:56:33,784
We have a development
downstairs, you guys.
920
00:56:33,857 --> 00:56:35,188
Whoa!
921
00:56:35,258 --> 00:56:36,919
The guy pulled me out of
the room and he said,
922
00:56:36,993 --> 00:56:38,119
"There's someone you really
should talk to.
923
00:56:38,194 --> 00:56:39,092
Here, come down
and talk to him."
924
00:56:39,162 --> 00:56:40,595
"There's someone...
925
00:56:40,663 --> 00:56:41,960
we've got to go
downstairs."
926
00:56:47,137 --> 00:56:50,629
We go over and start talking to
this guy, John T. Arthur.
927
00:56:50,707 --> 00:56:52,197
You were saying you
remembered something
928
00:56:52,275 --> 00:56:54,243
about that-- the shortwave
broadcasts?
929
00:56:54,310 --> 00:56:57,746
Well, they contacted me
to use my post office box
930
00:56:57,814 --> 00:56:59,111
for a mail drop.
931
00:56:59,182 --> 00:57:01,946
It's exactly what you describe
in the little flier, there.
932
00:57:02,018 --> 00:57:03,849
When did they
contact you?
933
00:57:03,920 --> 00:57:06,753
Well, I was in school there
between '81 and '83
934
00:57:06,823 --> 00:57:08,085
so it was early '80s.
935
00:57:08,158 --> 00:57:09,648
Mm-hmm.
936
00:57:09,726 --> 00:57:11,193
- Wow.
- Do you remember any--
937
00:57:11,261 --> 00:57:12,694
did you ever listen
to the broadcasts?
938
00:57:12,762 --> 00:57:14,059
Do you remember anything
about those?
939
00:57:14,130 --> 00:57:15,722
I never could hear them,
not from out there.
940
00:57:15,799 --> 00:57:18,131
And I never saw
any reports of them.
941
00:57:18,201 --> 00:57:20,829
Never got any mail for him,
either.
942
00:57:20,904 --> 00:57:23,372
Just being there,
in the flesh, with someone
943
00:57:23,440 --> 00:57:27,001
who had had communication
with the Toynbee tiler.
944
00:57:27,076 --> 00:57:28,941
It was like, everything comes
together, everything clicks,
945
00:57:29,012 --> 00:57:32,277
where you're just like,
"Whoa, like, y'know...
946
00:57:32,348 --> 00:57:33,372
"my head is spinning.
947
00:57:33,450 --> 00:57:34,974
Like, this is
just crazy."
948
00:57:35,051 --> 00:57:37,281
Do you remember any--
do you remember talking to
949
00:57:37,353 --> 00:57:39,184
any other people
or just him or...
950
00:57:39,255 --> 00:57:40,779
- It was all by mail.
- Yeah, okay.
951
00:57:40,857 --> 00:57:42,518
I didn't talk to him,
and, no, it was just him.
952
00:57:42,592 --> 00:57:44,787
And you didn't save any of the
mail or anything, obviously.
953
00:57:44,861 --> 00:57:46,419
Probably not.
954
00:57:46,496 --> 00:57:48,123
No, I didn't,
unfortunately.
955
00:57:48,198 --> 00:57:49,256
Yeah.
956
00:57:50,433 --> 00:57:51,695
Did he mention anything
about a group,
957
00:57:51,768 --> 00:57:53,759
like the Minority Association?
958
00:57:53,837 --> 00:57:55,828
- Yeah, I recall that name, too.
- Yeah, really?
959
00:57:55,905 --> 00:57:56,837
Wow.
960
00:57:56,906 --> 00:57:57,873
Do you remember
any of the names
961
00:57:57,941 --> 00:58:01,035
of the people that
contacted you?
962
00:58:01,110 --> 00:58:02,509
If you could
rattle off some names,
963
00:58:02,579 --> 00:58:04,570
it might jog
my memory, but...
964
00:58:04,647 --> 00:58:06,171
Severino?
965
00:58:06,249 --> 00:58:08,046
Sevy?
966
00:58:08,117 --> 00:58:10,677
- Verna?
- Verna.
967
00:58:10,753 --> 00:58:13,586
Yeah, how 'bout that?
968
00:58:13,656 --> 00:58:15,556
First try.
969
00:58:15,625 --> 00:58:19,493
Colin throws out
the first name.
970
00:58:19,562 --> 00:58:24,329
John T. Arthur
completes the last name.
971
00:58:26,536 --> 00:58:28,970
We know conclusively
who the tiler was.
972
00:58:30,707 --> 00:58:33,198
Sevy Verna, yeah.
973
00:58:53,496 --> 00:58:55,760
After the shortwave fest,
we got together
974
00:58:55,832 --> 00:58:57,493
and we had a little
round table discussion
975
00:58:57,567 --> 00:58:59,694
about what our next
steps would be.
976
00:58:59,769 --> 00:59:01,202
Well, stranger things
have happened.
977
00:59:01,271 --> 00:59:02,397
Well...
978
00:59:02,472 --> 00:59:03,905
Nah, that's not true.
979
00:59:03,973 --> 00:59:06,441
Nothing stranger
has ever happened.
980
00:59:06,509 --> 00:59:09,034
Well, where do you guys
want to take it from here?
981
00:59:09,112 --> 00:59:11,478
I mean, what can we do
from here, y'know?
982
00:59:11,548 --> 00:59:14,016
We should go back to
the neighborhood or at least,
983
00:59:14,083 --> 00:59:16,779
like, nail Frannie down
more into just being like,
984
00:59:16,853 --> 00:59:18,286
"You've gotta talk to him,"
you know what I mean?
