October 30th - War of the Worlds Broadcast

On this day, in 1938, H. G. Welles broadcast his adaption of Orson Wells' story, The War of the Wells. I mean War of the Worlds. It was a radio broadcast that took the form of a news report that Martians were attacking Earth. This was part of a long running series of practical jokes called "Great Japes of the Thirties". When people discovered it was a joke there was much relief and a lot of guffawing.

Wells' novel (not Welles) was the story of an alien invasion at the end of the 19th century. This was adapted for a newsradio broadcast that was presented as if it was actually happening.

The story goes that aliens land on Earth and meet an awkward, self-concious teenager. They have misadventures and by the end of the show the teenager has gone through a rite of passage and gets with the popular girl.

Many listeners believed the broadcast and were scared that aliens had actually invaded. Many Americans believed the aliens would take their jobs and they should go back to Mexico.

It was suprising that anyone thought it was real because a plot like that is so predictable. Also, during intermissions the narrator mentioned it was just a story. Lots of people didn't fall for that. They know a real alien invasion when they hear about it second-hand.

Many were upset that the broadcast had been presented as real, even if it did repeatedly say that it wasn't. Even Adolf Hitler heard about the panic and said "I'll give you something to panic about."

Some listeners thought the Germans, and not the martians, had invaded. The US propoganda machine had done its job well; making people think the Germans were googly-eyed aliens from space.

An urban legend states that some people armed themselves and rushed to the alien's first landing site in New Jersey. They mistook a watertower as an alien craft and shot at it. The real story is that these people were member's of the anti-watertower league and this particular tower was scheduled to be hit on that day. It had been asking for it with its long legs and large water-holding capacity.

Nowadays the story lives on in many forms. A musical has been written and performed. The story is also the motivation for America's effort to build a fence along the Mexican border.