On this day in 1938, a seemingly innocuous radio drama transformed into one of the most infamous media events in history. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) aired an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ science fiction classic The War of the Worlds, directed and narrated by the 23-year-old prodigy Orson Welles. What was intended as Halloween-eve entertainment allegedly triggered widespread hysteria, with listeners believing Martian invaders were actually landing in New Jersey and unleashing destruction on Earth.
You can watch a documentary bout the 1938 War of the Worlds from PBS HERE.
The broadcast, part of the Mercury Theatre on the Air series, began at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on October 30, 1938 (falling on October 29 in some time zones due to daylight saving adjustments). Welles framed the story as a series of realistic news bulletins interrupting a live orchestra performance. Announcers reported “cylinders” crashing near Grovers Mill, New Jersey, followed by grotesque Martians emerging with heat rays, poisoning gas, and towering tripods that decimated military forces and cities. Lines like “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed” heightened the urgency.
Reports from the era claimed chaos ensued. Newspapers the next day, led by the New York Times, headlined “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact.” Thousands allegedly fled homes, clogged highways, and overwhelmed police switchboards. In Newark, New Jersey, residents reportedly wrapped wet towels around their faces to fend off “gas attacks.” One woman in Pittsburgh purportedly attempted suicide, while churches filled with prayer vigils. The Associated Press wired: “The nation was gripped by terror.”
Modern historians, however, paint a more nuanced picture. While some panic did occur—estimated at a few hundred to a couple thousand genuine cases out of 6 million listeners—the event was exaggerated by print media resentful of radio’s rising dominance. A study by the Princeton Radio Project found most listeners tuned in late, missing disclaimers, but the majority recognized it as fiction. Welles himself, in a press conference the next day, feigned surprise: “We are deeply shocked… It was our thought to create an entertainment.” The broadcast catapulted his career, leading to his Hollywood debut with Citizen Kane in 1941.
H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds was first serialized in Pearson’s Magazine in the United Kingdom and Cosmopolitan in the United States from April to December 1897, before its full publication as a book in 1898 by William Heinemann in London. Herbert George Wells, a pioneering English author born in 1866, drew from his scientific background and social commentary to craft a tale of imperial hubris. Influenced by the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin and the colonial anxieties of Victorian Britain, Wells imagined Martians—advanced, octopus-like beings from a dying planet—invading Earth to exploit its resources, much as Europeans colonized weaker nations.
The story unfolds in suburban London (Surrey and surrounding areas), where an unnamed narrator witnesses the invasion. Cylinders from Mars crash, unleashing tripods that vaporize humans with heat rays and black smoke (a poisonous gas). Humanity’s artillery proves futile; London falls into anarchy. The invaders ultimately succumb not to military might but to Earth’s bacteria, to which they have no immunity—a twist emphasizing nature’s indifference.
Wells wrote it amid rapid industrialization and fears of foreign powers. It critiqued British imperialism, with Martians symbolizing colonizers turned against the empire. The novel’s vivid prose and scientific plausibility made it a cornerstone of science fiction, inspiring genres from alien invasions to disaster narratives.
The War of the Worlds has endured through adaptations: a 1953 film by Paramount Pictures relocating the action to California; Steven Spielberg’s 2005 version starring Tom Cruise; numerous radio retellings worldwide (including a 1944 Chilean broadcast causing similar panic); and even a 2019 BBC miniseries set in Edwardian England. Its themes of vulnerability, technology, and existential threat remain relevant in an era of climate crises and space exploration.
The 1938 broadcast’s legacy endures as a cautionary tale about media literacy. In 1940, Ecuador’s Radio Quito aired a similar version, leading to riots and deaths when the hoax was revealed. Today, with social media amplifying misinformation, Welles’ prank reminds us: fiction can feel fatally real when delivered convincingly.
As we mark 87 years, the broadcast—available in archives—still chills. Welles closed that night: “If your doorbell rings and nobody’s there, that was no Martian… it’s Halloween.” Yet for a fleeting moment in 1938, the stars aligned for terror.
You can watch a documentary bout the 1938 War of the Worlds from PBS HERE.
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