Message posted by Source on June 23, 2000 at 18:55:04 EST:
ART BELL MYSTERY HAS FANS EVERYWHERE PUZZLED The words came over the air during the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 13, 1998, stunning millions of fans. "What you are listening to is my final broadcast," Art Bell, 51, host of the popular Coast to Coast radio talk show, told listeners, "I told you that there was 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." "Bell, whose show was broadcast from his home in" Pahrump, Nevada, a "desert farming community west of Las Vegas, said he couldn't discuss the matter with his listeners 'for the protection of my family.'" "Covington, Ky (Kentucky--J.T.)-based radio giant Jacor Communications, Inc., which distributes Bell's show, referred telephone inquiries to its Los Angeles syndication arm, Premiere Radio Network." "'We will be playing 'best-of' shows until further notice until we find out what's going on,' Premiere spokeswoman Mir Hendrickson said." "The popular host hasn't received any criminal threats, Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke said." (See the Providence, R.I. Journal for October 15, 1998, "Popular radio talk-show host quits under cloud of mystery," page A-2) The mystery deepened when a mysterious letter appeared on an Internet site used by fans. "Art Bell--the spooky all-night talk radio host who quit on-air Tuesday--told his fans yesterday (Thursday, October 15) he quit after a mysterious 'man from the future' told him he and his wife were in danger." "According to the letter, a man from the future Bell calls Single Seven contacted told him that a terrible tragedy was going to befall Bell's wife, Ramona." "The letter also said that if certain events take place, Bell will return to the airwaves soon." "Officials at Premiere, which syndicates Bell's show on 400 stations around the country, had refused to answer questions about the letter's authenticity." "Repeated calls to Jacor, the radio company that owns the show, were not returned last night." "According to Bell's letter: 'Single Seven...told me he had gone back (to the future) and researched me and said there had been a terrible tragedy that happened to Ramona and me. I lived but Ramona did not.'" "The letter says Single Seven first contacted Bell about a year ago and predicted several events that would happen. It did not specify what they were." (See the New York Post for October 16, 1998, "Art Bell sends fans mysterious message," page 114.) Again authorities reiterated that they did not believe Bell to be in any personal danger. "Sheriff Wade Lieseke of Pahrump, Nevada, where Bell broadcasts his show about the paranormal from his home, said that he had spoken to Bell and that he believed Bell to be in no immediate danger." (See the New York Post for October 17, 1998, "Radio man Bell to stay alienated from UFO show," page 85) However, many of Bell's fans and colleagues are concerned about him. "'It's possible that he stumbled onto something the government doesn't want the rest of us to know about,' said Mike Taylor, a former construction worker who, like many residents, retired early to Pahrump. 'I'm open to the fact that there's stuff going on around here, big stuff, hush-hush stuff.'" "'Everyone in this town knows,' said electrician Mark Rogers, pointing toward the Sierra Nevada mountains, 'that things go on over that mountain that they aren't supposed to talk about.'" Ron Bales of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, leader of an Art Bell fan club, alleged "'that some Bill Clinton supporters might have threatened Bell to draw attention away from the president's troubles.'" Richard C. Hoagland "agreed that Bell must be in danger to cut himself off so completely. He said that 'rogue elements' working for the government but not officially claimed by any agency may have threatened Bell's wife in an attempt to force Bell to rein in his guests and prescreen callers." "'Art Bell would rather do radio than anything else on this planet. He's at the top of his game, No. 1 in his time slot and he walks away from all this in 30 seconds,' said Hoagland, a former NASA consultant and frequent guest on Bell's show. 'Something has to be terribly wrong...There are people in these federal agencies that make Rambo look like a Sunday School picnic.'" (See the Boston, Mass. Globe for October 17, 1998, "For whom the Bell mystery tolls," page A-01.) Bell is scheduled to make a brief statement to his listeners during the first hour of Coast to Coast during the Monday, October 19 show.
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