War of the Worlds (1938 Radio Broadcast)

War of the Worlds. A Halloween Eve (October 30/1938) CBS live broadcast radio drama, played out for a prank. Produced and directed by Orson Welles of the Mercury Theatre Players and based upon the 1898 H.G. Wells novel. The radio airing terrified many of its listeners, especially the ones who tuned into the broadcast late, and thought it was a live news broadcast of a real alien invasion from outer space.

A Princeton psychologist of the day, found in his study of the mass hysteria, that 2 million people were alarmed into thinking the alien attack was legitimate.

The short audio portion in this video is of the specific section of the 60 minute radio play that prompted most of the listening audience to believe it an actual attack.

The day after the radio airing, Orson Welles apologized to the public for the panic he had 'created'.

Welles later said:
"Radio in those days, before the tube and the transistor, wasn't just a noise in somebody's pocket - it was the voice of authority. Too much so. At least, I thought so. It was time for someone to take the starch out of some of that authority: hence my broadcast."

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 8

THE LAST BROADCAST.Part 1 of the 1938 radio broadcast
concludes as the Martians attack New York City.

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 7

BOMBER SQUADRON.The 1938 radio broadcast continues.
Army bombers are sent to attack the Martian Fighting
Machines.

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 6

A NEW WEAPON.Artillery confronts Martians
from the second cylinder.

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 5

EXODUS.The 1938 radio broadcast continues.
The Martians are on the move and the Government
tells the Nation that the Invaders are confined
to a relatively small area

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 4

THE FIGHTING BEGINS.The 1938 radio broadcast
continues."There's no cause for alarm" as the
National Guard surrounds the Martian Rocket-Cylinder.

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 3

THE HEAT RAY.The 1938 radio broadcast
continues.The fate of Carl Phillips
and the Professor is revealed

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 2

THE CYLINDER.
The 1938 radio broadcast continues.
A huge object crashes on a New Jersey
farm and Carl Phillips and the Professor
are on the scene.

War Of The Worlds Part 1 Chapter 1

THE EVE OF WAR.The 1938 radio broadcast begins.
Strange disturbances have been sighted on the
planet Mars.