February 22, 1999: Atheist Hotline - Dr. Albert Taylor

Art Bell welcomes back Albert Taylor, author of Soul Traveler and former NASA engineer who trained astronauts at Johnson Space Center. Taylor reveals he held back roughly 40 percent of his experiences from his first book, including detailed accounts of reincarnation and what he calls "the game," a set of rules for living that he discovered through his out-of-body journeys. He shares how a catastrophic travel mishap on his way to Greece led to a meaningful encounter that confirmed his philosophy of remaining available to life's unexpected redirections.

The conversation shifts to reincarnation, with Taylor and Art debating whether consciousness carries forward between lives. Taylor argues that past life experiences shape present behavior even without conscious recall, while Art challenges the value of reincarnation without continuity of memory. They discuss the historical removal of reincarnation from Christian teachings and its implications for spiritual control.

Art opens an atheist hotline, inviting non-believers to call and engage directly with Taylor. Several atheists share their perspectives, with Taylor responding that he never seeks to prove his experiences but simply shares them. Art poses the famous question from the film Contact, asking a caller to prove his love for his mother, drawing a parallel to proving the existence of the soul.