985
00:59:18,354 --> 00:59:20,219
Because now we know something
we didn't know before.
986
00:59:20,290 --> 00:59:21,951
So, yeah,
knowing more about him
987
00:59:22,025 --> 00:59:23,185
is really what's important
at this point.
988
00:59:23,259 --> 00:59:24,248
Right, yeah, yeah.
989
00:59:24,327 --> 00:59:25,726
And just filling in
all the holes.
990
00:59:27,764 --> 00:59:29,959
We go back to the
neighborhood...
991
00:59:38,408 --> 00:59:40,069
Here's a man that no one sees.
992
00:59:40,143 --> 00:59:42,737
Here's a man that,
if he goes food shopping,
993
00:59:42,812 --> 00:59:45,246
he goes 2:00, 3:00
in the morning.
994
00:59:45,315 --> 00:59:48,079
He just put about
995
00:59:48,151 --> 00:59:51,245
half-inch plywood
on the windows
996
00:59:51,321 --> 00:59:53,619
and nailed it into the window.
997
00:59:53,690 --> 00:59:58,127
And, like I say,
then he used to chain the door.
998
00:59:58,194 --> 01:00:00,628
People like him,
they just...
999
01:00:00,697 --> 01:00:01,755
they don't
want to be bothered.
1000
01:00:01,831 --> 01:00:03,230
They live by themselves.
1001
01:00:05,134 --> 01:00:07,898
I think he works
a little night work.
1002
01:00:07,971 --> 01:00:09,962
I'm not sure, we don't see him.
1003
01:00:10,039 --> 01:00:12,303
All I do know is people
used to bother him,
1004
01:00:12,375 --> 01:00:14,172
but he didn't bother nobody.
1005
01:00:16,112 --> 01:00:17,636
He used to have a car.
1006
01:00:17,714 --> 01:00:20,842
One side of it was--
the floorboard was out of it.
1007
01:00:20,917 --> 01:00:22,942
I know that because one day
I happened to look
1008
01:00:23,019 --> 01:00:26,182
and I went,
"Oh, my God," you know.
1009
01:00:26,255 --> 01:00:27,984
I said, "How can he drive it
like that?"
1010
01:00:28,057 --> 01:00:30,924
It only had one seat
on one side, I remember.
1011
01:00:30,994 --> 01:00:32,621
And I looked and I said,
1012
01:00:32,695 --> 01:00:35,493
"Man don't have no floorboard
in his car," y'know?
1013
01:00:36,733 --> 01:00:40,897
The tiler doesn't have
a floorboard in his car.
1014
01:00:40,970 --> 01:00:42,232
It takes a second.
1015
01:00:42,305 --> 01:00:43,795
You're like,
"No-- no floorboard?"
1016
01:00:45,274 --> 01:00:47,174
Immediately, makes you
think, "Well, that's how he's
1017
01:00:47,243 --> 01:00:49,837
"putting the Toynbee tiles down,
is he's driving in his car,
1018
01:00:49,912 --> 01:00:52,210
"dropping the Toynbee tiles
through this
1019
01:00:52,281 --> 01:00:55,444
floorboard-less
part of the car."
1020
01:00:55,518 --> 01:00:59,454
No one would see a thing.
1021
01:00:59,522 --> 01:01:02,787
I remember seeing that tile
in the middle of the highway
1022
01:01:02,859 --> 01:01:05,157
and I wondered,
like, "How did he do that?"
1023
01:01:05,228 --> 01:01:07,958
You're on the
interstate, you drop a tile.
1024
01:01:08,031 --> 01:01:09,396
You're at the entrance
of the Holland Tunnel
1025
01:01:09,465 --> 01:01:11,456
and you drop a tile, y'know?
1026
01:01:11,534 --> 01:01:14,128
So you can put tiles
in impossible locations.
1027
01:01:14,203 --> 01:01:15,898
It's brilliant, it's...
1028
01:01:18,007 --> 01:01:19,531
Well, I remember there
was a car up here
1029
01:01:19,609 --> 01:01:21,543
with a big, big antenna.
1030
01:01:21,611 --> 01:01:22,942
With a real big antenna.
1031
01:01:23,012 --> 01:01:25,071
He used to come over
on the TV screen.
1032
01:01:25,148 --> 01:01:27,582
Like, he used to come in
with the TV back in the day.
1033
01:01:27,650 --> 01:01:29,242
Like, he used to come across,
like, you'd hear--
1034
01:01:29,318 --> 01:01:30,307
you're watching a TV show
1035
01:01:30,386 --> 01:01:31,785
and you would
hear somebody talking.
1036
01:01:31,854 --> 01:01:35,017
My father used to complain
about it going onto the TV.
1037
01:01:35,091 --> 01:01:36,558
'Cause it would be
the floor model,
1038
01:01:36,626 --> 01:01:38,059
back in the day,
and it used to go--
1039
01:01:38,127 --> 01:01:39,992
You hear him talking on
the thing
1040
01:01:40,063 --> 01:01:41,030
and then my father
used to go out there
1041
01:01:41,097 --> 01:01:42,997
and scream and holler.
1042
01:01:43,066 --> 01:01:45,762
He's got his car, and before
he starts tiling,
1043
01:01:45,835 --> 01:01:47,393
he's tiling the airwaves.
1044
01:01:47,470 --> 01:01:49,631
He's tiling
the 11:00 news.
