Orson Welles' War of the Worlds - Part 1 of 6

[joejoebud]

yep the whole country went scared for about a year

[cr0c0d1lu]

what the fuck is this...

[obenrob]

@cr0c0d1lu its was a radioman that transmitted his own version of the war of the worlds. People that wasnt on the program from the start thought it was real an people got really scared and armed themself and a lot else

[theawsomeman1234]

guys cant you guys just listin to this you guys couldnt make somthing like this ever

[sorsorsor11]

classic fallout 3 music...than...NUKE

[pikero15]

flawless trolling!!!!

[LurkyMcLurkerton]

Orson Wells has possibly got the most powerful story telling voice of all time. put that with the story telling power of HG Wells and you have a seriously great piace of theatre!!!!

[antares4s]

This is a all time radio drama classic. Orson Wells and his company, the Mercury Theater of the Air based on a book by H. G. Wells, broadcast October 30, 1938. People who didn't hear the opening moments of the program believe it to be a real news broadcast. Remember this is before the age of television when radio was the king of entertainment in the home.

[bouvierluvr]

dude i would freak out if i herd this!!!

[Firepaw389]

can somebody explain the significance of this event to me please. im doing a research project on it, and it would be great to get other peoples feedback on their thoughts of this event

[TheGrasshugger]

@Firepaw389

Look it up on Wikipedia

[PatriotTexas]

@Firepaw389 You might be interested in knowing a man in flagstaff Arizona if I recall right built a observatory around the late 1800's to the early 1900's. The date escapes me for the moment. You can google it and verify for yourself. Here is the kicker, he built it to study mars.

[antares4s]

@PatriotTexas

You are talking about Percival Lowell (1855-1916) whose life's work was the study of the planet Mars.

[antares4s]

@Firepaw389

It was a radio drama broadcast by Orson Well and his production company the Mercury Theater of the Air. It was broadcast October 30, 1938, based on a book by H. G. Wells.

[apcreed]

Orson's voice is well awesome.

[maikedinho]

quality sucks!

[unlaughable]

@maikedinho this was the best quality they had i think

[TheGrasshugger]

@maikedinho

What do you expect, it was made in the 1930s!

[maikedinho]

@TheGrasshugger dude i expect some digital editing 2 make it sounds like 2011 records ,ya know the usual stuff!

[TheGrasshugger]

@maikedinho

Most of the people that listen to this now expect it to sound how it did back then. It's authenticity

[maikedinho]

@TheGrasshugger listen grandapa , "authenticity "dude ,if you got the technology 2 improve something  do it .people in the 30s would do the same shit ,if they had the tech back then.....

[TheGrasshugger]

@maikedinho

Grandpa? Dude, I'm 14. And I don't care about what people would have done tech wise, if I listen to this I want to hear it how it sounded back then.

[goop2526]

pure genius.

[Goddessofwarfair]

Our teacher played this in drama class

[jfsfilms]

And 60+ years later, people fell for the old 'Iraq has weapons of mass destruction' ruse.

[Skeletty1710]

I love this- In school I had to analyze this radio play and I still like it, Thanks to H G Wells for writing and to Orson Welles for reading and acting

[MrJacob827]

People really fell for this? Lol!! -D

[missystar013]

@MrJacob827 Lol yeah, but not everybody listened from the beginning, so they all freaked out. Lulz.

[MrJacob827]

@missystar013 Yea i did a little research and found that....

ORSON WELLS IS EVIL!!! HE"S TRICKING PEOPLE TO THINK EVERYTHING IS GONE, THANK GOD HE"S GONE!!!

[Skeletty1710]

@MrJacob827 consider this was 1938. Everybody feared an attack from the japanese or the germans in the usa

[MrJacob827]

@Skeletty1710 Yea, Im no expert or any thing but wasn't world war 2 starting about then? Maeby they thought it was a gas bomb.-)

[Goddessofwarfair]

@MrJacob827 Not really "Fell for it" More like, they were listening to a more populer radio station than the Mercery Theatre. When it went off, they turned to this. Sadly, the missed the part saying it was fake

[SlapstickCoyote]

is part 1 through 6 the entire broadcast? just making sure

[kize127]

@SlapstickCoyote are you even reading the damn title?

