SIMON: Can you - so what's the difference between the Art Bell show and conspiracy theories in broadcasting and online today, like Alex Jones? PAUL: So, yeah, true to the end, I would say. He passed away, in keeping with his legacy, on a Friday the 13th of April. He - it wasn't that he was, you know, fully on board with anything, but he definitely was open to hearing people's stories and their opinions on various phenomena that were unexplainable or unreal, depending on how you want to view it.
And I'd say even maybe Art Bell would take umbrage with nonsense, at least in some sense - no pun intended there. SIMON: It should be said there were people who passionately believed in this nonsense. I'm from a little bit different dimension than yours. I believe there was at least one time travel. This could be different dimensions, different time periods. PAUL: Yeah, or Mars - not necessarily geographic, either. SIMON: I mean, someone - it would not be uncommon for someone to say, hi, Art, I'm just back from Mars and thought I'd tell you about it. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Right, had a kind of a brownish-red hair. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The organs - everything - it was just like a human body with hair on it.īELL: Oh, that was going to be my question. Anybody could call in at any time, and he would listen to them and let them talk about whatever topics of the - was the episode, be it UFOs over their backyards, or I believe there was an episode about a man claiming to have shot a Bigfoot at one point. And then about '88 or so - mid-'80s - he started "Coast To Coast AM," which was a late-night showcase. Yeah, just in case no one had - was aware of who he was, Art Bell was a longtime radio personality who got his start, I believe, the late '70s and kept going through. So could you go along with that and tell us what his radio show was like? SIMON: This is NPR, so we have to pretend people - NPR listeners never heard of Art Bell. Club, and he joins us from the studios of member station WJSU in Jackson, Miss. The Art Bell Vault is now online, curated by "Coast To Coast AM." Andrew Paul writes about this treasure trove in an article on A.V. SIMON: And now you can spend hours and hours hearing all kinds of news of the weird. (SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "COAST TO COAST AM")ĪRT BELL: Well, folks, you're not going to believe this, (laughter) but I have, on the phone, the author of "The Facts About Bigfoot" (ph). Remember the olden days before the Internet? How did people keep up with news about UFOs, time travelers and the paranormal? Art Bell and the late-night AM radio airwaves.