Earliest example of Mandela being associated with Mandela Effect: 2001

Art Bell May 31, 2001: "Time disturbances"

Fiona Broome is widely credited with coining the concept and phrase "Mandela Effect", but a recording from 2001 has surfaced which directly brings up the idea many people thought Mandela died in prison in the 1980's.

Art Bell ran the paranormal Coast to Coast AM radio show for many years, where fans of UFO's, ghosts, aliens etc were offered a forum, via his phone-in show, where their interests would be discussed seriously without fear of ridicule.

It was on one of these shows - May 31, 2001 - when discussing with Dr Morgan Spence the idea of time travellers being able to change things in the past, that the idea of memories being different to the widely accepted timeline, and the exact story which created The Mandela Effect came up.

It's spooky thinking the Mandela Effect term has only been known since 2012, but, unless things change (!), it turns out even the Mandela story is a fair bit older than that. Listen for yourself ... it starts at the 6:35 mark, where his name and the exact phenomenon we're all now familiar with is explicitly mentioned: