Eye eye: the Residents' giant eyeball is stolen

San Francisco art-rockers seek the return of stage prop worth an estimated $100,000

If you find yourself being eyeballed by a giant eyeball in a top hat, don’t panic – call San Francisco police. One of the huge eyeballs with which art-rock band the Residents concealed their faces has been stolen, and its owner wants it back – it is worth around $100,000.

The eyeball, along with a vintage photograph of the group worth $20,000, had been on loan to museums as part of an exhibition called Spectacle: The Music Video. After appearing at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, it was sent back to the band’s co-manager and collaborator Homer Flynn in San Francisco, via FedEx.

Unfortunately, Flynn was not at home when the package – containing the eyeball known as “Mr Blue” – was delivered, and a mystery thief signed for it and took it.

“My best guess is that FedEx left it on the landing of my building and someone took it. I seriously doubt that they knew what was in the shipping box,” Flynn told the local NBC affiliate. “At this point FedEx still claims to have made the delivery which was signed for, but the signature is ‘B Ham’. There’s no one with that name in my building and subsequent emails have indicated that no one was here when FedEx claims to have made the delivery.”

This isn’t the first time the Residents have lost an eye. On Boxing Day 1985, the “Mr Red” mask was stolen from the band’s dressing room at a Los Angeles show. Though it was returned, it was too damaged to use.

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