For Whom the Bell Tolls
(?) September 15th, 1997

Art Bell is a late-night radio talk show host who broadcasts a show about various paranormal subjects ranging from alien abductions to crop circles (two of my own favorite subjects of conversation). His recent guests include Whitley Strieber, a noted alien abductee/author, and William Buhlman author of Adventures Beyond the Body. 

Recently, Bell opened a phone line for people working for Area 51 so they could call him and "spill the beans." This is a catch-22 situation for Bell, though, for he would inherently disbelieve an alleged Area-51 worker who told Bell that nothing extraterrestrial was located at the Groom Lake facility. Accordingly, any delusional, fantastical or creative "worker" who claims that there is something other-worldly at the facility is far more likely to be believed. Such is the dilemma of many involved in the "investigation" of UFOs; those who claim mundane realities will be called a "cospiratorial puppet," whereas a liar would be listened to. 

Well, somebody called. Here is the account according to NACOMM

Then came one bizarre call from an obviously distraught and terrified man who claimed to be a former Area 51 employee recently discharged for "medical" reasons. He cited malevolent extraterrestrials at Area 51 and an impending disaster that the government knew would take out "major population centers."

What followed is obviously a prime target of conspiracy theorists' ire: 

Midway through this call (according to GE engineers) the satellite's "Earth sensor lost lock" and the craft rolled into an attitude where it no longer pointed at the uplinks, causing 50 channels to go off-air for about 30 minutes. Shortly after the outage began, the live internet video feed from Art's studio was lost as well. Unaware of these events, Bell continued talking to the caller for another minute during the outage until he heard a scream and the phone went dead.

It is just as likely that this person was a fraudulent performer as it is that he was a worker at Area-51. Another mysterious (and unconfirmed) caller had this ominous message: 

One of the first callers after the outage was someone who claimed to be from Area-51 "security." He said that his job was to "close gaps," the network had been "pulsed" and that we "would not hear from the caller again."

Speculation as to this "pulse" has included a rumored device that allows the government to specifically "knock" specific satellites out of commission. 

This could be true. Workers at Area-51 might be calling fringe radio shows to reveal the "truth" about UFOs. Security at Area-51 might then knock the power out of a satellite and then call the radio show to tell listeners that they had done it, not only revealing their clandestine operation but bringing to light some dangerous (and most definitely top-secret, if it exists) technology. 

Or, it could be another case of the "open-minded" masses accepting a train of hysterical, and reverse-self-fulfilling speculations. I think it's about time Art Bell started thinking instead of vapidly believing any old nut with an imagination and a phone. 

Art Bell's Area 51 Caller at NACOMM's Site (original article)

 

 

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