I cannot believe you think this is some kind of government conspiracy. It was only a radio drama reproduction of h.g wells war of the worlds. Orson did many other such dramas like poe's the tell tale heart and treasure island. Seriously....
Radio program are indeed very powerful. If you would listen to his radio program,. they used real names of people with their real status in society, they also did not use sound effects as it was not much of a big deal during the era of the first radio dramas. It sounded pretty much like a news report if you would hear it. I can't blame those Americans that went hysterical with his radio program.
The opening statement that it was a radio broadcast was followed by several minutes of music. Then a special news report break-in was staged announcing a news report that a meteorite had fallen in New Jersey. Thus began the unfolding of the invasion story, presented as a series of news broadcasts. This action caused the laws to be changed that such a break-in to a show could only be done for a real news item of pending interest.
Imagine if the government paid wells to do it just to see how the people would react just in case such events did occur. Obviously the government chose secrecy if such thing did happen.
@richardcwood1 The real Martians are coming to take over all the McDonalds of the Earth and poison the foods so earthlings dumb as they are, will be dead....lol They will O.D. on hamburgers and fish sandwiches. Don't eat at McDonalds after this month....lol I have warned you.
@Totaly14 The real Martians are coming to take over all the McDonalds of the Earth and poison the foods so earthlings dumb as they will be dead....lol They will OD on hamburgers and fish sandwhiches. Don't eat at McDonalds after this month....lol
For the NWO freaks, it is ideal to destroy their enemy i.e. the majority of mankind under the pretext that it was due to alien invasion. Hence, their sophisticatedly shrewd creation of UFO together with all those stories around it. Never be deceived!
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.
Reaserch "the radio project" which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation for more information on this. The people were not panicing because they thought there was an Alien invasion but a German one, not helpped by the near previous Munich crisis.
One thing to note is that part of the reason people panicked was that they missed the beginning part while listening to another program on a different station and then changed over to listen to Orson Wells. Since the intermission, which was the second time they announced that it was a show, wasn't until the middle, they didn't know it was only a show until then and the damage had already been done.
Just look at him work the media with that puppy dog face and velvet voice. Orson knew what he was doing! He Punk'd America with the biggest Punk'd only comparable to 'The War on Terror'!
I don't think you can take this incident and say "Americans are stupid". Similar things have happened all over the world, this is just one of the best known. For instance 11 years later a radio station in Ecuador did the same thing with War Of The Worlds, with the exact same results. Except that after the people found out it was just a hoax the people rioted and burned down the radio station killing 15 employees inside.
It was very common to have radio shows broadcasted throught the day and night such as War ot the worlds as well as comedy skits and many soaps; they had no TV yet and radio was their man entertainment at home. I'm surprised people didn't figure out that it was just a show.
@warchild1976 shut up with that bullshit, im sick of dumb shits like you saying ignorant shit like that. you can look around the world and find dipshits, include yourself in that brigade. no, we aren't friends, no i will not respond to anything you say, no you shouldn't reply to this because i've called you out for what you are and that's all. that is all, thank you!
lol people did believe anything they heard on the radio back then..but wth didn't they tell people while they were listening to this that it was just a book??? you knew people were paniced so why not tell them it was fake through out the broadcast??? lmao glad it's in movies now
@anonymous5536 Have you lived in America long much? People still believe anything they read in the paper or see on TV. People think global warming is man-made. Now thats been proven to have been false information from scientist working for people who would benefit from such claims. Nothing changes.
@jbraly i've lived here my whole life. you forget that no one is the same. yes the majority of the population believes everything but can you blame them? the tv and newspaper(hense NEWSpaper) are suppose to broadcast the truth. it is in the constitution. the broadcasters can broadcast anything untrue because it is illegal to do so. but the thing people don't get is that the media stretches the truth too far. but there is no law against that. there isn't any proof to hold against them anyways.
and as for the global warming, yes the earth is warming by means we don't fully understand yet. but mankind is contributing to the rise in temperatures. not by much, but we are contributing to it.
Eh, maybe, but I highly doubt enough to merit us being taxed to hell and back and forcing us to switch to more expensive alternative energies. I can only keep thinking about the ice age... that went away due to global warming and not a single SUV existed back then.
The listeners were told that it was just a radio play four times during the broadcast. Once at the start, twice at the break, and once at the end of the show.
Yet people still panicked. Incredible what the human mind can do to exploit fears.
Most of the people that went nuts about it didn't even realize that it was a radio broadcast they came in too late. So "they weren't told it was just a show". As it were.
"This mass-hysteria was not my intention at all. I can't believe how many idiots there are in America. I was shocked by the sheer number of people who actually believed it. I mean, I said that it was only a book, not only right before I started reading it, but also half-way through, and then again at end of it.
@SinnFein4ever You're right. It was the outcome of an ignorant public. Easy to look back on and say, "boy, they were so stupid" but American wasn't literate. He was a 23 year old man whose voice and acting abilities were brilliant. I can't imagine being in the public's eye like that. To realize his reading of this piece freaked out people like it did. And to have the government on your back for some reason. It was a story. Americans thought they'd been diliberately fooled, reacted badly.
