The 1938 Panic Over ‘War of the Worlds’: All About the Radio Broadcast That Sent Listeners Into A Spiral
It’s been 87 years since the ‘War of the Worlds’ radio broadcast by Orson Welles—learn about the event and the alleged panic it caused.
The night before Halloween 1938, 87 years ago, a radio broadcast by filmmaker and actor Orson Welles sent shockwaves through the world. The hauntingly fictional tale detailed an alien invasion on Earth but the compelling way Welles told it made the story seem very real. The event became known as the panic over War of the Worlds and became a major pop culture and historic event. Learn about the broadcast and the mass panic that ensued.
About the Panic Over ‘War of the Worlds’
The panic over War of the Worlds quickly became a national sensation, as newspapers and other media outlets dramatized the situation, reporting that frightened listeners were fleeing their homes to escape what they thought was an actual invasion. Although the broadcast opened with a disclaimer stating that Orson Welles’ dramatization was a work of fiction, many people who tuned in late missed the warning entirely.
The program itself was a scripted radio drama, but its realistic format convinced some listeners that they were hearing live news reports of an unfolding alien attack. Welles adapted H.G. Wells’ original story to fit contemporary America, moving the setting from 19th-century England to 20th-century New Jersey. His claim that the Martians had landed in the small town of Grovers Mill made the production feel even more authentic—and for some, terrifyingly real.
He later commented on what went on during the broadcast and how he didn’t know people were panicking.
“About halfway through the show, as we were continuing with the script in front of us, we saw that in the control room there were a great many policemen, and every moment more,” Welles recalled. “I had no idea that I had suddenly become some sort of national event.”
The panic wasn’t as big as everyone thought
Despite reports claiming the panic was massive, it wasn’t quite as widespread as everyone thought. Years after the event, it was discovered the alarm was heavily exaggerated by newspapers in order to discredit radio and protect printed news, as radio was viewed as their direct competitor. But despite this revelation, the event nonetheless went down in history as a massive panic.
What was ‘War of the Worlds’?
It all began with the novel written by H.G. Wells in 1898, a work of science fiction about an attempted alien invasion of Earth. These Martians, armed with superior weapons compared to humans, were able to outsmart them.
The novel was an immediate success upon publication, and its popularity only grew over the decades, inspiring countless adaptations across film, television and even video games. The first major adaptation was the 1938 radio broadcast. Fifteen years later, the story reached the big screen with the 1953 film The War of the Worlds, which went on to win an Academy Award for its groundbreaking special effects. Since then, the tale has been reimagined many times—most notably in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 version starring Tom Cruise, a 2005 direct-to-video take with C. Thomas Howell and the most recent update, which released earlier this year, with Ice Cube in the lead.
Although it has been 87 years since the original broadcast and 127 years since the book was first published, the story of The War of the Worlds continues to be well-remembered.
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