WTF is Up with the War of the Worlds Panic?

On October 30, 1938, from the Mercury Theater in New York City, Orson Welles broadcasted a “modernized” radio play of H.G. Wells’ (no relation) 1898 novel “War of the Worlds.” For the last three quarters of the century, we’ve been told that this fictionalized CBS broadcast sent Americans into a panic; that citizens across the country did not realize that this was  science-fiction (despite the fact that it was explicitly stated at the beginning and twice during the broadcast) and thought the USA was under attack from an invading Martian army.  Littered with realistic simulated news reports and “eyewitness accounts,” the hour long broadcast was innovative and an extremely entertaining way to present the story. But the thing is, no such nation-wide panic actually occurred. While there were certainly many exceptions, documented evidence indicates most who listened did know it was a dramatization and were completely aware that New Jersey was not being destroyed by visitors from space. Further, as you'll soon see, the broadcast didn't have very good ratings when it first aired; so even if everyone who listened had thought it was real, it wouldn't have resulted in the level of mass hysteria commonly spoken of since. War of the Worlds first appeared in magazines, simultaneously, in the UK and US in 1897. It was published as a book in 1898 and is considered one of the most influential pieces of science-fiction ever written. The Englishmen H.G. (Herbert George) Wells was already quite a famous author by the time he got to Martians attacking Earth. In 1895, he published The Time Machine (as well as popularizing the term), The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1896, and The Invisible Man in 1897 (directly before War of Worlds), securing his position at the time as the world’s best, if not truly the first, science-fiction writer. After War of the Worlds, he went on to write several more books, including the non-fiction best-selling three-volume Outline of History. As you might have guessed from all this, H.G. Wells was quite a well-known writer in 1938 and his novels, including War of the Worlds, were widely read on both continents. So, when Orson adapted the novel in 1938, there was nothing particularly new about the story itself. The differences came from the medium and structure of the story-telling. While the 1938 version told the story of the destruction of New Jersey, the 1898 original takes place in England, or more specifically, in Surrey and London. Another significant difference between the two works is that H.G.'s version is told through the eyes of an unnamed protagonist and his brother. Orson’s is told through staged news broadcasts and reports.  For instance, Ladies and gentlemen, I have a grave announcement to make. Incredible as it may seem, both the observations of science and the evidence of our eyes lead to the inescapable assumption that those strange beings who landed in the Jersey farmlands tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from the planet Mars. As for the number of listeners, as Orson stepped to the microphone in the evening of the day before Halloween in 1938, there were already several well-known factors that potentially were going to affect the number of people who were actually going to tune in to the broadcast that evening. For one, the very popular Chase and Sanborn Hour, a comedy variety show hosted by the ventriloquist Edgar Bergin, was airing at the exact same time on a competing radio station, NBC. Additionally, several major CBS affiliates (including in Boston) preempted the broadcast for local commercial programing.... Author: Matt Blitz Editor: Daven Hiskey Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila