Art Bell
Arthur William Bell III (June 17, 1945 – April 13, 2018) was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM, which is syndicated on hundreds of radio stations in the United States and Canada.[2] He also created and hosted its companion show Dreamland. Coast to Coast still airs nightly, now hosted weeknights by George Noory. Bell's past shows from 1996 to 2000 are repeated on Premiere Networks on Saturday evenings. They are retitled Somewhere in Time with Art Bell.
Art Bell
April 13, 2018 (aged 72)
Broadcaster, author
6
W6OBB (U.S.)
4F1AB (Philippines)
In 2003, Bell semi-retired from Coast to Coast AM. During the following four years, he hosted the show for many weekends on Premiere Networks. He announced his retirement from weekend hosting in 2007, but occasionally served as a guest host through 2010. He started a new nightly show, Art Bell's Dark Matter, on Sirius XM Radio, that aired for six weeks in 2013.[3][4]
In 2015, he returned to radio with a new show Midnight in the Desert, which was available online via TuneIn as well as some terrestrial radio stations. He retired on December 11, 2015, citing security concerns at his home in Pahrump, Nevada, west of Las Vegas.
Bell was the founder and original owner of Pahrump-based radio station KNYE 95.1 FM. His broadcast studio and transmitter were located near his home, where he also hosted Coast to Coast AM.
Early life[edit]
Bell was born in North Carolina. Sources differ on whether he was born in Jacksonville or Camp Lejeune.[5][6] Both of his parents served in the United States military.[7] He had a Lutheran background.[8]
Bell was always interested in radio; at the age of 13, he became a licensed amateur radio operator. Bell held an Amateur Extra Class license, which is in the top U.S. Federal Communications Commission license class. His call sign was W6OBB.
In the 1960s Bell served in the U.S. Air Force for four years and was a medic during the Vietnam War. Although not involved in combat, he was stationed for a short time at a hospital in Da Nang. At this hospital and others, such as Clark Air Base in the Philippines, he witnessed the effects of the war first-hand, something he did not like to recall or talk about.[9]
While in the military, Bell, with a few friends on base, operated a pirate radio station at Amarillo Air Force Base. After receiving support from the base commander, they expanded the operation, playing music for the entire base; the signal was strong enough to be picked up in the city of Amarillo. When local radio stations learned of the pirate station's popularity (when it appeared in the Arbitron ratings), it was forced to shut down after being on the air for a year. This was the start of Bell's radio career.[10]
After leaving military service in 1966, Bell worked at several radio stations in the States before moving to Okinawa, where he was a disc jockey for six years at KSBK, the only non-military English-language station in Japan. While there, he claimed to set two "world records", first by staying on the air without sleep for five days and nights (115 hours and 15 minutes). He later wrote that this extreme sleep deprivation was a strange experience and something he would never do again. He said that as he went about his normal routine, such as walking to the refrigerator during a break, it was as if he was "floating around in a different world", and things seemed "unreal".[11]. The second "world record" he claimed to set was for the longest continuous broadcast while seesawing, after seesawing for 57 hours while broadcasting.[12]
Bell soon returned to the States, where he had a career in rock music radio for the next 20 years.[13]
While working at a rock music station in Anchorage, he learned about Amerasian children stranded in Saigon in the final days before the U.S. pullout from Vietnam in 1975. He spoke about it on-air and listeners in Alaska started to send in donations. The money raised allowed the chartering of a Douglas DC-8 to fly to Vietnam and rescue approximately 120 orphans. They were brought to the United States and adopted by American families.[14]
Retirements and comebacks[edit]
Bell retired and returned to Coast to Coast AM several times.