@SinnFein4ever This was the Biggest prank in history. I Chalenge anyone to top it in any way. I would gladly kiss the feet of any living person who did it.
Zubov, television was only experimental in the 1930s...sets were not sold to the general public until the 1940s...'The Wizard of Oz" was a MOVIE and released in theatres...the reason WoW was so effective at scaring people is because there was NO TV available...people took anything coming out of the radio as truth, like it was the word of God. That was one of Wells' stated reasons for the hoax...he wanted to shatter that illusion, remind people to THINK, not just listen. It worked.
@googlexxxxxxx I had to replay this four times to make sure I heard what he said. I heard him say he was "quite" surprised" also "surprised." So, I don't think he was laughing, I think he was shaking his head in disbelief at how gullible people can be, not are but how easily fooled they can be.
Yes, you are correct. My apologies. The copy i have just has so many things about H.G. Wells within it as well as a list of all of his books. That comment about The Invisible Man sounded very idiotic. Well, it's the internet.
Wells later said that he looked like a martyed saint here but they were laughing and celebrating the fact that they made world news and Wells made a huge name for himself. Even Hitler mocked America for the reaction to the broadcast.
a school mate of my dads father was listing to this broadcast , he was so upset when he found out that it was just a radio play he picked up the floor model radio and threw it out the the window of their third floor tenement in east providence rhode island in 1938 , this is a true story
Ok, I will explain this one more time. The radio guy was called Orson Welles. The author of the books was called H. G. Wells. These are not the same people........
Definitely. However, on a note on the hysteria of the public, even though it was not as bad as thought.... You ever see the X-Files episode, Season 3, when the town believes they are under attack by killer cockroaches? The mob mentality caused more damage than the roaches. (Although, I would have agreed with the townspeople in my case)
Yes, but he was a long time threat to the USA and its interest and Roosevelt knew this all to well. Fact is the second part of Mein Kampf deals with how a future Third Reich, which would be around the 1970's according to Hitler, would dispose of the USA as the world's leading industrial nation.
Hitler envisioned a Germany bigger and more populated than the USA. This germany would have the eyes of the world on them as the foremost nation of science,wealth,culture and health.A nazi world too..
hmmmm this is very strange this happend in a time where no one belived in ufo's at all and now fast forward to the future a lot of people have been recording them and see them alot as a matter of fact even people within the gov have seen them so u have to ask ur self did that really happen and why was those dudes standing behind Orson Welles all up on him there on him like white on rice it appears to me they have a gun to his back forceing him to say what he said he looks really worryied
Orson Welles warns everyone about some 'evil invasion' and frightens the world as a joke. A year later, the nazi's invade Poland and unleash hell on Europe. Weird stuff.
But Orson Welles was one of the greatest entertainers in modern history.
Orson Welles warns everyone about some 'evil invasion' and frightens the world as a joke...a year later the nazi's invade poland and unleash hell on europe.
Weird stuff. But Orson was one of the greatest entertainers in modern history.
A little practice for project bluebeam, nicley palyed out by the grandson of HG WELLS causing mass panic in New Jersey. One man committed suicide thinking the aliens had landed ( ETs)
There seems to be another scare in America right now. It seems someone running for president is a terrorist, not of the correct religion and also not even the proper race. At least this is what lots of people who support McCain/Palin are saying. Oh - even Palin is saying that! Well! She sounds like top notch Presidential Material - warning the citizens of America about the clear-and-present Evil.
Thank you for posting this. The Documentary "The Battle for Citizen Kane" has a nice clip of his "apology" but they talk over it. I wish it was more readily available. He was just so young.
Fantastic footage! Thanks for posting this. It's not often we get to see a very young (and still handsome) Orson Welles outside of his movies. I love how he never actually apologized for freaking those idiots out.
First I don't think that US citicens are that dump as you describe them, Mjoelnir12. Second you have to realize in which time that radio play was broadcasted. I happens in the time of the "Cold War" and a time where a lot of people belived in UFO's, as well. Therefore I'm sure that the germans (by the way: I'm also german) would have reacted exactly on the same way. And third: To say that a complete country is dumb, that's really dumb, in my opinion .... ^_^
Ok ich antworte jez ma auf deutsch. Ich bin auch deutsch, und ich find du kanns nich sagenalle amis sind dumm. Das is doch genauso, wie wenn man sagt, alle deutschen tragen immer dirndl, sind dick und essen sauerkraut. Ich stimm noetiker zu, ich denk mal, die deutschen hätten genauso reagiert.
If a man can simply air a show that was for entertainment and can get ordinary people to take their own life, just imagine the power the media has to distort facts or act bias in such a way to convince you that your life is is immenent danger or certians civil liberties are no longer useful and need to relinquish some for the betterment of the whole. You can even hear a story about Red Riding Hood and witness different narratives form different media outlets. Which to believe or not is true?
Oh, Orson Welles. He knew exactly what he was doing when he made that broadcast. Apparently people kept telling him to stop but he would just shake his head. Then he went and feigned innocence! Gotta love it.