[SlapstickCoyote]

@kize127 i read it just that you can never tell online. I once watched a batman movie that said 1/9, watched all the parts just to get to the final part that had been deleted

[beatlejim64]

Millions of people missed the intro to the program...they heard news reports of a meteor crash in new jersey..and heard (thought)that it was an invasion of martians...it's probably the greatest radio broadcast of all time...

[Lupucillo]

RUN FOR THE HILLS! HIDE THE CHILDREN! THE MARTIANS ARE COMING!! Hahaha, this is immortal.

[sarkaura]

It's not trolling he was just doing a show, not trying to trick people. It just so happens when people tuned in half way through they missed the part saying it's based on the book War of the Worlds and many thought it was a real broadcast. Some people committed suicide thinking they would die anyway. It made radio broadcast history and Orson Welles a legend.

[kylieemode]

love it when my grandpa tells me about this, he was 8 years old. so great! :)

[aslanmemcup]

A 100% great study of the term "theatre of the mind" in action.

A true classic

[poopyfatso]

@imothra its Orson Welles not Orson Welle's

[kiwi940]

@poopyfatso yea imothra wrote Orson Welles' not Orson Welle's get your facts straight before you complain cos imothra had it rite

[ButtcrackBill100]

I always heard my pa talk about this broadcast. When he was three years old his ma listened to it on their radio and screamed thinkin them aliens was invadin our world. She pulled out my grandaddy's rifle and runs out of the house. Some guy on the street saws her runnin and puts his hand on her shoulder, she turn round and shoots him dead! That's the story of why I never knew my grandma.

[ChristopherDone]

Science fiction history right here!

[theatheistpreacher]

better than the shity version from 05

[PMSNyx]

6 people got furious after finding out it was fake.

[DestinyFreedom]

So is this the broadcast that caused the panic

[modrenwarefare]

@DestinyFreedom Yes it was people fleed from their houses to escape the martians

[limeaid23]

Remember, just as we take everything they say on tv as true, when there was only radio, this was the truth then.

[ramakable]

this radio drama is epic... they made the first listeners scared their assess out and thought everything happening here is real. For the places and people mentioned were real and no fiction... This created tension within the community making the government question this radio program. Radio is indeed powerful

[parabolateralis]

at 8:23 it sounds like he says Dr. Dre.

[ck25957]

i which they played this on Halloween today still

[UofLCardFan90]

@ck25957

Halloween 2008, my broadcasting teacher played this for our class.  It's truely fascinating.

[colpetne]

the greatest troll of all time

[zxz1661]

i heard about this from a kids magazine "muse"

[jezmuff]

What sort of a dumbass mistakes this for actual reporting? It's totally speculative and obviously fictitious; not to mention in the past tense.

[SmashAttackOnline]

@jezmuff Probably a dumbass just like you, in 1938 and without the INTERWEBS SUPERPOWERS dumbasses like you now wield.

[snakes3425]

@jezmuff

As for who would be dumb enough to believe this was real there's an urban legend that says some farmers attacked and took down a Tripod that night only to find out the next day they had "killed" the town's water tower

so the final score of the war

Humans: 1

Water towers: 0

[supermissdeedee]

@jezmuff The world was very different then. We didn't know as much about space then. We didn't have our advancing space explorations and studies. We aren't positive that there aren't aliens out there but we do have enough knowledge and help to make sure this panic doesn't happen again.

THe world was different and less knowledge able. It might have been completely beliveable back then. Also Im sure that they weren't noticing the past tense.

[sgteltorcho]

Ahh... The birth of trolling.

[Chainvel]

@sgteltorcho Go to 4chan and enjoy your pedofiles and similar fucktards.

[sgteltorcho]

@Chainvel I find it sad when people reply to comments over 2 months old. You have achieved a level of internet faggotry! +10 virginity!

[Ejay1001]

@sgteltorcho Yet another example of underage kids thinking they are funny by saying "U HAS ACHEEV FAGITRY +10 VIRGINATY LOLLOLOLL". Come back when you grow pubes that are not stapled on and you're old enough to talk about "big-boy" stuff like homosexuality, then come back and we might engage in actual discussion.