1045
01:01:49,706 --> 01:01:52,072
You basically, you've got
this guy in a car
1046
01:01:52,141 --> 01:01:54,609
with the floorboards
taken out of the passenger side
1047
01:01:54,677 --> 01:01:56,577
of the car with no
passenger seat,
1048
01:01:56,646 --> 01:02:00,742
with a big Texas Flycatcher
antenna attached to the car,
1049
01:02:00,817 --> 01:02:02,682
transmitting a signal.
1050
01:02:04,921 --> 01:02:07,617
Driving down the street
in his neighborhood
1051
01:02:07,690 --> 01:02:10,124
and, as he passes each house,
1052
01:02:10,193 --> 01:02:12,093
the television in the house
goes haywire
1053
01:02:12,161 --> 01:02:14,186
and his Toynbee message
is coming over the speakers
1054
01:02:14,263 --> 01:02:15,992
on the television.
1055
01:02:16,065 --> 01:02:17,760
And people are coming out of
their house
1056
01:02:17,834 --> 01:02:19,301
and yelling at the car
1057
01:02:19,368 --> 01:02:21,734
because they know that it's him
that's transmitting this signal
1058
01:02:21,804 --> 01:02:24,170
on to the televisions.
1059
01:02:24,240 --> 01:02:26,003
It's a pretty intense story,
you know.
1060
01:02:28,444 --> 01:02:30,571
I remember, younger,
when we were kids,
1061
01:02:30,646 --> 01:02:32,807
we called him the Birdman
'cause he would take the birds.
1062
01:02:32,882 --> 01:02:35,817
Like, if there was a broken--
a bird on the street
1063
01:02:35,885 --> 01:02:37,216
with a broken wing or whatever,
1064
01:02:37,286 --> 01:02:39,277
he'll take it back and he'll
nurse it and this and that.
1065
01:02:39,355 --> 01:02:41,118
Like, he does do
stuff like that.
1066
01:02:41,190 --> 01:02:42,418
He's very timid.
1067
01:02:42,492 --> 01:02:44,926
Like, he has to know you,
I guess, to talk to you.
1068
01:02:44,994 --> 01:02:46,086
But other than that,
he keeps to himself.
1069
01:02:46,162 --> 01:02:48,426
He rides his bike
and then he comes back.
1070
01:02:48,498 --> 01:02:50,762
He was, in his house
that he lived in,
1071
01:02:50,833 --> 01:02:52,960
he's, like, made himself
a prisoner in the house
1072
01:02:53,035 --> 01:02:55,469
because he had a confrontation
with one of the neighbors
1073
01:02:55,538 --> 01:02:58,029
that was renting off
of the next-door property.
1074
01:02:58,107 --> 01:03:01,235
See, he's like a late--
like a night owl.
1075
01:03:01,310 --> 01:03:05,041
And he plays the organ
and then he plays the thing...
1076
01:03:05,114 --> 01:03:06,479
- The accordion.
- The accordion.
1077
01:03:06,549 --> 01:03:08,414
And he plays that, like,
3:00, 4:00 in the morning.
1078
01:03:08,484 --> 01:03:09,849
And so the neighbor that
lived next door to him
1079
01:03:09,919 --> 01:03:13,286
was drunks and they broke
into the back of his house,
1080
01:03:13,356 --> 01:03:14,550
and while he was sleeping
on the couch,
1081
01:03:14,624 --> 01:03:16,592
they put a knife
to his throat.
1082
01:03:16,659 --> 01:03:20,322
One time he had
the music so, so loud.
1083
01:03:20,396 --> 01:03:23,388
He says, "Well, we hear your
piano all the time."
1084
01:03:23,466 --> 01:03:25,297
So he said--
so he threatened him.
1085
01:03:25,368 --> 01:03:28,394
And that's why he barricaded
the windows.
1086
01:03:28,471 --> 01:03:29,665
And now, recently this year,
1087
01:03:29,739 --> 01:03:31,206
he just took off
all the boards.
1088
01:03:31,274 --> 01:03:33,606
But he still locks his
door up with the big lead pipe
1089
01:03:33,676 --> 01:03:36,008
with the lock 'cause he's
still a little timid.
1090
01:03:40,383 --> 01:03:41,873
These guys
break into his house
1091
01:03:41,951 --> 01:03:44,442
and hold a knife to his throat.
1092
01:03:44,520 --> 01:03:47,421
I think that would
make anybody paranoid.
1093
01:03:47,490 --> 01:03:49,822
It's interesting because it ties
into a message
1094
01:03:49,892 --> 01:03:52,292
that was actually
found on a tile.
1095
01:03:55,631 --> 01:03:57,121
People trying to kill him
1096
01:03:57,200 --> 01:04:02,228
and he boards up his house
with blast doors.
1097
01:04:02,305 --> 01:04:05,741
This is another
version of the story.
1098
01:04:05,808 --> 01:04:09,073
Do you think if you
knocked on his door and said,
1099
01:04:09,145 --> 01:04:10,237
"Hey, it's Frannie,"
1100
01:04:10,313 --> 01:04:11,337
do you think he would come,
just for you?
1101
01:04:11,414 --> 01:04:12,813
Well, we can knock,
we'll try.
1102
01:04:17,720 --> 01:04:19,051
Sevy?
1103
01:04:23,926 --> 01:04:25,655
I see somebody
there, like...
1104
01:04:33,002 --> 01:04:34,867
Yeah.
1105
01:04:34,937 --> 01:04:36,165
He was home.
1106
01:04:36,239 --> 01:04:38,605
And, um, he just wasn't
answering the door.