You have to remember that the first half of "The War Of the Worlds" was presented as a series of news bulletins and "actualties". At the time [October 1938], many radio programs were occasionally interrupted by bulletins about unrest and "war scares" in Europe, and people that tuned in to Orson's broadcast {mostly from "THE CHASE & SANBORN HOUR" featuring Bergen & McCarthy} heard the simulated "news coverage", and believed it WAS happening.
The activities in Europe such as the 3rd Reich , Where of concern to people.
But Welles and his crew pretty much demonstrate the dangers of mass media, Like or not we are over trusting gullible sheep when it comes to so called news.
Uncle Walt didn't like jews very much. When a leader appeared in Germany that took a very firm stance towards those greedy jews he was glad. Fact is everybody that didn't like the jews felt Hitler was a gift from above. Many of them of course didn't know what Hitler had in mind ultimately. Extermination.
Only LATER did Disney make cartoons in which Hitler and the nazis were made fun of. Probably on the orders of the congress or whoever was in charge during WW2 in the USA.
Walt fought against the germans during the Great War (WWI), and in october 1938 when asked by a reporter from Variety magazine; what he thought about the situation in Europe he said, I quote "I'm very worried about what's going on over there(Europe).... I don't know whether or not the United States should get involved, but just looking the other direction isn't going to make President Hitler go away."
You are wrong on both accounts almanacofsleep. Mr. Disney was neither a racist, nor an anti-semite. You have no evidence to put forward to prove that he was, I on the other hand have proof that he wasn't.
It takes a very closed mind, like yours, to blindly hate people that you do not know.
Walt was part of The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which was an anti-Communist and anti-Semitic organization.He also suported the Nazi's (and Mussolini) before the war. Also if you search for racist diseney cartoons here on youtube you may be suprised.
Walt was forced to either join the MPA or stop making movies. That was the way politics were being played in 1947, the iron fisted way H.S. Truman made business men play ball.
I challenge you to offer one piece of valid evidence to prove that Disney was a Nazi sympathizer.
And I have seen the so called "racist" Disney cartoons here on Youtube, and the only thing that surprised me was how people construed these cartoons as being racist in the first place.
I think saying that these cartoons Walt did are inherently racist is stretching it pretty thin. Were they ignorant of the offensiveness of these cultural stereotypes? Yes, but stereotyping is a far cry from racism. People would be wise, and indeed tolerant themselves if they were not confusing humor that could be considered insensitive with outright racial hatred.
"Were they ignorant of the offensiveness of these cultural stereotypes? Yes, but stereotyping is a far cry from racism." actually sterotyping is part of the defernition of racism.
The full definition of racism is: Discrimination and/or prejudice based on race.
Stereotyping is defined as: The ascribing of a formulated character trait to an individual.
By trying to correct me you've made yourself look like an idiot. Stereotyping IS a far cry from racism, and if you disagree then you have a different definition of the word than the one that is academically accepted.
Stereotyping is not necessarily racist but negative sterotyping based on race (witch is what those cartoons depict) is racist. Ergo they are racist cartoons.
Yosimite Sam is a beloved character known around the world and accepted for being what he is: a negative stereotype of a south-westerner. The character is portrayed the way he is because it's funny. It is not a humorists fault if an audience member such as yourself take's offense when something he is doing in the way of a parody- you take as an insult.
Your laziness to understand simple concepts like this, and your utter lack of a normal sense of humor is frusterating.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
I detect no irony in those movies, they are racist, just because they are old or from another time is no excuse, your agruement is pretty flimsy, by that logic you can excuse the black and White Misterals or Jim Davison.
"normal sense of humor "? are you jokeing? You find racism funny?!
When did I say racism was funny? You are the one calling comedic stereotypes racist not me. If you cannot tell the difference between the two; then you are overly sensitive.
I did not say irony was involved, irony has got nothing to do with it. All comedy is based on some sort of misunderstanding. Either it is someone getting you to misunderstand them, or it is individuals misunderstanding each other. Stereotyping is simply a form of misunderstanding used often in comedy.
Comedic sterotypes based on lazy and negative asumptions of race is racist, your defense is getting so weak. It feeds into the whole attitude that black people should know their place and are second class citizens, that attitude has been around since slavery. Yosimite Sam is aceptable because he doesn't represent a minority who had been violently disciminated against. The black crows in Dumbo arn't funny for that reson, the lead character is called Jim Crow for crying out loud!
Right, right because we all know the minority can't be racist and are justified in bigotry because they are oppressed. Go back to 1968.
You know there was a time when we were all allowed to make fun of each other like in Grand Turino. The day we move past racism is the day when "black jokes" are viewed like "blond jokes".
well, maybe not so trusting after this stunt. i often wonder if we're at the other end of the spectrum now, and if martians did invade on live tv we'd sit and point out the edges of the blue screen and applaude at the end of a great show?
I've heard recently that the "panic" is an urban legend, it never really happened, the media at the time made it look like it did so as to sell more, but actually there may have been a panic in some retarded small town somewhere with a few people, and that's it, and it was reported by one newspaper, then another one, then it was all over the country and in the end it was the "millions of people" panic. But it never really happened.
