July 15, 1997: Open Lines | Time Traveler Hotline
The open lines segment produces a memorable parade of unusual callers. A woman from Wisconsin describes seeing a one-foot-tall elf wearing a green suit with pointy shoes, peering into a glass of water in her childhood home. A caller from Jacksonville reports a mysterious new creature in Texas dubbed the "chupalavetga," said to be a cousin of the chupacabra that feeds on snakes. Another caller shares documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base referencing flying saucers.
Art reopens his "Time Traveler Hotline," a dedicated phone line for callers claiming to have physically traveled through time. The line rings constantly as self-proclaimed time travelers call in with predictions, echoing the eerie success of similar callers from previous broadcasts.
Key Moments
Art reopens the Time Traveler hotline: Art revisits his recurring 'timeline' concept: if time travel was invented secretly long ago - or will be invented in our future - there could be time travelers here now. He says the first time he opened the line callers accurately predicted newspaper headlines, enough to give him 'the heebie-jeebies,' and announces he may reopen it tonight.
Timeline officially opened - physical time travelers only: Art formally opens the Time Traveler hotline and lays down the criterion: callers must claim to have physically traveled in time in 'a machine with little levers and buttons,' not in their minds. He invokes the paradox risk that broadcasting future news 'might cause us all to wink out' the minute it is said.