War of the Worlds - 1938

This was some Halloween stunt. Possibly the most famous on radio ever. On October 30th 1938, ‘The War of the Worlds’ was broadcast in the US on the Columbia Network of stations as an episode of ‘The Mercury Theatre on the Air’. The programme, an adaptation of the 1898 novel by H.G Wells, was directed and narrated by Orson Welles.

Witness the simulated news bulletins and commentary which made some listeners fear that a Martian invasion had happened. Whilst the degree of real ‘terror’ has been possibly lost in history, it was one hell of a PR stunt for Orson.

Hear, here, an excerpt from the broadcast and some response from Orson at a ‘press conference’. Like in later years, it appears the outrage grew after the broadcast, as much as during it. Note the reference too to the influence of this ‘new medium’ of radio.