[sgteltorcho]

@Ejay1001 If you'e such an adult, then get back to yor job and family instead of spending your time being an asshole to people over te internet. Seriously though. You're a fucking dipshit for calling me an underage kid. I'm 19. You're making a retard of yourself.

[Ejay1001]

@sgteltorcho When the hell did I say I was an adult?

Maybe if you could talk to someone without being so damn rude then you might get a friendly responce. Ever heard the "Do Unto Others" rule?

[MrBrtlskills]

I also have this on vinyl-33LP it is a treasure. I have so many memories!!!

[psidoc]

Never underestimate the power of imagination.

[CoboltCobra]

4 people don't like classic humor

[waddlerobloxxxx]

best troll ever

[avfromc]

SO AWESOME!

[Cam2on]

Sounds like he says "from Dr. Dre" at 8:24 lol

[bloc22]

A troll from 1938 is a troll.

[vasalube]

Atatürk will die. ten days later....

[rhall4th]

My grandma told me about when her family tuned in to this station one evening. Upon hearing that the Martians were invading the earth, her dad said they were gonna pack up the car and go. They didn't know where they were gonna go, but a neighbor stopped them before they left and convinced them it was only a hoax, because none of the other radio stations were talking about the Martians. But, that was quite a dramatic Mischief Night - a lot of people really thought the Martians were landing!

[rhall4th]

I have this entire one-hour broadcast on vinyl - 33 LP! Yeah!!

I really love the end of the show where Orson Welles reveals that the whole thing was just a big Halloween prank, like jumping out and screaming "Boo!"

[fromthesidelines]

Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto #1" was the theme of "THE MERCURY THEATER ON THE AIR"- and its successor series, "THE CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE".

[matt876mma]

4 PEOPLE THOUGHT THIS WAS REAL, AND PACKED UP AND MOVED OUT OF THE COUNTRY

[IletrikBJ131225]

EXAMPLE OF EARLY TROLLING

[xx1994xxversion2]

@IletrikBJ131225 Greatest comment ever!

[IletrikBJ131225]

@xx1994xxversion2

Because he fooled allot of people that Orson Welles

[MrAggtee]

@IletrikBJ131225

This isn't trolling ... THIS IS UBER TROLLING,,, everything else is secondary!

[URConfused967]

Thanks imothra - I have never had the opportunity to listen to the entire show before, but have heard about it all my life.

[MrThejacal]

32 million people...thats a lot back then prolly like the popularity of american idol

[staint678]

its amazing how the power of media can do

[graneadly]

this is amazing

to bad that the movie is so aweful

[cenasgay9111]

Orson Welles is the fucking man!

[LaneTheSlain]

Trolling in its earliest form

[LaneTheSlain]

Trolling in its earliest form

[Burnz2much]

Life used to be so cliche. lol

[cmonutube]

@Burnz2much life was normal, now that normalcy has become cliche

[Rawrbecca1992]

When I hear of orson welles I think of two things, this of course and how brilliantly people reacted and then... Pinky and the Brain! XDAdmit it you love the voice actor's impersonation!

[alcachino33]

a lot of people didn't think it was aliens but nazis invading

[mred0950]

the most famous radio broadcast in history

[sk8pirate44]

Genius

[yawhatevr]

Hey, here's a random video I can start watching halfway through---OH MY GOD ALIENS ARE INVADING

[kaydlajane]

This is so amazing, thank you sooo much for uploading this!! I'm soo stoked to find it, I can't even explain to you. You are my hero haha

[AmberWaves444]

This was broadcast I believe on Halloween nite, and I'm sure Orson knew folks may miss the very beginning, tune in while in progress and think it's real. He was right and it scared the crap out of a lot of people. What a great prank/stunt for him to pull off.

[KendraandAngie]

It wasn't intended to be a prank. It was supposed to just be a story but Orson Welles didn't think that it would actually frighten people. Back in the 1930's, this was entertainment. Families would gather around their radios and listen to the broadcasts, it was how they bonded. But so many people took it seriously. All the sounds you hear were created by actors in the studio...

