Art Bell was at his best, he hit his stride from the early to a bit past mid 1990's. Weekly he had millions of listeners ... and then the drama hit.
For everyone that was there .. and I was ... it seemed as if it hit fast and furious. The trauma with his son being abducted and raped by an HIV positive teacher. The Hale Bopp fiasco and all the drama that surrounded it. (For example .. Ed Dames with claims a spaceship behind the comet released a cannister of planet killing spores.) Dr. Courtney Brown and claims a world class astronomer would make the announcement of the aliens, Chuck Shramek and how he ended up getting boned by calling Bell and sending him a photo he took of the comet ... and the bull shit that entailed. Chuck Shramek, the guy who just asked a question.
(I should mention that I knew Chuck Shramek from his frequent call ins on my first radio show, UFOs Tonite! that ran on the CRN network. When the Hale Bopp fiasco began I was in contact with Chuck and did what I could to set his record straight. Like I mentioned, he was really boned by this. Chuck died from cancer in 2000 and I still miss him. This is a memorial I wrote about him. Chuck Shramek 12/27/1950 - 05/23/2000 )
And of course Art leaving the show and quitting radio ... then doing a come-back tour. I was invited on a couple of times which kind of surprised me because I had, now and again, been critical of Art and his style of radio. Like for example having had proven frauds on and treating them legit. ie: Ed Dames, Courtney Brown, Jonathan Reed, and of course a whole lot of others I could name but why bother? His wife passed on unexpectedly and then he moved to the PI. He remarried and I got to say I wished him well.
In Feb. of 2001 I did a show with Bell on his broadcast concerning lunar phenomena and of course I did my homework. I sent him some NASA photos I had that showed some very strange artifacts. (And it was obvious to me he never looked at them until the show.) It irked me the way he acted at the start of the show, he knew me and knew I did not suffer bull shit well but he tried act all skeptical like he never did with the frauds I named earlier. However before it was all said and done he was going like ... "Wow! Yea, I really do see that!" But hey .. Bell is a showman. And Bell was Tops at what he did then.
I suppose I could be pissed at Art, after all he did rip off my show name but no ... what for? He only lasted a few weeks, quit again and now wants to come back in some fashion. Like was mentioned earlier Art is pushing about 70 years of age. I say let him go for it. He has always maintained he LOVES Radio and I say "go for it Art!" I honestly wish him well and I hope in whatever format he ends up doing his gig .. I hope he has fun and succeed's.
Decker
