June 1, 2001: Open Lines

Art Bell opens the phone lines for a Friday night edition of Truth or Trash, a game where callers tell outrageous stories and a jury of fellow listeners votes on whether each tale is true or fabricated. Callers are encouraged to lie convincingly or tell true stories so unbelievable they sound fake.

The evening produces memorable entries, including a World War II veteran's account of a Japanese fighter plane landing perfectly on Tinian Island with a dead pilot inside whose neck was broken, a man from New Orleans who claims he built a comedy career around getting kicked in the tailbone, and a fisherman in Virginia who allegedly found a class ring inside a fish eight years after it was lost in the Gulf of Mexico. Art also reads a shadow people encounter from a listener who saw two pixelated, glowing beings enter her bedroom.

Between rounds, Art covers news including a devastating Tel Aviv bombing, the Nepal royal palace massacre, Arizona blackout warnings, and a British housewife who sold UFO footage for 20,000 pounds. The show captures the freewheeling spirit of late-night open lines at their most entertaining.