[lehighmark]

"prof is there life on Mars"... "I would say chances of that are a thousand to one" rolf I laughed at that

[MrCraig1930]

I remember HG Wells doing this in 1938, with the Depression and WW2 starting. People really did take this serious at the time. It was only a radio show.

I lived thru the Dirty 30s in Kansas, my folks figured the no one would want useless farm ground.

[392redienhcs]

4:45 "Stardust"

I remember this theme on Sleepless in Seattle.

[29superbigred]

i cant believe she fainted though because obviously because go to school within 10 miles of Princeton and we felt nothing.

[29superbigred]

we listen to this in la class and this one girl didn't know it was fake so she fainted half way through and she had a little shock but she is OK now. the other thing is i live in Princeton so she thought it was just as real.

[thebritish25]

This is briliant It sounds very relistic.

[alex6734]

get the shotguns Maurice! it's finally happening.

and you said tin-foil hats were stupid!

[PGTriumph]

@richardcwood1 Wow, that's fascinating Richard. It's one thing to read about this incredible broadcast, but your comment adds so much more substance to it. The broadcast still sounds great now, but I bet it was terrifying at the time.

[TheLivingFreakshow]

October 30th? LOL one day before Halloween

[ASkywalker1]

timeless, and easy to believe that people could have believed this for real back then. Orson Welles genius.

[PaulisWilliam]

When i first watched this, i understood why people killed them selfs that day, they thought it was real, and i KNOW it is not real, but, it seems like it

[jamzbeny65k]

During the broadcast of War of the Worlds, 6 Million people were in panic

[jamzbeny65k]

LOVE IT

[747291j]

holy shit the aliens are invading

[PaulisWilliam]

@747291j LOL

[aqu1r3]

i cant believe how realistic this sounds i dint blame ppl for freaking out if u switched on in the middle ie missing the intro ur screwed! u'll be looking for bunkers under ur house

[MyWilliam1996]

best.radio show.ever.

[DennisPochenk]

If they written it about an Soviet attack some things might have been different now :P

[zvoneACDCrak]

1:38 intro speech of war of the worlds 2005

[doctorpsycho1960]

I like to listen to this every Halloween.

[rainmechanic]

It was the first Psy Ops experimnent carried out against the american people to see how effective the practice was....  at the behest of the Rockefellers....

Dont believe me, look it up..

[chickenhuevos16]

tacos ^____________^

[PaulisWilliam]

@chickenhuevos16 o____________________o

[hildman5]

very good

[grazer7]

The work, in which extraterrestrials, formed unlike humans, and of monstrous and evil-nature, land on the Earth and cause trouble and destruction, was exactly that which had been hoped for by the responsible ones of governments, the military and the secret services.

[Tigerman1138]

I love this broadcast! I was in my Mass Communications class at UB when the teacher played the DVD over the class system. She turned ouf the lights. We started, as a class, with smiles...but got MORE.. and MORE into it. We got scared when a cylinder landed outside Buffalo. It was, and is, an amazing piece of broadcast history.

[hmorganman]

I bet this broadcast served as a template for every subsequest horror movie and modern music video. What made people believe that this was real? The announcer stated in the beginning that this was theatre. People should study this for the techniques. One major one was keeping the listenners attention constantly diverted with official sounding break-ins. Orson Welles himself played multiple roles. You would think people would have recognized his unique sounding voice.

[coldpawofthefurs]

This was aired in 1938 but he says "the 39th year of the 20th century" i find that interesting.

[SoggyBone1]

1900 would have been the first year of the 20th century. 1901 the second, so it stands to reason that 1938 would be the 39th year of the 20th century.

[coldpawofthefurs]

good point.

[MrRedFredSaid]

@soggy,

1900 would be the last year of the 19th century, well so some say.

[TheMrfrawg]

@coldpawofthefurs IF you count the years starting at 1900, being the first year of the 20th century, then 1938 is the 39th year. 1900=1;1901=2, etc. 1938=39.  peace

[melloman64]

does anyone know how the song in the beginning is called?

[imothra]

Tchaikovskys piano concerto number one.

