UNIT 14: A Giant Hoax

On the night before Halloween in 1938, a young Orson Welles decided to modify H.G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds for his radio show. To make the drama more thrilling, he chose an economical format: presenting the story as a series of urgent news bulletins interrupting a music program. Soon, a sense of real terror began to reign in households across America. Listeners who tuned in late missed the introduction explaining it was fiction. Their reaction was overwhelmingly negative as they heard reports of Martian tripods landing in New Jersey. This broadcast became a singular event in media history, creating a panic so believable that some people packed their cars to flee, while others armed themselves to pursue the alien invaders. Many felt they were the victims of a national swindle.

The next day, a shocked Welles had to be completely frank with the public. He offered no alibi for the chaos, insisting he never intended to deceive anyone. His most important confederate in creating the illusion was the sound effects team, whose work was terrifyingly realistic. The radio network had to discharge a public statement clarifying the broadcast was a performance.

Surprisingly, there was no widespread mutiny from outraged listeners demanding the show be canceled. Instead, the “panic broadcast” made Welles famous, forever changing the rules about what was acceptable on the airwaves.