KSC: it's irrelevant. Just because some idiots say concentration camps weren't real doesn't mean that those who say something else wasn't real are wrong! I am now convinced the panic was an urban legend, it mainly happened in the reports the papers wrote at the time. Too many ppl based their "research" on those papers, but when you investigate the "real" incidents at the source, you find it never happened. It's like the Bermuda triangle thing. All distorsions, exaggeration or plain lies.
I believe the reports say, "thousands" which is most certainly in the realm of believability. I've never seen or heard of a report that exaggerated what happened or smacked of sensationalist distortion.
P'f'trey: Wikipedia: "1.2 million were 'genuinely frightened". "Later studies suggested this "panic" was far less widespread than newspaper accounts suggested". "evidence of people taking action based on this fear is "scant" and "anecdotal"." "stories of people doing anything more than calling up the authorities typically (...) were often reported by people who were panicking themselves." "Contemporary accounts spawned urban legends, many of which persist". See discussion page too.
P'f'trey: I doubt it. The show was about invaders from Mars, not Europe. It was aired in 1938, before WW2 and the Cold War. The few who did panick were thinking martians as in the show they'd heard. Some panic also fed on itself as some ppl went to the places of the "events" and saw other ppl panicking, and thought the whole thing was real! But that's no more than a few hundreds, not 1.2 million...
We know folks were nervous about war at that time? And that wiki article recounts how ppl. missed the first part of the program... What seems to have happened is that people called in to find out what was happening (I don't know how many), from their people told their neighbors, who told their friends, and that's how the rumours got started.
And Orson's point was that ppl. were believing whatever came out of their radios, and this was an object lesson not to.
P'f'ftrey: That sounds possible, even probable. The other radio channel had a more popular show, and when the commercial break came on, they tuned over to Welles's show, and got confused about what was going on. My initial remark was about 1) how many ppl were involved 2) the real nature of the "panic".
Keep in mind, folks, that Hollywood has always reproduced, recycled and rebroadcast ANY SUCCESSFUL FILM they've ever had...
abbyovitsky 3 weeks ago
AHH HE TOO SMART! BRAIN HURT!!!
simplyblink182 1 month ago
People died because they believed this. They thought Martians would get them, so they killed themselves
cellardoor199991 2 months ago
Rosebud.
Mad Hatters & Tea Parties, great fictions and naiveté throughout time....
Plus we love to be scared (though knowing in advance we'll be ok, as with film).
drmikenyc 3 months ago
Comment removed
drmikenyc 3 months ago
It wasn't Welles' fault. The Red Lectroids from Planet 10 hypnotized him into claiming it was a hoax and that the invasion never happened...
Sleeper99999 4 months ago
I cannot believe you think this is some kind of government conspiracy. It was only a radio drama reproduction of h.g wells war of the worlds. Orson did many other such dramas like poe's the tell tale heart and treasure island. Seriously....
LostWorldRaptor 4 months ago 2
So monotonous, these peoples.
rachel25lee 4 months ago
Could you believe this book reading cost a mass hysteria in Ecuador and all this people went to to the radio building and burned it .
Also in this building was the daily news El Comercio .
Too sad in that time you could cheat easily someone.
Pantaleon70 7 months ago
I dont blame the people who fell for this, it sounded so real and the effects were amazing for 1938.
PeircedinBlood 7 months ago
Radio program are indeed very powerful. If you would listen to his radio program,. they used real names of people with their real status in society, they also did not use sound effects as it was not much of a big deal during the era of the first radio dramas. It sounded pretty much like a news report if you would hear it. I can't blame those Americans that went hysterical with his radio program.
ramakable 8 months ago
The opening statement that it was a radio broadcast was followed by several minutes of music. Then a special news report break-in was staged announcing a news report that a meteorite had fallen in New Jersey. Thus began the unfolding of the invasion story, presented as a series of news broadcasts. This action caused the laws to be changed that such a break-in to a show could only be done for a real news item of pending interest.
WAROFTHEWORLDSTRUE 8 months ago
And he was only 23...
encinostalgia 8 months ago
why is there a recommended video for the show "childrens hospital" on the right? XD
sonic4ever6 8 months ago
what if there was little tiny cells breeding in the unexpected parts of mars?
Jigsaw643 9 months ago
I can't believe this happened! People almost killed themselves! I this happened now the people who planned this probably go to jail!
Well I can't believe sooooo many people fell for it!
Anyways, Martian aren't real. If i was there I'll think this was a biG FAT Lie.