[thebritish25]

@imothra Do you know if this was intended to be a prank ??

[xgmb45]

@thebritish25 no, but you could tell that someone who tuned in late might get the wrong impressions of this

[NSHization]

@imothra Damn I hear you! Way to be on it!! ;D

[NSHization]

@imothra somebody knows their music!

[aledelbianco]

@melloman64

the nutcracker, tchaichowski

[1Elkthorn]

Not only did people think it was real, some acted on it. When they started the broadcast there was no disclaimer aired before the performance, so the trusting public believed what they were hearing to be real.

People acted nuts. Some committed suicide, some went on crime sprees. Others huddled with their loved ones, looking to the skies. Eventually the performance was stopped and a disclaimer spoken afterwards when they realized their folly. Laws were made to make sure it couldn't happen again.

[dithbmine1]

There were NO suicides ,  I was there.

[stinkriverstudios]

There WERE suicides. I am a teacher of film and media studies. I have re-done this play myself at the university level. You are right.

[amauruss]

I think i may have read something before that like when the broadcasted this that some people thought it was real lol.

[MoGleek]

i love that they mention nova scotia thats where i'm from

[CheezeFox]

It's a good thing they recorded this stuff back then, otherwise we would never have known how it sounded.

[GodsGayLover]

@CheezeFox Its a good thing they didn't do what the BBC did and wipe all their tapes.

[Bente684]

@CheezeFox Hahahahaa. But it was MEANT to be on the radio, so ofcourse they recorded it.. ;)

[FetaCheese222]

@CheezeFox It'd be foolish of a radio station not to keep copies of it's recordings, even back then.

[MerleOberon]

I was in the Meridian Room at the Park Plaza Hotel when this happened, it was awful.....

[AgentsTVSeries]

You'd be dead by now dumb fuck

[gemcutter187]

oh NOO THEY"RE TAKING OVER ITS ALL COMINGTRUE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!

[cobboGHS91]

believe what you want this was an exercise in social behaviour, that initial intro takes 11 seconds.the cross over is bad to the weather channel, if you missed that first 11 seconds, which was crap sound, you would have had no idea what was going on,which i believe was intentional, this was staged for public response no doubt.

hell it was a once in history shot people wouldnt fall for it again who wouldnt scare the shit out of a city given a chance, lol genious

[MyName42]

it's really the first 2 minutes which are all set-up and obviously not a news show, but the point remains.

[verily59]

Too many people believe what they hear on the media outlets. Radio was the largest form of communicaton in those days and the connect to the world for many. Why would so many believe in the reality of this program. " It was a great show", Now, imagine nowadays with all the forms of media with high speed information capabilities. Many believe in what they see and hear because they do not question it.

[twizywoo]

you hav put me off! cobboGHWATEVERRRR!!!!

[cobboGHS91]

sorry twizywoo lol i forgot all about this,

[73tigerrrs]

nice how did you find this?

[alienshinobi84]

Nice touch with the Radio Dial.

[fromthesidelines]

In October 1938, the "MERCURY THEATER" was on Sundays at 8pm(et), opposite NBC's "CHASE & SANBORN HOUR" [THE #1 show on Sunday night] featuring Edgar Bergen & his ventriloquist dummy, "Charlie McCarthy". When there was a "break" in their program for either a commercial or a musical number around 8:12pm(et), millions of radio dials began tuning to something else...and inevitably landed on the local CBS station that was carrying the "remote" from Grovers Mill...

[daawesomedude360]

yeah this i cool. i wish i was alive then to see how i would react.

[kevmobile]

Orson Welles gives full credit to HG Wells during the show.

[tappinthatass]

I thought the original airing of war of the worlds was unannounced and cut in during the regular radio programming which scared a lot of people into thinking it was real.

[CountingDimes]

no your wrong the problem was not many heard the begining. b/c they were listing to another more popular station but then when it ended they tuned to CBS and missed the beginging

[tappinthatass]

Ahhh, that makes sense. Thanks! So when they all came over to CBS, they thought it was real since they missed the beginning.

[2oletimers]

I heard that too.

[zwayd]

wow this is great

thanks .