Welles's Wonderful War of the Worlds

Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of easy listening music to bring you a fast breaking news bulletin from the International Radio News Network. Twenty minutes before nine, eastern time, a professor at an observatory in Chicago, Illinois, reported spotting explosions of incandescent gas occurring at regular intervals on Mars. It has been indicated that the gas is hydrogen and is moving toward the Earth at enormous velocities. A professor at Princeton confirmed the observations in Chicago and described the phenomenon as something like a jet of a flame shooting out of a gun. We now return you to your locally broadcast program.

What has kept this love affair with Mars and Martians going on for so many years? In the 1930s there was no space program yet, no fly-by planetary encounters, no orbiting observers, no surface landers. One thing that kept interest so high was works of science fiction that captured our imaginations. Writers brought us fascinating tales of Martian kingdoms. Movies, television programs, and radio broadcasts put vivid images of Martians and life on Mars in our minds.

Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your broadcast again. Just following the news given in our special report a few moments ago, the government meteorological bureau has requested that all the large observatories in the world keep watch for any further disturbances occurring on Mars. We now return you to your program.

This was probably one of the best known works of science fiction about Martians. Orson Welles adapted H.G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds for a radio broadcast. It was aired on Halloween night in 1938. The broadcast sent many people all over the country fleeing from Martian invaders and their deadly heat rays. Many people believed the story, since the War of the Worlds broadcast was aired like a special news report. The story appeared to break in through live music to inform listeners of the invasion. Many people did not hear the disclaimer that stated the story was only fiction. When people heard that aliens were invading they panicked.

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