The date is October 30, 1938. A well known actor named Orson Wells, who worked for the radio program production group called Mercury Theater, would gained instant fame overnight with one broadcast which he directed and narrated. This program was called War of the Worlds and after the 60 minute show, it would have a historical place in the world of broadcasting and a small town in New Jersey forever.
The fictional story of an alien invasion mixed with rumors and talks of Germany wanting to invade the U.S and worries of what was to come with the world plunging into another world war, it would not take much to send people into a mass hysteria. The stories of mass panic and people killing themselves and mobs forming to fight off the aliens was a little over blown by the papers, but it did happen. The reason so many people over reacted to the broadcast was a simple human error on the part of the listener.See the Mercury Theater ran opposite the popular show on the Red Network of NBC called Chase and Sanborn Hour. The show featured popular acts at that time in radio and most people where listening to that. Well about 15 minutes into the show, a comedy sketch had ended and a musical number was starting up. So most people started playing around with the dial and came across what sounded like a news broadcast of something happening in a town called Grover’s Mills, New Jersey. With people hearing this “news broadcast”, they where under the impression that the events being acted out where real. See in the first 15 minutes of the War of the Worlds, those tuning in late missed the being of the program where they told the listener that what they are hearing is a radio adaptation of the H.G Wells book. And since there was about a 40 minute gap between the show telling listeners this, most people took it as a real event.
Personally I love this broadcast. I try to listen to it at least once a year right around Halloween. This broadcast was the first time I ever listened to old time radio and from that point on totally love it. I could so easily see myself being part of the hysteria if I had turned in late to the show. and every time I hear it, I wish I could have been there when it was live instead of needing my iPod to enjoy it.
Now if you have never heard of the broadcast, then check out the Mercury Theater’s website and take a listen. So worth it:
If you enjoy the broadcast and want to read the script, have the orginal story by H.G Wells and would like to read about the legacy of the War of the Worlds… PLUS have a copy of the radio broadcast along with 3 rare interviews with Orsen Wells, I highly recommend the following book. The War of the Worlds With Audio CD: Mars’ Invasion of Earth, Inciting Panic and Inspiring Terror from H.G. Wells to Orson Welles and Beyond. I received this book for Christmas a few years ago and loved every page of it.
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