The Art Bell Archive

Art Bell welcomes investigative journalist George Knapp and biochemist Dr. Colm Kelleher for a discussion about Utah's Skinwalker Ranch, the subject of their book, and an update on Area 51. Kelleher, who served as project manager at Robert Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science, describes the ranch as a hotbed of anomalous activity stretching back generations through Ute tribal oral history.

Kelleher recounts specific incidents investigated by NIDS, including an 84-pound calf found completely stripped of flesh in broad daylight just yards from the rancher's home, with no sound, tracks, or visible perpetrator. He also describes the baffling destruction of surveillance cameras by an unseen force that was caught on a second camera's feed, yet nothing appeared on the footage. Both guests explain that the phenomena seemed to possess a precognitive, sentient quality, never repeating and always staying one step ahead of investigators. Activity at the ranch has recently resumed after a period of quiet.

George Knapp reflects on his career-altering decision to report on Area 51 beginning in 1989, confirming the base remains fully operational despite reports to the contrary. The first hour features unscreened open lines with callers sharing shadow people encounters, time travel proposals, and 9/11 debate.

Art Bell welcomes science writer Jennifer Ouellette, author of "The Physics of the Buffyverse" and "Black Bodies and Quantum Cats," for a conversation exploring the intersection of real physics and science fiction. They discuss the newly announced 16-qubit quantum computer from a Vancouver company, and Ouellette explains how quantum computing could eventually break current encryption systems and solve problems impossible for traditional machines.

The discussion moves through the multiverse theory, wormholes as depicted in the film "Contact," and physicist Michio Kaku's civilization scale, with Art pressing the sobering point that the odds of humanity surviving the transition from Type Zero to Type One are almost zero. Ouellette shares her perspective on why women remain underrepresented in the hard sciences and discusses the physics behind fictional universes, arguing that even fantasy worlds must follow internal rules. She also addresses telepathy, suggesting that while no magical mechanism exists, future technology involving brain implants could one day achieve something resembling it.

The conversation turns philosophical as they discuss the Big Bang, the accelerating expansion of the universe, the closure of Princeton's ESP lab, and whether science leaves room for the existence of God.

Art Bell welcomes futurist Gordon Michael Scallion for a conversation that shifts away from his usual earth changes focus into the unsettling territory of possession. Scallion explains that visions he received beginning in 1979 revealed a connection between solar activity, geophysical upheaval, and a rising tide of what he calls borderland phenomena, including spirit possession, particularly among young people.

Scallion describes his out-of-body journeys into the borderland, the realm between physical life and what lies beyond, where he observed how discarnate entities can attach themselves to living people. He connects the increase in school violence, beginning with Columbine, to these energetic shifts and draws parallels to the work of the late Father Malachi Martin, who reported an 800 percent increase in possession cases. The conversation also touches on the current solar cycle, which Scallion predicts will be one of the most powerful ever recorded, and the ongoing pole shift he believes has already begun.

The first hour includes open lines covering the Super Bowl, the UN climate report, Iran tensions, reincarnation and the Catholic Church, electric cars, and Art's announcement of returning to unscreened open lines.

Art Bell welcomes Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, for a wide-ranging conversation about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the scientific challenges of detecting alien civilizations. Shostak discusses the current state of SETI's efforts, including the optical search at Lick Observatory and the upcoming Allen Telescope Array set to begin scanning the center of the Milky Way in mid-2007.

The two spar over interstellar travel feasibility, with Art raising points from nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman about energy requirements and trip profiles. Shostak acknowledges that fewer than a thousand star systems have been carefully examined so far, a tiny fraction of the hundreds of billions in our galaxy. He describes SETI's new telescopes and methods while maintaining his skepticism about current visitation claims. Art challenges him with recent UFO sightings from O'Hare Airport and North London, where dozens of witnesses reported silent objects hovering in formation.

The first hour features open lines touching on the landmark UN climate change report, ExxonMobil's offer of $10,000 to scientists willing to critique its findings, the Bush administration's suppression of climate terminology, Edgar Cayce, and Art's visit to Bigelow Aerospace via helicopter.

Art Bell welcomes Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a Duke University professor of geology and expert on shoreline processes, to examine the reliability of mathematical models used to shape major public policy decisions. Pilkey argues that while models can reveal broad trends and general directions, society places far too much confidence in their precise numerical predictions, particularly when applied to complex natural systems.

The discussion ranges from climate change modeling to the controversial decision to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain near Art's home in Pahrump. Pilkey considers climate models the most honest among those he studied, praising the UN panel's transparency about their limitations. However, he warns that specific projections for temperature increases and sea level rises should be taken with a large grain of salt. He also notes that the Bush administration exploits model uncertainties for political purposes while ignoring the overwhelming scientific consensus.

The first hour features open lines covering the UFO flap at O'Hare Airport and beyond, mysterious ice blocks falling from clear skies in Florida, smoking cessation research involving the brain's insula region, and Art's personal update on his wife Airyn's pregnancy with their daughter Asia.