1107
01:04:41,043 --> 01:04:42,806
We start to
realize here's somebody
1108
01:04:42,879 --> 01:04:47,441
that's really sensitive to any
kind of outside pressure.
1109
01:04:47,516 --> 01:04:49,984
And it's doing
something bad to him.
1110
01:04:57,960 --> 01:04:59,587
No.
1111
01:04:59,662 --> 01:05:00,959
I don't think we'll
ever talk to Sevy.
1112
01:05:04,567 --> 01:05:05,864
It's a mystery.
1113
01:05:05,935 --> 01:05:07,493
It's a public mystery,
it's been put out in the public
1114
01:05:07,570 --> 01:05:09,060
for 25 years asking
to be solved.
1115
01:05:09,138 --> 01:05:10,628
But once you solve it,
1116
01:05:10,706 --> 01:05:11,968
you realize that the person
really doesn't
1117
01:05:12,041 --> 01:05:13,599
want you to solve it.
1118
01:05:13,676 --> 01:05:14,802
He doesn't want it
to be a mystery.
1119
01:05:14,877 --> 01:05:16,970
He doesn't want
that kind of attention.
1120
01:05:17,046 --> 01:05:18,877
And what do you do with that
information, then?
1121
01:05:21,751 --> 01:05:23,446
At that point...
1122
01:05:23,519 --> 01:05:25,783
we had kind of hit a dead end.
1123
01:05:28,057 --> 01:05:31,424
I've been looking for this
needle-in-the-haystack name
1124
01:05:31,494 --> 01:05:34,759
or whatever for years and years
and years and years.
1125
01:05:34,830 --> 01:05:35,797
Y'know, it's, like,
how do you connect
1126
01:05:35,865 --> 01:05:38,163
with this person, y'know?
1127
01:05:38,234 --> 01:05:40,725
I always had doubts that that
would ever happen.
1128
01:05:42,972 --> 01:05:47,636
A mysterious phenomenon
that has been unfolding,
1129
01:05:47,710 --> 01:05:51,168
as far as we know,
well over a decade.
1130
01:05:51,247 --> 01:05:55,081
Tim: I guess putting it out
there in shortwave radio land,
1131
01:05:55,151 --> 01:05:58,120
we'll get it out there
and maybe somebody
1132
01:05:58,187 --> 01:05:59,779
who has experienced
this phenomenon
1133
01:05:59,855 --> 01:06:01,823
can get back to you all.
1134
01:06:24,580 --> 01:06:27,276
Ulis Fleming
has this amazing story.
1135
01:06:27,350 --> 01:06:28,840
When he was a kid,
1136
01:06:28,918 --> 01:06:32,115
he was driving from
Baltimore to Philadelphia
1137
01:06:32,188 --> 01:06:33,621
and he was listening to
shortwave
1138
01:06:33,689 --> 01:06:38,183
and he picked up
the Toynbee Idea message
1139
01:06:38,260 --> 01:06:40,490
shortwave transmission.
1140
01:06:40,563 --> 01:06:42,861
And at some point in
the transmission,
1141
01:06:42,932 --> 01:06:46,834
the person read out
a PO Box address
1142
01:06:46,902 --> 01:06:48,096
that he could write to.
1143
01:06:48,170 --> 01:06:49,330
And so he wrote to
the address and said,
1144
01:06:49,405 --> 01:06:50,804
"Yes, I'd like some of your
information."
1145
01:07:01,450 --> 01:07:06,410
It was the press packet
for the Minority Association.
1146
01:07:06,489 --> 01:07:10,391
Ulis still had
all of the material.
1147
01:07:10,459 --> 01:07:11,619
Still had all of the papers.
1148
01:07:16,365 --> 01:07:17,992
We all got together
to have a meeting
1149
01:07:18,067 --> 01:07:20,865
while we received
the e-mails in real time.
1150
01:07:20,936 --> 01:07:25,066
So, as Ulis was scanning in
the sheets of paper
1151
01:07:25,141 --> 01:07:26,608
and sending them to us,
1152
01:07:26,675 --> 01:07:28,973
we were actually receiving them
as they were coming in to us.
1153
01:07:29,045 --> 01:07:32,310
And we're all
watching them unfold
1154
01:07:32,381 --> 01:07:34,315
out of the ether world.
1155
01:07:36,719 --> 01:07:38,778
And we finally get to see
the type-written messages
1156
01:07:38,854 --> 01:07:41,948
and all the details of
everything and who knows what.
1157
01:07:42,024 --> 01:07:45,187
I couldn't even imagine what
would be in the material.
1158
01:07:45,261 --> 01:07:48,162
All these details were running
through my mind like wildfire.
1159
01:07:58,507 --> 01:07:59,701
The information
that he had
1160
01:07:59,775 --> 01:08:03,541
was a personal letter signed
from James Morasco.
1161
01:08:03,612 --> 01:08:06,706
As well as some other documents
on the Minority Association.
1162
01:08:16,158 --> 01:08:17,921
The fact that we knew
that it was an original letter
1163
01:08:17,993 --> 01:08:20,484
from James Morasco
was incredible.
1164
01:08:20,563 --> 01:08:22,588
Y'know, who-- we had
pretty much given up on
1165
01:08:22,665 --> 01:08:24,132
the name James Morasco
at this point
1166
01:08:24,200 --> 01:08:27,692
and now here it was being
tied back in to the mystery.
1167
01:08:27,770 --> 01:08:31,069
The question then was,
why James Morasco--
1168
01:08:31,140 --> 01:08:32,971
how did he
fit in to all this?