On October 13, 1998, Bell announced his first retirement, which was highly unexpected by his listeners. He spoke of "an event, a threatening terrible event occurred to my family, which I could not tell you about. Because of that event, and a succession of other events, what you're listening to right now is my final broadcast on the air."[25] Hilly Rose filled in after Bell's departure. Bell returned on October 28, 1998, asserting that the brief departure was brought on by threats made against his family. On May 29, 1999, Bell explained that this retirement was due to an allegation made by hosts of WWCR shortwave radio that Bell had paid to cover up a criminal indictment.[26] The facts of the matter became public knowledge in 2000, when the media revealed that an actual criminal indictment was filed against a person who had assaulted a member of Bell's family. Because of the nature of the crime, Bell had wanted to keep the matter private. Ted Gunderson, the former head of the Los Angeles FBI and the hosts at WWCR shortwave radio had accused Bell of the crime. Bell responded by taking legal action against Gunderson, as well as the hosts and stations. The action was resolved in a settlement in 2000.[27]
On April 1, 2000, Bell again announced his retirement. He said that the event would occur on April 26, 2000,[28] but offered no details other than expressing intentions to "resolve a family crisis." On April 11, 2000, Mike Siegel was introduced as the new host of Coast to Coast AM, taking over on April 27, to an estimated audience of 22 million listeners.[29] The media later explained that Bell had left to deal with the aftermath of the kidnap and sexual assault of his son.[30] Brian Lepley, a substitute teacher, was convicted of sexual assault and attempted transmission of HIV and was sentenced to 10 to 25 years.[31] Bell returned to Coast to Coast AM in February 2001. Bell noted that since his departure the show had lost a number of affiliates, commercial content had risen to an unbearable level, and Siegel had taken the program in a "different direction" of which Bell disapproved. Bell retained some authority over the program as its creator and felt his return was necessary.
On October 23, 2002, Bell announced that he would retire due to recurring back pain, which was the result of a fall from a telephone pole during his youth. Bell was replaced by George Noory as weekday host of Coast to Coast AM on January 1, 2003. Those close to the matter also said that Barbara Simpson would host weekends and that Bell planned to be an occasional guest host for Noory.[32] Bell returned in September 2003 as a weekend host, replacing Barbara Simpson and Ian Punnett as host of the Saturday and Sunday evening broadcasts. In June 2005, he scaled this schedule back, calling it a "semiretirement," and hosted only the last two Sundays of every month. Bell went back to hosting every weekend show as his schedule permitted after his wife Ramona's death a few months later.
On July 1, 2007, Bell announced his retirement, stating that he wished to spend more time with his new wife and daughter. He made it explicit that, unlike the circumstances surrounding previous retirements, this decision was entirely positive and joyful and that he would not disappear completely, announcing an intention to occasionally substitute for other hosts and host "special" shows.
On December 11, 2015, Bell posted what would be his final retirement message via his Facebook page. He cited safety concerns for his family by saying "if one of them were harmed because of what I love doing my life would be over." Throughout the fall, Bell reported several incidents where an unknown number of armed trespassers came onto his property, sometimes firing gunshots. These events have been said to occur during or around the time of his broadcasting. This announcement came a mere five months after the start of his most recent show, Midnight in the Desert.[33]
Events of 2006[edit]
Death of Ramona Bell[edit]
On January 5, 2006, Ramona Bell, his wife of 15 years, died unexpectedly[34] at the age of 47 of what appeared to be an acute asthma attack in Laughlin, Nevada, where the couple had been taking a short vacation.
During the January 22 broadcast of Coast to Coast AM, Bell described in great detail the events surrounding his wife's death. For weeks thereafter, callers to the station would speak to George Noory and express their sadness and sympathy for Bell; Noory had taken Bell's place on weekdays beginning in 2002.[35]
Change in schedule[edit]
On January 21, 2006, 16 days after the unexpected death of his wife Ramona, Bell announced he would host Coast to Coast AM every Saturday and Sunday evening, and that former weekend host Ian Punnett would work a new live prefeed program for the four hours preceding Bell's slot on Saturday nights (9:00 pm – 1:00 am ET).
Return to "the High Desert and the Great American Southwest"[edit]
Bell opened his December 28, 2006, program by disclosing that he had just relocated back from the Philippines to Pahrump, Nevada, with Ruiz his wife, who had obtained the necessary paperwork for immigrating to the United States.
Events of 2008[edit]
On May 29, 2008, Bell sold KNYE to station manager Karen Jackson.[36]
On September 8, 2008, Noory stated that he would be hosting the annual Ghost to Ghost AM Halloween call-in show rather than Bell, who normally returns to the Coast to Coast to host it (along with the New Year's prediction shows).
