AREA 51 Employees - The Most Disturbing Call in Art Bell History

Episode Overview

The broadcast begins with a frightened caller claiming to be a former Area 51 employee, recently discharged from the hospital and “on the run.” He says the beings people call aliens are actually extradimensional entities that have infiltrated parts of the military. He also warns that the government knows about coming disasters but wants the population to be easier to control. As he grows more distressed, the line cuts out—and the show itself suddenly disappears from the air for about two minutes.

Art Bell returns on a backup system, describing the caller as crying and screaming just before the connection ended. The timing of the transmitter failure fuels speculation in the studio and among callers that someone may have wanted the conversation stopped, though no cause is established. Art’s guest confirms the outage, and Art repeatedly notes how extraordinary the live broadcast has become.

Area 51 Stories and Other Claims

The rest of the show becomes a parade of Area 51 stories and strange claims:

• Art offers supposed “test questions” for identifying an Area 51 employee—how their meals are paid for, the color of a second door, and how they got there—then jokes about needing three critical questions for future employees.
• One caller describes a dream in which aliens took him to a destroyed planet beyond Mars. He says he was told a war between Mars and another world had ended in planetary destruction. Another caller offers an even more outlandish theory: that the Greys originated on Earth and helped cause the dinosaurs’ extinction.
• A former security worker says he handled breaches and leaks at a secret site. Art asks whether his work ever involved taking a life; the caller says he eventually walked away.
• A caller who says he once wandered into Area 51 while drunk recounts being hooded, interrogated for three days, and escorted back to the perimeter. Art dryly points out the irony of him telling the story on national radio after being warned not to talk.
• A former military security tester says his team once penetrated secret-base defenses with a surprisingly high success rate, though he says security later improved. Art jokes that the base supposedly “doesn’t exist” nevertheless has formidable guards, sensors, and aircraft.
• A former worker connected to stealth-aircraft projects describes unusual materials and aircraft, while another caller reports seeing silent triangular craft. Art also trades jokes with callers, including comparing the forces of a sharp aircraft turn to turning a person into “gelatin.”
• A caller claiming to be 13 says he was taught to kill and destroy, then recounts stumbling into the restricted area during a party and being held for questioning. Art treats the story skeptically but keeps the exchange going.
• An alleged former Area 51 employee named Fred gives a more measured account. He denies that the base had extraterrestrial projects or major underground facilities, but says he and coworkers once saw five star-like lights move rapidly across the sky, with two making a 90-degree turn. He says radar showed nothing.
• An archaeologist describes spending a week inside the restricted area while tracing the route of an 1849 wagon party. He says he came within about a mile of Papoose Lake, saw perimeter lights, and felt strong vibrations. Art offers to publish one of his photographs to help promote a proposed book, but the caller hesitates.
• Amid the tension, Art keeps the show’s lighter rhythm: he catches a caller nearly using an FCC-prohibited word and suggests a euphemism, and he banters with a trespasser who admits to vomiting on an interrogator.

The episode stands out for its jarring transition from the opening caller’s panic to a long, unpredictable run of Area 51 testimony, UFO sightings, skepticism, and classic late-night radio humor. The callers’ accounts are presented as claims, not verified facts.

Personalities Heard

• Art Bell — Host
• Unnamed studio guest — Present during the broadcast outage
• Opening anonymous caller — Claims to be a former employee and warns about extradimensional beings
• Rich — Caller describing an alien dream
• Nick — Caller who says his blind wife saw triangular craft
• Fred — Caller claiming 15 years at Area 51
• The archaeologist — Describes an unauthorized expedition into the restricted area
• Other callers — Including alleged security and stealth-project workers, a former military security tester, a truck driver, and the caller identifying as “2782 D4”