1169
01:08:35,177 --> 01:08:37,077
James Morasco
was the publicity director
1170
01:08:37,146 --> 01:08:40,047
for the Minority Association.
1171
01:08:40,116 --> 01:08:42,448
The name Julius Piroli
never came up.
1172
01:08:42,518 --> 01:08:44,645
The author of the documents
refers to himself repeatedly
1173
01:08:44,720 --> 01:08:47,621
as James Morasco except
for one time
1174
01:08:47,690 --> 01:08:50,250
when he refers to
himself as Severino Verna.
1175
01:08:55,798 --> 01:08:58,460
"He sounded blue collar,
proud of his education,
1176
01:08:58,534 --> 01:09:00,559
certain of his information."
1177
01:09:00,636 --> 01:09:02,069
Sevy is very intelligent.
1178
01:09:02,138 --> 01:09:03,264
Yeah, yeah, he seems
like it.
1179
01:09:03,339 --> 01:09:04,601
Very, very intelligent man.
1180
01:09:04,673 --> 01:09:07,073
"But not confident of
his presentation to me,
1181
01:09:07,143 --> 01:09:08,667
"or rather,
to the 'Inquirer.'
1182
01:09:08,744 --> 01:09:10,871
He had a soft bass voice."
1183
01:09:10,946 --> 01:09:12,937
Sevy is very quiet.
1184
01:09:13,015 --> 01:09:15,916
Very quiet person.
1185
01:09:15,985 --> 01:09:18,078
I don't think there ever
was a James Morasco in Fishtown.
1186
01:09:18,154 --> 01:09:21,920
I think Clark DeLeon remembered
incorrectly.
1187
01:09:21,991 --> 01:09:26,155
The descriptions of
James Morasco via Clark DeLeon
1188
01:09:26,228 --> 01:09:29,561
all matched with
the descriptions of Sevy
1189
01:09:29,632 --> 01:09:32,157
that we had gotten from
Sevy's neighbors.
1190
01:09:32,234 --> 01:09:35,533
They could have very easily
been describing the same person.
1191
01:09:35,604 --> 01:09:38,835
James Morasco is sharing
the same PO Box.
1192
01:09:38,908 --> 01:09:40,273
He's got the same handwriting.
1193
01:09:40,342 --> 01:09:42,037
He's using
the same typewriter.
1194
01:09:42,111 --> 01:09:44,204
He's got the same phone number.
1195
01:09:44,280 --> 01:09:47,841
Everything really suggests that
James Morasco never existed.
1196
01:09:47,917 --> 01:09:49,384
There was only
ever one person
1197
01:09:49,451 --> 01:09:51,316
and that person was Sevy.
1198
01:09:55,291 --> 01:09:56,849
The fact that he would create
a pseudonym
1199
01:09:56,926 --> 01:10:01,989
to unleash his idea
on to the world made sense.
1200
01:10:02,064 --> 01:10:03,691
It's very difficult to do that
1201
01:10:03,766 --> 01:10:06,462
if you're not an outgoing,
charismatic person
1202
01:10:06,535 --> 01:10:08,594
who's willing to deal with
the public and everything.
1203
01:10:08,671 --> 01:10:12,402
And so I feel like he wanted
there to be somebody like that,
1204
01:10:12,474 --> 01:10:14,874
so he just made up a character
to do that.
1205
01:10:38,734 --> 01:10:41,430
In the writing of
Arnold Toynbee he felt that
1206
01:10:41,503 --> 01:10:43,471
there was a promise that
physical resurrection
1207
01:10:43,539 --> 01:10:45,734
could be achieved
through scientific means.
1208
01:10:55,417 --> 01:10:59,148
Toynbee never uses the
exact phrase "dead molecules,"
1209
01:10:59,221 --> 01:11:01,951
but he comes real close to it.
1210
01:11:02,024 --> 01:11:03,855
If you look at it
from his point of view
1211
01:11:03,926 --> 01:11:06,622
it seemed as if Arnold Toynbee
was giving
1212
01:11:06,695 --> 01:11:10,096
specific instructions
about how, if you were to take
1213
01:11:10,165 --> 01:11:12,633
every molecule that made up a
person while they were alive
1214
01:11:12,701 --> 01:11:14,430
and you were to
reassemble those molecules
1215
01:11:14,503 --> 01:11:16,767
exactly as they were when that
person was alive,
1216
01:11:16,839 --> 01:11:18,636
that they would
then be alive again
1217
01:11:18,707 --> 01:11:20,368
just as they had been
at that point.
1218
01:11:27,416 --> 01:11:30,408
The tiler tied Toynbee's
idea of physical resurrection
1219
01:11:30,486 --> 01:11:33,922
being a scientific process
in with the movie "2001,"
1220
01:11:33,989 --> 01:11:36,116
where humanity achieved
its next stage of evolution
1221
01:11:36,191 --> 01:11:37,488
on the Jupiter mission.
1222
01:11:40,863 --> 01:11:42,262
In the end of that
movie,
1223
01:11:42,331 --> 01:11:44,856
there's this section where the
astronaut sees himself dying.
1224
01:11:48,103 --> 01:11:50,162
But then he could be
coming back to life.
1225
01:11:54,877 --> 01:11:57,869
He had
some trouble with death.
1226
01:11:57,946 --> 01:12:00,244
I think he felt that people die,
and they're gone.
1227
01:12:02,951 --> 01:12:04,213
Yeah, heaven,
1228
01:12:04,286 --> 01:12:06,811
now at this stage
of evolution, does not exist.
