August 29, 1997: Best of Open Lines - Mel's Hole, Area 51 Pilot, Bugs, Robert Salas, & more..
The second hour features the classic call from a man identifying himself as a pilot flying a homebuilt Long-EZ aircraft directly into restricted Area 51 airspace. He describes searchlights, a scrambled F-16, and something rising from an underground elevator before the call cuts out abruptly. The program also includes segments on Bigfoot, with a caller named Dan from Missouri describing a nighttime encounter with a creature standing ten to twelve feet tall, accompanied by a blue ball of light.
An update from Mel reveals he has signed a lucrative lease agreement for his property and plans to emigrate to Australia, with a stipulation that his remains be disposed of in the hole upon his death.
Key Moments
Mel returns: 80,000 feet of fishing line, no echo, dogs won't go near: Mel Waters describes lowering shark-fishing line spool by spool - past 5,000 yards - with a triangular one-pound weight, sending a roll of Lifesavers down to test for water, and getting no echo back. His dogs refuse to go near the hole.
Jimmy Joe's Long-EZ flight into Area 51 airspace: A caller's girlfriend faxes in saying her boyfriend is airborne north of Las Vegas in a homebuilt Long-EZ painted with a red cross, planning to penetrate the Area 51 restricted zone. Live on air he reports crossing the line, sees searchlights, and an F-16 scrambling on afterburner.
Robert Salas: Echo Flight ICBMs shut down by UFO: Former missileer Robert Salas describes the morning a UFO was reported by his security team over a Malmstrom launch facility while five of his missiles went off alert; minutes later Echo Flight reported the same thing - losing all ten of their nuclear ICBMs simultaneously.
Salas on the Russian ICBM going into launch sequence: Salas and Art Bell discuss the parallel Russian incident in which a UFO hovered over a Soviet ICBM silo and the missiles went into launch mode by themselves - the consoles were torn apart afterward and nothing wrong was ever found.