On this day, 1938: War of the Worlds hits the radio
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater aired "The War of the Worlds" on CBS radio, History.com and NPR report. The drama described a Martian invasion as if it were real news. Tales of a mass panic grew over the years, but some experts say the scare was far smaller.
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater aired "The War of the Worlds" on CBS radio, History.com and NPR report. The show was based on H.G. Wells' novel about a Martian invasion of Earth.
Welles was only 23, History.com reports. The show was not planned as a hoax. But it was made to sound like real news. It began with what seemed to be dance music, then broke in with news bulletins. Listeners then heard that a large meteor had crashed in a farmer's field in Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Soon, an announcer at the scene described a Martian coming out of a large metal cylinder.
Most people listening to the radio that night were tuned to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's show on NBC, History.com reports. Many only switched to CBS after the drama had begun.
For decades, people have said the show caused a nationwide panic, NPR reports. One account it cites says about 12 million people heard it and about 1 in 12 thought it was real. But NPR also points to a Slate report that says the panic was tiny. A ratings service phoned 5,000 homes, and only 2% said they were tuned to the show, NPR reports, citing Slate. It argues that newspapers played up the panic to make radio look bad.
The Federal Communications Commission looked into the show but found no law was broken, History.com reports. Networks agreed to be more careful. The fame helped Welles land a Hollywood deal. In 1941, he made "Citizen Kane."
What we know: The War of the Worlds aired on CBS on October 30, 1938, and made Welles famous.
What we don't: How many listeners truly believed the invasion was real.
Where outlets agree History.com and NPR describe Orson Welles' October 30, 1938, broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" on CBS radio.
Where they differ History.com describes widespread panic in the drama itself, while NPR reports historians disagree over how many real listeners panicked.