1229
01:12:18,033 --> 01:12:19,557
I think that the basic
thinking is:
1230
01:12:19,635 --> 01:12:22,866
the promise that God
has made for there to be
1231
01:12:22,938 --> 01:12:26,374
some type of afterlife is true--
it will be true--
1232
01:12:26,442 --> 01:12:30,742
but it will only become
true when humans use science
1233
01:12:30,813 --> 01:12:33,111
to actually fulfill
this promise.
1234
01:12:48,330 --> 01:12:51,299
You could build heaven
from the ground up.
1235
01:12:54,536 --> 01:12:58,495
If you interpret
the end of the movie "2001"
1236
01:12:58,574 --> 01:13:02,943
as people building a physical
afterlife in outer space,
1237
01:13:03,011 --> 01:13:06,708
then that basically is
the Toynbee idea in movie 2001
1238
01:13:06,782 --> 01:13:08,579
to resurrect dead on
planet Jupiter.
1239
01:13:15,657 --> 01:13:17,591
In the play "Four A.M.,"
1240
01:13:17,659 --> 01:13:20,389
David Mamet uses this
phrase "molecules."
1241
01:13:21,964 --> 01:13:23,488
Another one of the enduring
mysteries
1242
01:13:23,565 --> 01:13:25,465
of the whole
Toynbee story was
1243
01:13:25,534 --> 01:13:28,059
where David Mamet got this idea,
1244
01:13:28,137 --> 01:13:30,503
y'know, what this
was all about.
1245
01:13:30,572 --> 01:13:32,836
So it was incredibly revealing
1246
01:13:32,908 --> 01:13:34,466
to read this little piece of
information
1247
01:13:34,543 --> 01:13:36,408
in one of
Sevy's letters to Ulis.
1248
01:13:47,456 --> 01:13:50,186
Well, David Mamet actually had
even done interviews
1249
01:13:50,259 --> 01:13:51,419
where he said...
1250
01:13:51,493 --> 01:13:53,552
The play is an homage to
Larry King,
1251
01:13:53,629 --> 01:13:54,823
the days when
I used to listen to him
1252
01:13:54,897 --> 01:13:56,694
on the radio in the middle
of the night.
1253
01:13:56,765 --> 01:14:00,861
Well, now we knew there was
a specific phone call made
1254
01:14:00,936 --> 01:14:03,302
in February 1980.
1255
01:14:03,372 --> 01:14:05,465
And he was on the air
on Larry King.
1256
01:14:05,541 --> 01:14:07,202
And who knows?
1257
01:14:07,276 --> 01:14:10,712
But Mamet insists the play
is not based on a real caller.
1258
01:14:10,779 --> 01:14:12,337
People used to ask me
where I get my ideas
1259
01:14:12,414 --> 01:14:15,281
and I would always say,
"I think of them."
1260
01:14:15,350 --> 01:14:17,341
There was no call on the radio,
I made it up.
1261
01:14:20,355 --> 01:14:22,220
There are so many
similarities
1262
01:14:22,291 --> 01:14:26,057
between "Four A.M." and the
Toynbee Idea campaign.
1263
01:14:37,239 --> 01:14:39,537
Certainly, all of the things
that the caller says
1264
01:14:39,608 --> 01:14:40,836
sound like they could have come
1265
01:14:40,909 --> 01:14:42,740
directly out of the mouth
of James Morasco.
1266
01:14:47,449 --> 01:14:49,917
The phrasings in the literature
1267
01:14:49,985 --> 01:14:51,782
that we got from Ulis
1268
01:14:51,854 --> 01:14:55,551
are so close to that
source in "Four A.M."
1269
01:14:55,624 --> 01:14:58,092
Maybe he wrote something down
at the time he heard it.
1270
01:14:58,160 --> 01:14:59,650
4:00 in the morning.
1271
01:14:59,728 --> 01:15:01,320
Went to bed.
1272
01:15:01,396 --> 01:15:03,660
Three years later, he forgot
about where he got the idea
1273
01:15:03,732 --> 01:15:07,429
and then wrote a short play.
1274
01:15:07,503 --> 01:15:09,733
It's kind of mind-boggling
somehow, I don't know.
1275
01:15:13,208 --> 01:15:15,005
This is all somewhat
up to conjecture
1276
01:15:15,077 --> 01:15:16,977
because we don't know
any of this stuff for sure.
1277
01:15:17,045 --> 01:15:18,979
It's all from context clues.
1278
01:15:19,047 --> 01:15:20,275
But this is what
I'm thinking...
1279
01:15:22,150 --> 01:15:25,449
1979, he discovers
the library book,
1280
01:15:25,521 --> 01:15:27,386
has seen the movie "2001,"
1281
01:15:27,456 --> 01:15:30,619
puts two and two together
in his mind.
1282
01:15:30,692 --> 01:15:32,523
February 1980,
1283
01:15:32,594 --> 01:15:34,687
he makes a phone call to
"Larry King Live"
1284
01:15:34,763 --> 01:15:36,560
and gets on the air.
1285
01:15:39,334 --> 01:15:42,667
1980 through 1983,
attempts are made to contact
1286
01:15:42,738 --> 01:15:45,366
major media outlets.
1287
01:15:45,440 --> 01:15:46,737
Very little comes of that
1288
01:15:46,808 --> 01:15:48,503
above and beyond
the Clark DeLeon article.
1289
01:15:51,146 --> 01:15:52,704
His ways of publicizing
the idea
1290
01:15:52,781 --> 01:15:54,078
become more street level
1291
01:15:54,149 --> 01:15:57,380
and grass routes as he
experiences more rejection
1292
01:15:57,452 --> 01:15:58,680
from the established media.