MrArcainine 11 months ago
saddly some fools killed themselfs thinking it was for real
Tomie694U 11 months ago
Same "effect" took place not so long ago with a picture of a polar bear on drifting ice. And that was just the start of it.....
mustangfgtan15 11 months ago
Imagine if the government paid wells to do it just to see how the people would react just in case such events did occur. Obviously the government chose secrecy if such thing did happen.
hobatan 1 year ago
This shows how the gov't can put illusions over the masses. This was a test from the local broadcasting systems.
titonewsent 1 year ago
@richardcwood1 The real Martians are coming to take over all the McDonalds of the Earth and poison the foods so earthlings dumb as they are, will be dead....lol They will O.D. on hamburgers and fish sandwiches. Don't eat at McDonalds after this month....lol I have warned you.
jpsmart59 1 year ago
this broadcast alone is the sole reason our government has kept us in the dark
bigDrumBeatuh 1 year ago
the broadcast that caused an entire country to go into panic. haha awesome
Totaly14 1 year ago
@Totaly14 The real Martians are coming to take over all the McDonalds of the Earth and poison the foods so earthlings dumb as they will be dead....lol They will OD on hamburgers and fish sandwhiches. Don't eat at McDonalds after this month....lol
I have warned you.
jpsmart59 1 year ago
I feel bad for him that his creation was taken in the worst possible way. But this was still an amazing broadcast.
LadySanzo92 1 year ago
best halloween prank ever
jmm1233 1 year ago
For the NWO freaks, it is ideal to destroy their enemy i.e. the majority of mankind under the pretext that it was due to alien invasion. Hence, their sophisticatedly shrewd creation of UFO together with all those stories around it. Never be deceived!
normalizetheworld 1 year ago
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.
grazer7 1 year ago
Reaserch "the radio project" which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation for more information on this. The people were not panicing because they thought there was an Alien invasion but a German one, not helpped by the near previous Munich crisis.
agentgooner007 1 year ago
One thing to note is that part of the reason people panicked was that they missed the beginning part while listening to another program on a different station and then changed over to listen to Orson Wells. Since the intermission, which was the second time they announced that it was a show, wasn't until the middle, they didn't know it was only a show until then and the damage had already been done.
hlltwin 1 year ago
I'd like to hear the Actual recording, not the aftermatch
DHGameStudios 1 year ago
Just look at him work the media with that puppy dog face and velvet voice. Orson knew what he was doing! He Punk'd America with the biggest Punk'd only comparable to 'The War on Terror'!
Jude107c 1 year ago 6
I don't think you can take this incident and say "Americans are stupid". Similar things have happened all over the world, this is just one of the best known. For instance 11 years later a radio station in Ecuador did the same thing with War Of The Worlds, with the exact same results. Except that after the people found out it was just a hoax the people rioted and burned down the radio station killing 15 employees inside.
jbrown1169 1 year ago 3
It was very common to have radio shows broadcasted throught the day and night such as War ot the worlds as well as comedy skits and many soaps; they had no TV yet and radio was their man entertainment at home. I'm surprised people didn't figure out that it was just a show.
pucksterz12 1 year ago
@warchild1976 Maybe because we aspire to be like you.
wannawatchu66 1 year ago 2
this Welles´ speech is basically telling people how idiotic they were. I love it lol
DarKodama 1 year ago 7
This has been flagged as spam show
What Wells was actually thinking here was:
"you poor, uneducated dumbasses".
Go read a book! Learn something!
djbndb 2 years ago
Comment removed
djbndb 2 years ago
People still buy anything, like the War on Terrorism...
spikevalentine13 2 years ago 5
@warchild1976 shut up with that bullshit, im sick of dumb shits like you saying ignorant shit like that. you can look around the world and find dipshits, include yourself in that brigade. no, we aren't friends, no i will not respond to anything you say, no you shouldn't reply to this because i've called you out for what you are and that's all. that is all, thank you!
Poonard 2 years ago
lol people did believe anything they heard on the radio back then..but wth didn't they tell people while they were listening to this that it was just a book??? you knew people were paniced so why not tell them it was fake through out the broadcast??? lmao glad it's in movies now
anonymous5536 2 years ago
@anonymous5536 Have you lived in America long much? People still believe anything they read in the paper or see on TV. People think global warming is man-made. Now thats been proven to have been false information from scientist working for people who would benefit from such claims. Nothing changes.
jbraly 2 years ago
@jbraly i've lived here my whole life. you forget that no one is the same. yes the majority of the population believes everything but can you blame them? the tv and newspaper(hense NEWSpaper) are suppose to broadcast the truth. it is in the constitution. the broadcasters can broadcast anything untrue because it is illegal to do so. but the thing people don't get is that the media stretches the truth too far. but there is no law against that. there isn't any proof to hold against them anyways.
anonymous5536 2 years ago
Interesting perspective... a sad state of affairs indeed. Good thoughts.
jbraly 2 years ago
can't broadcast i meant. damn typos
anonymous5536 2 years ago
and as for the global warming, yes the earth is warming by means we don't fully understand yet. but mankind is contributing to the rise in temperatures. not by much, but we are contributing to it.
anonymous5536 2 years ago
Eh, maybe, but I highly doubt enough to merit us being taxed to hell and back and forcing us to switch to more expensive alternative energies. I can only keep thinking about the ice age... that went away due to global warming and not a single SUV existed back then.
jbraly 2 years ago 2
The listeners were told that it was just a radio play four times during the broadcast. Once at the start, twice at the break, and once at the end of the show.
Yet people still panicked. Incredible what the human mind can do to exploit fears.