On November 30, 2008, Bell hosted Coast to Coast AM. Michio Kaku was the guest. This was the first time Bell had hosted the show since May 23, 2008.[37]
Bell was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.[38]
Death[edit]
Bell posted on his website in July 2016 that he was hospitalized for pneumonia and revealed that he suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.[50]
Art Bell died April 13, 2018, at age 72 at his home in Pahrump, Nevada.[51] On August 1, 2018, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the Clark County coroner's office findings. The coroner's office stated that Bell died of an accidental overdose from a cocktail of prescription drugs. The coroner's office determined he had four prescription medications in his system: the opioids oxycodone or Roxicet and hydrocodone or Vicodin, diazepam or Valium, and carisoprodol or Soma, a muscle-relaxant. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension also contributed to his death.[52]
George Noory, current host of Coast To Coast AM, announced Bell's death and while struggling to keep his composure stated, "Art and I were not that close. We had our differences, but he was one of those instrumental in me being where I am right now."[53]
Amateur radio[edit]
Bell became a licensed amateur radio operator at the age of 13. His first call sign was KN3JOX, first listed in the Winter 1959 edition of the Radio Amateur Callbook. He soon upgraded to K3JOX, and he later held W2CKS, first listed in the Spring 1967 Callbook. Bell held an Amateur Extra Class license, which is the highest U.S. Federal Communications Commission amateur license class. His call sign was W6OBB.
Bell passed the Philippines amateur radio exams and became a Philippine Class A amateur radio operator with the call sign of 4F1AB.[54] While in the Philippines, Bell was active on 40-10 Meters, as well as 144.600 MHz simplex in Manila.
Honors[edit]
In August 2006 Art was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. He did not attend the presentation.[55]
On March 10, 2007, Bell would be honored with the News/Talk Radio Lifetime Achievement Award from the trade publication Radio & Records in Los Angeles.[56][57]
Bell was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.[58]
Books[edit]
Bell wrote, or co-wrote, several books, including The Quickening: Today's Trends, Tomorrow's World; The Art of Talk (an autobiography); The Source: Journey Through the Unexplained; The Edge: Man's Mysterious Past & Incredible Future; and The Coming Global Superstorm (co-authored with Whitley Strieber), which became the basis for the popular movie The Day After Tomorrow.
Other work[edit]
In 1996, Bell appeared in an episode of the NBC science fiction series Dark Skies as William S. Paley, head of CBS.
On September 30, 1998, NBC's Today Show aired a taped segment of reporter Fred Francis interviewing Bell. Francis questioned Bell about Hale-Bopp, Area 51, eccentric callers claiming to be "six-fingered alien hybrids", and the UFO sighting experienced by Bell and his wife Ramona.
In 1999, Bell appeared as himself on the series Millennium. The episode called "Collateral Damage" aired in the third season and dealt with a former U.S. soldier who claimed the government he fought for was indeed responsible for horrendous tests on soldiers and Iraqi civilians. (This episode was broadcast on January 22, 1999. The Washington Post, January 22, 1999.) In 1999 Bell was interviewed on Larry King Live. (This was broadcast on March 5, 1999. The Washington Post, March 5, 1999.)
Progressive rock band Tool's 2001 album, Lateralus, featured a track entitled "Faaip de Oiad" (Enochian for "The Voice of God"), which includes a clip of the "distraught and terrified" Area 51 employee call from September 11, 1997.
In 2005, Bell and then-wife Ramona were featured on the ABC News special Peter Jennings Reporting: UFOs – Seeing Is Believing, which reported on the entire scope of the UFO experience, from the first sighting by Kenneth Arnold in 1947 to the present day. (This was broadcast on February 24, 2005. The Washington Post, 2-20-05.)
In 2005, snippets of Bell and callers to his show were featured on the song "Conspiracy Radio" on Sean Hogan's album Catalina Sunrise: Bell is credited for "voice-overs" on this track.
In 2006, Bell was featured in the video game Prey and played himself. He hosts, as in real life, Coast to Coast AM, and the player is able to listen to the broadcast at several terminals throughout the game. The broadcasts describe what is happening on Earth as the game unfolds. The game plot centers on a massive spaceship and alien abductions. Bell receives a number of calls about people who have seen smaller craft as they abduct people.
In 2007, Bell appeared as himself in the movie I Know Who Killed Me.
Bell appeared alongside Mark Arnold in the 2016 film titled Abduct, directed by Ilyas Kaduji and produced by Mafalda Sa. Bell plays himself as he and a group of friends try to help protect a young woman from an alien threat.[60]