1293
01:16:04,493 --> 01:16:06,358
Sometime around this
point,
1294
01:16:06,428 --> 01:16:09,158
he has developed stationary
1295
01:16:09,231 --> 01:16:11,563
and is making wheat pastes.
1296
01:16:14,770 --> 01:16:17,466
He is also experimenting in
shortwave radio.
1297
01:16:19,308 --> 01:16:21,640
He tries to get a pirate radio
station up and running
1298
01:16:21,710 --> 01:16:24,406
and broadcasts via his car.
1299
01:16:26,782 --> 01:16:29,250
They won't put the
Toynbee Idea on television
1300
01:16:29,318 --> 01:16:30,785
and so he just drove around
1301
01:16:30,852 --> 01:16:33,946
transmitting directly onto
people's television sets.
1302
01:16:41,930 --> 01:16:43,227
He had this grandiose plan
1303
01:16:43,298 --> 01:16:46,267
to build a pirate shortwave
broadcaster
1304
01:16:46,335 --> 01:16:50,101
to transmit signals
into the USSR.
1305
01:16:50,172 --> 01:16:53,141
He actually had plans
and schematics drawn out
1306
01:16:53,208 --> 01:16:55,199
so that he could do that.
1307
01:16:58,480 --> 01:17:00,914
Sometime between
1983 and 1987,
1308
01:17:00,983 --> 01:17:02,678
he perfects
the tile-laying method
1309
01:17:02,751 --> 01:17:05,083
and the first tiles
begin to appear.
1310
01:17:13,428 --> 01:17:16,795
In the late '80s, Sevy drove
his car across the US
1311
01:17:16,865 --> 01:17:18,332
and also visited South America
1312
01:17:18,400 --> 01:17:22,803
and laid hundreds
and hundreds of tiles.
1313
01:17:22,871 --> 01:17:25,601
This process continues
to this day.
1314
01:17:31,313 --> 01:17:33,281
You have to look at it
from his point of view,
1315
01:17:33,348 --> 01:17:35,748
which I'm sure is hard for
a lot of people to do.
1316
01:17:35,817 --> 01:17:37,751
I think he became
fixated on this idea
1317
01:17:37,819 --> 01:17:43,155
that he had found the answer to
overcome death and everything
1318
01:17:43,225 --> 01:17:45,352
and decided that if he
could just figure out a way
1319
01:17:45,427 --> 01:17:48,157
to publicize the idea
1320
01:17:48,230 --> 01:17:49,993
the rest of the story
would kind of write itself.
1321
01:17:56,538 --> 01:17:57,800
When this didn't happen,
1322
01:17:57,873 --> 01:17:59,272
not only did people not
listen to him
1323
01:17:59,341 --> 01:18:00,831
but they were
actively mocking him.
1324
01:18:29,104 --> 01:18:31,038
There's a big part of that story
that has to just do
1325
01:18:31,106 --> 01:18:34,234
with empathizing
with him as a person.
1326
01:18:34,309 --> 01:18:36,800
We found out everything
we needed to find out.
1327
01:18:36,878 --> 01:18:39,574
We found out why
the tiler never stepped forward
1328
01:18:39,648 --> 01:18:42,742
and took credit for everything.
1329
01:18:42,818 --> 01:18:45,548
It gets to this point
where there's this strange
1330
01:18:45,620 --> 01:18:47,645
kind of dilemma
where you say,
1331
01:18:47,723 --> 01:18:49,122
"Okay, how much is too much?"
1332
01:18:49,191 --> 01:18:52,092
And let's just step back
and leave it as it is.
1333
01:19:00,535 --> 01:19:03,732
"Mr. Verna, I have so many
questions for you.
1334
01:19:03,805 --> 01:19:05,432
"I have listened
to the shortwave frequency
1335
01:19:05,507 --> 01:19:07,805
"listed on the fliers from so
many years ago,
1336
01:19:07,876 --> 01:19:10,037
"but have never heard you.
1337
01:19:10,112 --> 01:19:11,909
"I want to make perfectly clear
to you
1338
01:19:11,980 --> 01:19:14,471
"the immense amount of respect
I have for you as a thinker,
1339
01:19:14,549 --> 01:19:16,244
"as a creative individual
1340
01:19:16,318 --> 01:19:17,842
"and as someone
who has persevered
1341
01:19:17,919 --> 01:19:20,854
"despite being ignored or mocked
in the press
1342
01:19:20,922 --> 01:19:24,517
"in the early
stages of your campaign.
1343
01:19:24,593 --> 01:19:27,494
"I sincerely admire you for your
stalwart dedication
1344
01:19:27,562 --> 01:19:32,226
"and your innovation of a method
of circumventing the media.
1345
01:19:32,300 --> 01:19:34,962
"Mr. Verna,
if it is at all possible,
1346
01:19:35,036 --> 01:19:36,697
"we would love to have you
tell the story
1347
01:19:36,772 --> 01:19:40,208
"of this unparalleled publicity
campaign in your own words.
1348
01:19:40,275 --> 01:19:42,334
"You have my solemn word,
as someone who has followed
1349
01:19:42,410 --> 01:19:44,503
"your creative work
for over ten years
1350
01:19:44,579 --> 01:19:46,479
"that it is my
highest priority
1351
01:19:46,548 --> 01:19:47,947
"to present your thoughts
and words,
1352
01:19:48,016 --> 01:19:51,247
"in whatever form, in the most
respectful and positive manner
1353
01:19:51,319 --> 01:19:53,685
"of which I am capable.
