US Edition87 Years Ago: Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" Broadcast Sparks Legendary Panic Across America
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8 Articles
87 Years Ago: Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" Broadcast Sparks Legendary Panic Across America
On this day in 1938, a seemingly innocuous radio drama transformed into one of the most infamous media events in history. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) aired an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ science fiction classic The War of the Worlds, directed and narrated by the 23-year-old prodigy Orson Welles. What was intended as Halloween-eve entertainment […] The post 87 Years Ago: Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” Broadcast Sparks Legendary Panic …
‘War of the Worlds’ and separating fact from campaign fiction
Orson Welles' trickery during his 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast — and newspapers' response to it — is an early lesson in media literacy. (Photo by Julia Rendleman for New Jersey Monitor)It’s almost Halloween, which means it’s time to revisit one of my favorite New Jersey stories — that time Orson Welles pretended Martians had landed in the Garden State and were incinerating everyone in their path. It’s also almost Election Day, which means …
3 i \ Atlas: Timing of Interstellar Visitor Coincides with “War of the Worlds” Broadcast October 30, 1938
By Philip R. Devlin (October 30, 2025) — First identified by the Atlas telescope in Chile as our solar system’s third known interstellar visitor this past July, (thus the designation “3 i”) …
In the fall of 1938, Americans lived in a climate of international tensions, between fears of war in Europe and economic uncertainties. Radio, the dominant media, became an immediate and familiar source of information. On 30 October, on the eve of Halloween, a simple programme of fiction caused an unexpected panic movement: thousands of listeners believed in a Martian invasion. Orson Welles, then unknown to the general public, transformed an ada…
Oct. 30 – Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio play is broadcast
“The War of the Worlds”—Orson Welles’ realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth—is broadcast on the radio on October 30, 1938. The post Oct. 30 – Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio play is broadcast appeared first on The Declaration.
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles made a story by conveying the famous radionition of “The World War”. A notable episode of the history of radio, popular culture and sociology, because in all these dimensions it remains as myth and warning.
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