Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

Arthur William Bell III (June 17, 1945 – April 13, 2018) was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM, which is syndicated on hundreds of radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. He also created and hosted its companion show Dreamland.

In 2003, Bell semi-retired from Coast to Coast AM. During the following four years, he hosted the show many weekends on Premiere Networks. He announced his retirement from weekend hosting on July 1, 2007, but occasionally served as a guest host through 2010. He attributed the reason for his retirement to a desire to spend time with his new wife and their daughter, born May 30, 2007. He added that unlike his previous “retirements”, this one was permanent, but he left open the option to return to broadcasting.

Bell hosted classic episodes of Coast to Coast AM that can be heard in some radio markets on Saturday nights under the name Somewhere in Time. He started a new nightly show, Art Bell’s Dark Matter, on Sirius XM Radio, that began on September 16, 2013. It ended six weeks later, on November 4, 2013. Bell cited his decision to end the program due to technological problems and a disagreement with Sirius XM over the show’s distribution.

On July 20, 2015, he returned to radio with a new show Midnight in the Desert, which was available online via TuneIn as well as some terrestrial radio stations. He announced what would be his final retirement on December 11, 2015, citing security concerns at his home. He said that he and his family were subjected to repeated intrusions on his property in Pahrump, Nevada. The intrusions included gunshots, and he was in fear for his family’s safety. He opted to leave the air and along with it, public life because he believed that the intruder or intruders wanted him off the air.

Bell was the founder and original owner of Pahrump-based radio station KNYE 95.1 FM. His broadcast studio and transmitter were located near his home in Pahrump, where he also hosted Coast to Coast AM. However, from June to December 2006, he lived in the Philippines. In March 2009, he returned to the Philippines with his family after he experienced significant difficulties in obtaining a U.S. visa for his wife, Airyn.

Bell died at his Pahrump home on April 13, 2018.