BootPatrol 2 years ago 4
Most of the people that went nuts about it didn't even realize that it was a radio broadcast they came in too late. So "they weren't told it was just a show". As it were.
ahzria 2 years ago
immediate and profound effect upon radio listeners ... lol, thats what the radio was for, the NEWS !
this guy is crazyyyyyyy
EliorFein 2 years ago
He was really good looking here.
amxrtdket 2 years ago
the paper said people barricaded them selfs in they homes
jazzyfayy1983 2 years ago
Translation:
"This mass-hysteria was not my intention at all. I can't believe how many idiots there are in America. I was shocked by the sheer number of people who actually believed it. I mean, I said that it was only a book, not only right before I started reading it, but also half-way through, and then again at end of it.
People need to read more sc-fi."
Which is true. ;)
SinnFein4ever 2 years ago 87
@SinnFein4ever You're right. It was the outcome of an ignorant public. Easy to look back on and say, "boy, they were so stupid" but American wasn't literate. He was a 23 year old man whose voice and acting abilities were brilliant. I can't imagine being in the public's eye like that. To realize his reading of this piece freaked out people like it did. And to have the government on your back for some reason. It was a story. Americans thought they'd been diliberately fooled, reacted badly.
Songsmirth 1 year ago
@SinnFein4ever This was the Biggest prank in history. I Chalenge anyone to top it in any way. I would gladly kiss the feet of any living person who did it.
ea4gfhyxhq 6 months ago
@ea4gfhyxhq wasnt a prank the hoax happen by accident... read the top comment
guidos1989 6 months ago
People sure were easily suggestible back then.....
looker768 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
considering the wizard of oz came out before 1938 im pretty sure they had TVs dumb ass
zubov95 2 years ago
wiz of oz was for showing in movie theaters asswipe. back then it was 99% radio-
amazrand 2 years ago 5
Zubov, television was only experimental in the 1930s...sets were not sold to the general public until the 1940s...'The Wizard of Oz" was a MOVIE and released in theatres...the reason WoW was so effective at scaring people is because there was NO TV available...people took anything coming out of the radio as truth, like it was the word of God. That was one of Wells' stated reasons for the hoax...he wanted to shatter that illusion, remind people to THINK, not just listen. It worked.
beaviselectron 2 years ago
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this was fake because their where no tv back then
chucky214dallastx 2 years ago
film?
rastabus 2 years ago 3
You are incredibly stupid
snapelover98 2 years ago 2
what ? that didn't even begin to make sense....
yipyipitsme123 2 years ago 2
I bet Mr Welles was laughing on the inside when the reaction to the broadcast occured
googlexxxxxxx 2 years ago 61
@googlexxxxxxx I t was like April fools' day except not in April.
rick4777 1 year ago
@googlexxxxxxx I had to replay this four times to make sure I heard what he said. I heard him say he was "quite" surprised" also "surprised." So, I don't think he was laughing, I think he was shaking his head in disbelief at how gullible people can be, not are but how easily fooled they can be.
abbyovitsky 3 weeks ago
@abbyovitsky Good point.
googlexxxxxxx 3 weeks ago
Wells would later laugh at this newsreel saying how he came off as a mayrted saint when he was celebrating the success of the broadcast.
RobGoth100 2 years ago
Hey... it's Citizen Kane. :P
voyagerofdoom 2 years ago 3
H.G. Wells is quite a fine author, The Invisible Man was quite good if you ask me. The War of the Worlds is awesome too.
ClubNapOrElse 2 years ago
I thought Jules Verne wrote The Invisible Man.
DivineAnger 2 years ago
Yes, you are correct. My apologies. The copy i have just has so many things about H.G. Wells within it as well as a list of all of his books. That comment about The Invisible Man sounded very idiotic. Well, it's the internet.
ClubNapOrElse 2 years ago
Wells later said that he looked like a martyed saint here but they were laughing and celebrating the fact that they made world news and Wells made a huge name for himself. Even Hitler mocked America for the reaction to the broadcast.
RobGoth100 2 years ago 2
a school mate of my dads father was listing to this broadcast , he was so upset when he found out that it was just a radio play he picked up the floor model radio and threw it out the the window of their third floor tenement in east providence rhode island in 1938 , this is a true story
bearcub410 2 years ago
LOL! Damn, that's awesome.
StriderIsAragorn 2 years ago
Ok, I will explain this one more time. The radio guy was called Orson Welles. The author of the books was called H. G. Wells. These are not the same people........
cultural youtube barbarians...
21stCenturyRebel 2 years ago 4
I think Welles was genuinely surprised at the extent of the reaction to his little prank.
On some f**ked-up level, I think people like to panic. Makes them feel alive.
elperromagico 2 years ago 6
Pompous boob to people who were jealous.
CoolMovesNow 2 years ago
I understand that Wells apologized, but deep down was delighted that his show had such a powerful effect.....he reveled in the publicity.
colderbeer 2 years ago
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orson welles...what a pompous boob that man was
mrmwilford 2 years ago
if i was wells i would have said a little apoluergy but i would have stareted braging about what i done
scottlong09 2 years ago
Very handsome young man.
