Skip to content
From the High Desert book cover

From the High Desert

A Cultural History of Art Bell

Thumbnail for May 28, 1997: Ham Radio & More - Wayne Green

May 28, 1997: Ham Radio & More - Wayne Green

May 28, 1997
2h 43m
0:00 / 0:00
Wayne Green, legendary publisher of 73 Magazine and founder of Byte magazine, joins Art Bell for a sprawling conversation that covers nearly every frontier of human curiosity. Green, who has visited 132 countries, piloted nuclear submarines, and helped launch the personal computer revolution, brings his trademark maverick energy to topics ranging from amateur radio's uncertain future to cold fusion experiments anyone can try at home.

The discussion moves from the state of ham radio and the threat posed by internet communication tools to far more provocative territory. Green makes the case for cold fusion, citing NASA's Lewis Research Center confirmation of excess heat, and describes the bioelectrifier, a device he claims can eliminate viruses from the bloodstream. He shares his theory that time travelers may be the mysterious men in black, and recounts the suppressed story of Amelia Earhart's secret spy mission to Truk Island, sourced from her own airplane mechanic. Art pushes back with healthy skepticism, demanding proof of overunity energy devices and questioning conspiracy claims.

The episode captures the restless intellect of a man who started industries before others saw the potential. From consciousness research and cellular memory to the cosmic snowballs bombarding Earth daily, Green and Art explore the boundaries between innovation and speculation with infectious enthusiasm.

Key Moments

  1. Ham DXpedition to Navasar Island, 1958: Wayne Green recounts his 1958 ham-radio expedition to tiny American-owned Navasar Island in the Caribbean, climbing a steel rope ladder up 100-foot cliffs after surviving a storm en route from Nassau.

  2. Time travelers as the Men in Black: Green offers his theory that Men in Black who confiscate UFO photos and artifacts are actually time travelers cleaning up after themselves, citing UFO depictions in 17,000-year-old French cave paintings and Alexander the Great's diaries.

  3. Amelia Earhart spy mission firsthand: Green claims his father's friend, the mechanic who installed Earhart's stealth cameras, higher-power engines and extra wing tanks, came to dinner before the flight and disclosed the trip's real purpose: photographing Japanese installations on Truk Island for FDR - and that natives in the Marshalls later told his submarine crew Earhart was taken to Saipan.

  4. DIY cold fusion experiment from NASA Lewis: Green walks listeners through replicating the NASA Lewis Research Center cold-fusion experiment at home: two nickels suspended in distilled water with potassium carbonate, alligator-clipped above the water line, with about a tenth of a watt at 20 volts producing measurable excess heat.

  5. Heart-lung transplant recipient dreams donor's name: Bell tells Green about a 57-year-old woman who received the heart and lungs of a teenage boy, woke with the boy's exact cravings, and - without being told - dreamed her donor's name. Green ties this to Cleve Baxter and Brian O'Leary's work showing cells from the roof of one's mouth respond synchronously on a voltmeter to the host's responses at a distance.