Out There With Art Bell

By Justin Cord Hayes (justin@lasvegasweekly.com)

Editor's Note: As this issue goes to press, word was received that Art Bell has retired from his popular radio show. In a statement issued to the press, Bell said he made the decision as a result of a "threatening, terrible event (that) occurred to my family." Read more about Bell's mysterious departure from the airwaves by clicking here.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, / Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy," says Hamlet, Jr. after his friend tries to explain away the presence of the ghost of Hamlet, Sr. And can you argue with his statement? UFOs seem to be as prevalent as department store Santas; crop circles appear almost nightly; Sasquatch (AKA Bigfoot) sightings are a cottage industry in the Pacific Northwest, and every attic in America seems to have a ghost. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the Art Bell Show is so wildly popular? Bell, who runs his media empire from a trailer in nearby Pahrump, took some time out of his hectic schedule to explain the unexplained.

1. How did you get interested in your material?

ART BELL: I’ve been on the air in Vegas for 14 years. I started out with a political show, but I’d occasionally slip in a different kind of show to the consternation of my bosses. The listeners loved it, though, and the ratings were tremendous. Since paranormal material was what I wanted to do, it became a larger part of the show

2. Why the paranormal?

ART BELL: There have been a few things not reported on the evening news, not covered by mainstream media, and that’s what I’m interested in exploring. I mean, if I had to talk about Monica Lewinsky for five hours I’d slit my throat—there’s more to life than politics. Why people want to talk about it escapes me. If you think about it, the average person spends the most time talking to his family; how many hours do you spend talking politics? Probably not all that many. Talk radio is hot now, but if it doesn’t wise up it won’t be the number one format much longer.

3. Have you considered moving to a bigger city?

ART BELL: Not a chance, though I might consider moving to a smaller one (laughs). I like Las Vegas, lived there for ten years, but I wanted peace and quiet—it’s a good foil for the five hours a night (of radio) I do

4. Have you seen a UFO?

ART BELL: Absolutely. I used to commute between Las Vegas and Pahrump. One night, a mile from the house, my wife said, "What the hell’s that?" We pulled over and got out. There was a full moon, and here comes this giant triangular object that couldn’t have been more than 150 feet in the air. I mean, it was so close you could almost throw a rock at it. It was floating, or should I say it was exhibiting anti-gravitational movement. The moon and stars all disappeared. We just watched it float toward Area 51 for five minutes. A week later, the Pahrump paper had a piece on (the object). Nellis’s response was that there’d been a secret mission flown by a C-130 aircraft. Now I’ve flown those, and I can tell you with certainty that that wasn’t what we saw.

5. Weren’t you afraid?

ART BELL: I think a better word is "shock," a temporary state of shock. Then you begin to mentally digest what you’ve seen over a period of time and come to terms with it. My wife doesn’t like to talk about it even now, but I did drag her on the air for corroboration. What the incident indicates to me is that either we have anti-gravity (and the military’s keeping it quiet) or it was from elsewhere (in the universe). Either story is pretty interesting.

6. Have you gotten inside Area 51?

ART BELL: No, but I’ve interviewed plenty who have. People say we should storm it, but I answer not unless you want to go to jail or get shot.

7. What’s your take on Area 51?

ART BELL: Although I believe our government has every right to have a an area to develop secret aircraft in the interest of national security, and believe me, we still need it despite a "kinder, gentler" Russia. But I believe that we have used that area to store alien aircraft.

8. Why are people so interested in the paranormal?

ART BELL: Because it’s a part of life that nobody else (in the media) is really covering. The success of my show has to do with being in the right place at the right time while people interested in these matters. As baby boomers contemplate mortality, they begin to know that there’s more to life than the everyday buzz of the stock market—there’s more out there—and it’s natural to be interested in it. People are always fascinated by the big questions: Are we alone in the universe? Is there life after death? Issues like these are more important than who the president may or may not be sleeping with.

9. What is a ghost?

ART BELL: I believe it’s one of two things. It’s either a soul—and we have a soul—confused or trapped on earth, or it’s nothing but an echo of what was—like an endlessly repeating tape loop. The latter seems more likely since ghosts tend to do the same things; they’re like an echo of what was. The alternative is pretty frightening.

10. Are you aware of any Las Vegas hauntings?

ART BELL: People in Las Vegas won’t talk about hauntings because they’re bad for tourism. But then, we don’t talk about a lot of things here: ghosts, gangs, riots. There are as many ghosts here as anywhere else; they just don’t get talked about publicly.

11. Robert L. Ripley was called the modern Marco Polo. Do you see yourself as the postmodern Robert L. Ripley?

ART BELL: To some degree, yes. But unlike him, a lot of what I present is presented for your consideration and not as the holy grail. I assume my audience is made up of adults who know baloney. I try to be a source of information you can’t get elsewhere. I let you be the judge. I don’t tell you what to think.

12. Do you have any plans to open a chain of Art Bell Museums, something like the Believe It or Not Museums?

ART BELL: No, (laughs) I’m busy enough.

13. What is most common misconception about you?

ART BELL: That I’m a one-trick pony, and I’m not. On any given night, I’m liable to do anything. But then, people get typecast, so I just live with it—my listeners know better.

The Art Bell Show can be heard on 101.5 FM, KVBC, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., five nights a week. His other show, Dreamland, is on night six. The difference between the two is that Dreamland is entirely guest-driven. You never know what will happen on either show—Art doesn’t screen calls.

KVBC is currently airing reruns of the show.