SatiricalTruth 2 years ago 8
@SatiricalTruth Indeed. He looks beautiful.
trinityj1 1 year ago 2
@trinityj1 Hey I'm 23 and I think he was an absolutely gorgeous man!
fcampbell696 1 year ago
@fcampbell696 I'm 22 and my crush on him keeps getting bigger. ;)
trinityj1 1 year ago 2
He was not from his time...and he took opportunity from knowing it,..silly "chub-chub" face, LOL!
Rosalyz 2 years ago
he shouldent have apolagise it was brilliant what he did thats a acomplishment
scottlong09 2 years ago 3
Definitely. However, on a note on the hysteria of the public, even though it was not as bad as thought.... You ever see the X-Files episode, Season 3, when the town believes they are under attack by killer cockroaches? The mob mentality caused more damage than the roaches. (Although, I would have agreed with the townspeople in my case)
iveseenspikynorman 2 years ago
i have seen that episode and you are right about the mob because they shoot at water tower
scottlong09 2 years ago
Website
pauldelahay co uk
Album 'War of the Worlds'
naffanyaaa 3 years ago
does anyone know how many people killed themselves over this?
lukeduke711 3 years ago
I don't think anyone did, but people did freak out.
sycoraxrock 2 years ago
these movies arent racist, you're just an uptight liberal
Pseudo1ntellectual 3 years ago
eeep! how did he keep a straight face saying that! the oscar for best actor goes to.....
agentbikini 3 years ago
Orson Welles a genius
telkines 3 years ago 6
Yes, but he was a long time threat to the USA and its interest and Roosevelt knew this all to well. Fact is the second part of Mein Kampf deals with how a future Third Reich, which would be around the 1970's according to Hitler, would dispose of the USA as the world's leading industrial nation.
Hitler envisioned a Germany bigger and more populated than the USA. This germany would have the eyes of the world on them as the foremost nation of science,wealth,culture and health.A nazi world too..
McLarenMercedes 3 years ago
hmmmm this is very strange this happend in a time where no one belived in ufo's at all and now fast forward to the future a lot of people have been recording them and see them alot as a matter of fact even people within the gov have seen them so u have to ask ur self did that really happen and why was those dudes standing behind Orson Welles all up on him there on him like white on rice it appears to me they have a gun to his back forceing him to say what he said he looks really worryied
soulvamp421 3 years ago
.................
are you serious?!
rcfilmspat 3 years ago
It's so ironic.
Orson Welles warns everyone about some 'evil invasion' and frightens the world as a joke. A year later, the nazi's invade Poland and unleash hell on Europe. Weird stuff.
But Orson Welles was one of the greatest entertainers in modern history.
91SeymourN 3 years ago
Its so ironic.
Orson Welles warns everyone about some 'evil invasion' and frightens the world as a joke...a year later the nazi's invade poland and unleash hell on europe.
Weird stuff. But Orson was one of the greatest entertainers in modern history.
91SeymourN 3 years ago
Note the ritualistic date of this theatre!!
marrow777 3 years ago
A little practice for project bluebeam, nicley palyed out by the grandson of HG WELLS causing mass panic in New Jersey. One man committed suicide thinking the aliens had landed ( ETs)
marrow777 3 years ago
what ever happened to that accent it's all but gone
Dave11989 3 years ago
@Dave11989 Do you mean the "high-class" American accent?
There's Kelsey Grammar. He has it.
trinityj1 1 year ago
There seems to be another scare in America right now. It seems someone running for president is a terrorist, not of the correct religion and also not even the proper race. At least this is what lots of people who support McCain/Palin are saying. Oh - even Palin is saying that! Well! She sounds like top notch Presidential Material - warning the citizens of America about the clear-and-present Evil.
DataWaveTaGo 3 years ago 5
At first when I read this I got a little mad around the first sentence, after that I had a laugh and clapped.
h702k 3 years ago 3
Thank you for posting this. The Documentary "The Battle for Citizen Kane" has a nice clip of his "apology" but they talk over it. I wish it was more readily available. He was just so young.
geligniteandlilies 3 years ago
Fantastic footage! Thanks for posting this. It's not often we get to see a very young (and still handsome) Orson Welles outside of his movies. I love how he never actually apologized for freaking those idiots out.
kneecutleries 3 years ago 7
Die Amis sind doch alle " so toll"
Nein nur Dumm!
Mjoelnir12 3 years ago
We aren't that stupid besides we aren't the only countrys that does dumb stuff like germanys Techno viking.
GamersFA 3 years ago
First I don't think that US citicens are that dump as you describe them, Mjoelnir12. Second you have to realize in which time that radio play was broadcasted. I happens in the time of the "Cold War" and a time where a lot of people belived in UFO's, as well. Therefore I'm sure that the germans (by the way: I'm also german) would have reacted exactly on the same way. And third: To say that a complete country is dumb, that's really dumb, in my opinion .... ^_^
noetiker 3 years ago 3
the original broadcast was in 1938, which was even before WW2
the cold war really didn't start until 1949, when the Soviets got their first A-bomb
so it was NOT broadcasted in the cold war
McLarenMercedes 3 years ago
Ok ich antworte jez ma auf deutsch. Ich bin auch deutsch, und ich find du kanns nich sagenalle amis sind dumm. Das is doch genauso, wie wenn man sagt, alle deutschen tragen immer dirndl, sind dick und essen sauerkraut. Ich stimm noetiker zu, ich denk mal, die deutschen hätten genauso reagiert.
ithilianoctis 3 years ago
Americans are still Dumb today.
wizardx99 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Hey Wizard go eat some greasy fish and chips you limey fucktard!
