Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast first aired on Oct. 30, 1938 and the hoax’s legacy has only grown since it was first aired. The “War of the Worlds” broadcast was presented without any indication that Welles was presenting an adaption of the novel by H.G. Wells. The broadcast’s legacy centers on the reports of widespread panic as people thought there was an alien invasion happening but that anecdote has been proven to be more fiction than fact.
The broadcast was part of “the Mercury Theatre on the Air” series on the Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS, radio network. The “War of the Worlds” broadcast changed a few details of Wells’ novel, such as setting the invasion in Grover’s Mill, N.J., and was presented as a set of two newscasts with the third act presented as a dialogue discussing the conclusion of the invasion. As with Wells’ novel, the aliens succumb to human germs.
The popular belief that no one knew the broadcast was merely a dramatic reading is easily debunked as there are three announcements that say the events are fictional. According to the legend, some of the panic was due to listeners tuning in after the start of the broadcast, many believe Welles timed the start of the invasion right as a popular radio program was taking a musical break, and the second announcement occurs more than 40 minutes after the broadcast has been on air.
As noted by the Los Angeles Times, more than six million listeners tuned into Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast and while widespread panic may not have actually occurred, there was plenty of reaction. The New York Times headline on Oct. 31 read “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact” and opened with “A wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners between 8:15 and 9:30 o'clock last night when a broadcast of a dramatization of H. G. Wells' fantasy, "The War of the Worlds," led thousands to believe that an interplanetary conflict had started with invading Martians spreading wide death and destruction in New Jersey and New York.”
Part of the appeal, and the response, of the broadcast was due to Wells’ timing and channeling the fear of war as the world still feeling the effects of the Great Depression, reports LA Times. Welles’ script was sold at auction to Steven Spielberg, who would later direct an adaption of “War of the Worlds,” and the broadcast would become a part of pop culture and would be referenced in cartoons, television shows and movies. Welles was just 23 years-old at the time and would go on to even bigger things, directing “Citizen Kane” in 1941.
The “War of the Worlds” broadcast script can be read here and the audio can be listened to below.
‘War Of The Worlds’ Radio Broadcast Turns 75: Listen To Orson Welles’ Famous Hoax
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