1354
01:19:53,755 --> 01:19:55,916
"We have tried knocking on your
door to speak in person,
1355
01:19:55,991 --> 01:19:58,551
"but began to feel as if we
were making pests of ourselves,
1356
01:19:58,627 --> 01:20:01,095
"so we will not do so anymore.
1357
01:20:01,163 --> 01:20:03,222
"I write all of this to you
in a spirit of total
1358
01:20:03,298 --> 01:20:05,163
"openness and frankness.
1359
01:20:05,233 --> 01:20:07,167
"I hope you will be able to
respond to us
1360
01:20:07,235 --> 01:20:10,500
"and that you would be willing
to share your thoughts with us.
1361
01:20:10,572 --> 01:20:11,903
"But whatever decision you make,
1362
01:20:11,973 --> 01:20:14,464
"please know that you have my
understanding.
1363
01:20:14,543 --> 01:20:16,807
"I hope this finds you
in good health and spirit.
1364
01:20:16,878 --> 01:20:20,609
Very truly and respectfully
yours, Justin Duerr."
1365
01:20:27,355 --> 01:20:29,619
Imagining this
ending up in his hands
1366
01:20:29,691 --> 01:20:34,628
kind of makes me nervous
with anticipation.
1367
01:20:34,696 --> 01:20:37,688
I run scenarios over in my head.
1368
01:20:37,766 --> 01:20:40,394
It's just that whole world of
possibilities.
1369
01:20:40,468 --> 01:20:41,901
I mean, I--
1370
01:20:41,970 --> 01:20:44,939
I-- after I do that
for a while,
1371
01:20:45,006 --> 01:20:47,702
I just have to stop doing it
'cause it will drive me insane.
1372
01:21:02,791 --> 01:21:05,658
Late spring or early winter
of 2007,
1373
01:21:05,727 --> 01:21:09,720
I got off the subway train
1374
01:21:09,798 --> 01:21:13,234
at Broad and Oregon
in South Philadelphia.
1375
01:21:13,301 --> 01:21:14,962
And I catch a bus.
1376
01:21:17,339 --> 01:21:20,672
Around the 700 or 800 block,
1377
01:21:20,742 --> 01:21:23,040
which is in the neighborhood
where the address on
1378
01:21:23,111 --> 01:21:27,343
the Toynbee tile in
South America was--
1379
01:21:27,415 --> 01:21:30,714
was... listed, or whatever,
1380
01:21:30,785 --> 01:21:34,016
I just--
I had an encounter with
1381
01:21:34,089 --> 01:21:38,185
who I assumed to be the Toynbee
tile culprit.
1382
01:21:41,596 --> 01:21:43,530
I kind of kept looking
at him 'cause I thought,
1383
01:21:43,598 --> 01:21:45,293
"Could that be... could
that be Sevy?
1384
01:21:45,367 --> 01:21:49,531
I mean, it very well
could be, he's the right age."
1385
01:21:49,604 --> 01:21:51,128
He looked like, sort of
the type of person
1386
01:21:51,206 --> 01:21:53,834
that was wrapped up in
his own thoughts or whatever.
1387
01:21:53,909 --> 01:21:55,570
Certain people that you see,
you can just tell
1388
01:21:55,644 --> 01:21:58,977
that they're more on an
introspective mind trip.
1389
01:22:02,384 --> 01:22:05,046
We exited the bus at
opposite sides.
1390
01:22:05,120 --> 01:22:08,612
There was some
extremely uncomfortable,
1391
01:22:08,690 --> 01:22:11,420
you know...
1392
01:22:11,493 --> 01:22:15,020
glancing back and forth
and eye contact and stuff.
1393
01:22:15,096 --> 01:22:18,497
It was, y'know, uncomfortable
and tense.
1394
01:22:18,566 --> 01:22:20,158
But nothing was said.
1395
01:22:20,235 --> 01:22:22,169
And-- but we definitely
noticed each other.
1396
01:22:25,907 --> 01:22:28,239
All kinds of stuff went through
my head.
1397
01:22:28,310 --> 01:22:30,505
For years and years,
I wanted to talk to this person
1398
01:22:30,578 --> 01:22:32,978
and for years and years I wanted
to solve the mystery.
1399
01:22:33,048 --> 01:22:36,415
But the thing was that
when I ran into him on the bus,
1400
01:22:36,484 --> 01:22:38,884
I didn't want to do it.
1401
01:22:38,954 --> 01:22:40,683
It's not that I couldn't
bring myself to do it.
1402
01:22:40,755 --> 01:22:42,620
I decided not to
bring myself to do it
1403
01:22:42,691 --> 01:22:44,886
because I felt like it was not
the right thing to do.
1404
01:22:46,728 --> 01:22:49,526
You can't force
somebody to open up to you.
1405
01:22:49,597 --> 01:22:51,292
You can't force somebody to
1406
01:22:51,366 --> 01:22:54,062
decide that they're gonna share
things with you.
1407
01:22:57,672 --> 01:22:59,333
I need to know when to let go.
1408
01:23:03,645 --> 01:23:07,809
I had a moment of emotional
and intellectual clarity
1409
01:23:07,882 --> 01:23:09,747
about where
I stood with the story.
1410
01:23:12,187 --> 01:23:13,518
Let them go in peace
on their way
1411
01:23:13,588 --> 01:23:15,613
and I would go in peace on
my way and that would be it.
1412
01:24:04,606 --> 01:24:06,631
Resurrect... dead...
1413
01:24:07,047 --> 01:24:11,118
Best watched using Open Subtitles MKV Player
110777
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.