On Oct. 30, 1938, an alien lifeform landed in rural New Jersey and disintegrated several local residents and state militia, in the first attack of a short-lived Martian invasion of Earth.
At least, that's what some people thought happened that night in 1938, when a broadcast adaptation of "The War of the Worlds" had many fearing a real Martian invasion was taking place in the northeastern part of the United States. The simulated invasion was the brainchild of then-rising star Orson Welles, who reimagined H.G. Wells' classic science fiction novel as a series of news bulletins playing out in "real" time. The authentic-sounding production from the Mercury Theatre on the Air remains one of the most famous radio dramas of all-time, due to the supposed panic it caused among many North American listeners.
The radio play was performed live on CBS Radio, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. The first portion of the broadcast was set up to simulate the early stages of a Martian invasion, as told through a series of news bulletins cutting into a live orchestral performance at a New York hotel. The interruptions became increasingly frequent and urgent, until the CBS went "live" to a reporter in Grover's Mill, N.J., where a suspected meteor had just struck. The meteor was soon revealed to be an alien and the reporter was "killed," along with several members of the state militia.
The remainder of the broadcast followed Orson Welles' character, a scientist from the Princeton Observatory, as he described the devastation the aliens caused with their takeover. It ended with the aliens dying from prolonged exposure to Earth's bacteria, which their immune systems were not equipped to handle.
It was all a work of fiction, of course, but the next morning, several news outlets reported mass hysteria as a result of the fake news bulletins. The so-called panic over "The War of the Worlds" is now thought to have been exaggerated, but the myth about the radio play still crops up on its anniversary each year.
Whether or not it did cause a panic, the radio drama was big news the following day, and occupied top spot on the front page of the New York Times. "Radio listeners in panic, taking war drama as fact," the headline read. "Many flee homes to escape 'gas raid from Mars' – phone calls swamp police at broadcast of Wells fantasy."
The New York Times article blamed Orson Welles and his radio play for creating traffic jams, tying up phone lines, interrupting religious services and disrupting households. "A score of adults required medical treatment for shock and hysteria," the article said. It added that "thousands" of people contacted police, newspapers and radio stations for advice on dealing with the invasion.
At the end of the radio play, Welles came on air to reassure his listeners that the production was a Halloween prank of sorts, "the Mercury Theatre's own radio version of dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and saying boo.
"We couldn't soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so we did the next best thing: we annihilated the world before your very ears and utterly destroyed the CBS," Welles said. "We didn't mean it," he quickly added.
The radio play was directed by Welles and written by the Mercury Theatre's Howard Koch, based on Welles' premise for the adaptation. The original H.G. Wells novel was published in 1898 and set in the English countryside, but Orson Welles sought to make it more contemporary by putting it on the radio as a modern-day event.
"The War of the Worlds" was a smash hit for the 23-year-old Welles, who had mostly worked on stage and in radio until that point. But "The War of the Worlds" catapulted him to super-stardom, and he soon landed a multi-picture deal to write, direct and star in films for RKO Radio Pictures. His first film, "Citizen Kane," came out in 1941, and is still lauded as one of the greatest films of all-time, by such organizations as the American Film Institute.
The original H.G. Wells novel has been adapted several times since that 1938 radio play, including as a 2005 film directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Tom Cruise.
There has been some debate over the years as to how intense the Martian scare really was, but it was intense enough at the time that Welles had to face a large throng of reporters with questions the following day, on Halloween, Oct. 31, 1938.
"Radio is new and we are learning about the effect it has on people," Welles told the reporters, as he fielded a barrage of questions about the ethics of his fake news event. The actor said he didn't expect reports of a Martian attack to "find worthy acceptance" with radio listeners, but admitted he may have underestimated his show's reach and influence. "We learned a terrible lesson," he said.
