Unplanned Paranormal Hoax - War of the Worlds

Radio Broadcast about Martian Attacks Created Mass Panic

Oct 19, 2009

Orson Wells adapted the H. G. Wells novel the show was named for as entertainment for a CBS Mercury Theater radio show. The Hallowe'en "treat" turned into a nightmare.

The October 30, 1938 broadcast imitated a regular radio program with interruptions of simulated news bulletins. Some of the audience either missed or didn’t pay attention to several announcements that the program was a fictional presentation of War of the Worlds. There were no commercials. The first forty minutes of the one hour broadcast were sprinkled with “news bulletins,” leading many listeners to believe that the Martian invasion was real.

The program began with a description of the broadcast and the disclaimer. It was announced that the show would continue from a hotel.

Suddenly, there was a news flash about fictional astronomer Richard Pierson, played by Welles, who was in an observatory when he saw gas explosions on Mars. More news breaks followed, updating developing news, including reports of casualties.

The realistic fictional news bulletins were fuel for the panic. The broadcast announced that the New Jersey militia declared martial law. A Martian Army invaded the Garden State. Emergency response teams reported damages and provided evacuation instructions.

An anonymous Secretary of the Interior, who sounded like FDR, advised the nation about the situation. A squadron of bombers rushed to the scene and the lead pilot radioed their approach. The planes’ engines were burned by a Heat Ray.

Radio contact was lost after a report of toxic black smoke emanating from a cylindrical “meteorite” that fell on Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Others like it fell across the country. New York’s Martian invasion was detailed by a reporter stationed on top of the CBS building until he succumbed to toxic gas. A ham radio operator desperately asked if anyone was on the air.

After an intermission for station identification, announcer Dan Seymour reiterated the show was fictional. Pierson returned to describe the outcome of the attacks. The story ended with the earth’s germs and bacteria defeating the Martians.

After the play ended, Welles, as himself, reminded listeners that the broadcast was a Halloween show intended to entertain, but the panic had already started.

People were hypervigilant because Hitler had recently invaded Czechoslovakia and rumors of WWII’s beginning were rife. Some audience members believed the Martian invasion was caused by the Germans. Mayhem prevailed. Religious services were interrupted, traffic jams proliferated and communications systems, overloaded. More than twenty adults required medical treatment for hysteria and shock.

The fear spread to New England, the South, Midwest and West. It attracted the interest from at least one infamous European — Adolf Hitler.— who called the panic proof of corruption and decadency in a democracy.

There was public outcry and an investigation. CBS representatives informed officials there were disclaimers during the show stating it was fictional. The broadcast company, allegedly, promised never again to break into programs to create drama by using words to the effect that the show was being interrupted for breaking news. The War of the Worlds broadcast and the ensuing panic became a classic sociological study of crowds’ delusions and mass hysteria. In 1988, to celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the broadcast, Grover’s Mill held a Martian festival. Events included pseudo-Martians firing ray guns.

The copyright of the article Unplanned Paranormal Hoax - War of the Worlds in Paranormal is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Unplanned Paranormal Hoax - War of the Worlds in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.