By Chris Larrew Fri, October 30, 2009, 12:01 am PDT

Martian tripod in Woking, England, site of the initial invasion in H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" (Photo by Nick Richards) In today's hyperkinetic speed of the internet and the 24-hour news cycle, the life of a hoax lasts only as long as the next news feed. But in 1938, with radio in its relative youth, Orson Welles broadcast a version of the H.G. Wells novel "War of the Worlds," that convinced some people that little green Martians were invading the Earth. Welles, enfant terrible and auteur of such films as "Citizen Kane," was never one to shrink from controversy. On the night of October 30, 1938, he used the power of a new medium to blur the boundaries between art and life. With Bernard Herrmann and CBS studio musicians playing the part of the "real" act of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra, Welles interrupted the broadcast with a report of a strange metallic craft landing in a field in the sleepy hamlet of Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Phony reporters, played by Mercury Theatre actors Frank Readick, Kenny Delmar and Ray Collins, then went on to describe to horrified listeners the appearance and advance of sinister aliens who vaporized weak earthlings with death rays. Although the extent of the hysteria has been exaggerated, a number of people did frantically call their neighbors or flee with their belongings. The panic, as it was, lasted until listeners turned to other channels and heard announcers debunking the hoax. The aftermath of the broadcast brought a fierce public debate about the role and responsibility of the media -- one that continues to this day. Welles, ever the enigma, never could be pinned down on whether the broadcast was designed to elicit the reaction that it provoked. Suggested Sites... War of the Worlds - official site of the Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise interpretation of the classic novel. The Complete War of the Worlds - the story across different media. War of the World: Invasion: The Historical Perspective - how the sci-fi tale has impacted society.

Directory categories: War of the Worlds Broadcast, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Orson Welles, H.G. Wells

Archived under: Aliens, Literature, Orson Welles, Radio, Science Fiction, Technology, War of the Worlds

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