How ‘War of the Worlds’ Broadcast Sparked Nationwide Panic in 1938
On October 30, 1938, radio listeners across the United States experienced a moment of mass hysteria due to a broadcast by Orson Welles. This famous adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds aired as part of a Halloween special on the CBS radio network. Presented in a realistic news format, it depicted a Martian invasion in a style that sounded strikingly like a real-time report. Many listeners, unfamiliar with the story’s fictional nature, believed a true alien invasion was unfolding right before their ears.