ZIPPTPH77 3 years ago
Nothing wrong with fish and chips, take your racism elsewhere.
RedcoatMic24 3 years ago
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You British bastards invented it! LOL
ZIPPTPH77 3 years ago
It's not very hard to combine fish with potatoes.
What's with your xenophobia anyway?
RedcoatMic24 3 years ago 2
No asshole I meant racism...
ZIPPTPH77 3 years ago
I love how brits argue with americans
Kurisublack 3 years ago
oh yeah
One Day mars truely will beat both americans and british
CursedNeptune 3 years ago
Just look how pointless their argumentations are. Cheers to italian :)
Kurisublack 3 years ago
Hmm al this time fighting and boom,mankind is wiped off the planet
Gorillaz6321 3 years ago
idiot
Dave11989 3 years ago
right so martians will invade (from mars)
and when they get here they will destroy only America and Great Britain, at which point they will stop and leave all other countries alone.
that my friend is an incredibly stupid comment i wont even bother to take a guess a which vanquished nation you hail from
Dave11989 3 years ago
If a man can simply air a show that was for entertainment and can get ordinary people to take their own life, just imagine the power the media has to distort facts or act bias in such a way to convince you that your life is is immenent danger or certians civil liberties are no longer useful and need to relinquish some for the betterment of the whole. You can even hear a story about Red Riding Hood and witness different narratives form different media outlets. Which to believe or not is true?
damufamily 3 years ago
im not gay but i love his voice. The creepy feeling is great. His expression is also outsatning his entire demeanor made the broadcast so convincing
CountingDimes 4 years ago
Oh, Orson Welles. He knew exactly what he was doing when he made that broadcast. Apparently people kept telling him to stop but he would just shake his head. Then he went and feigned innocence! Gotta love it.
twicetheheart31 4 years ago 3
You have to remember that the first half of "The War Of the Worlds" was presented as a series of news bulletins and "actualties". At the time [October 1938], many radio programs were occasionally interrupted by bulletins about unrest and "war scares" in Europe, and people that tuned in to Orson's broadcast {mostly from "THE CHASE & SANBORN HOUR" featuring Bergen & McCarthy} heard the simulated "news coverage", and believed it WAS happening.
fromthesidelines 4 years ago
he didn't know what to say lol..
it's sad how people believes just with no physical proof
ladydawn1973 4 years ago
He DOES look sexy apologizing. He's only 22!! I'm 22 and I wish I were that articulate. I don't know ANY other 22-year-olds that are that articulate.
babymoondancer 4 years ago 2
The activities in Europe such as the 3rd Reich , Where of concern to people.
But Welles and his crew pretty much demonstrate the dangers of mass media, Like or not we are over trusting gullible sheep when it comes to so called news.
CatsupIslam 4 years ago 2
actually few americans saw Hitler as a threat to them in 1938, merely some loudmouthed clown
fact is people like Henry Ford and Walt Disney admired Hitler and his firm policy, Charles Lindbergh liked Hitler too
McLarenMercedes 3 years ago
They liked Mussolini too, FDR loved him and praised him. It's all well documented if someone doesn't believe me.
TorstenVonUrsus 3 years ago
perhaps because Mussolini started building projects like the italian autostrada and brought the italian economy out of the recession
before 1939 Italy wasn't really a firm ally of nazi germany either,and only became so when it was clear France was going to be beaten in 1940
McLarenMercedes 3 years ago
Disney.... Walt Disney aadmired Hitler?????
Are you insane?
Superboy171 3 years ago
Uncle Walt didn't like jews very much. When a leader appeared in Germany that took a very firm stance towards those greedy jews he was glad. Fact is everybody that didn't like the jews felt Hitler was a gift from above. Many of them of course didn't know what Hitler had in mind ultimately. Extermination.
Only LATER did Disney make cartoons in which Hitler and the nazis were made fun of. Probably on the orders of the congress or whoever was in charge during WW2 in the USA.
McLarenMercedes 3 years ago
Walt fought against the germans during the Great War (WWI), and in october 1938 when asked by a reporter from Variety magazine; what he thought about the situation in Europe he said, I quote "I'm very worried about what's going on over there(Europe).... I don't know whether or not the United States should get involved, but just looking the other direction isn't going to make President Hitler go away."
Walt Disney did not support Nazis...
You're thinking of Vincent Price.
Superboy171 3 years ago 2
Addmitedly the moustache makes it trickey.
Superboy171 3 years ago
Yeah leave Walt alone.
Micahnie 3 years ago
Walt did not like Jews though, or black people.
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
You are wrong on both accounts almanacofsleep. Mr. Disney was neither a racist, nor an anti-semite. You have no evidence to put forward to prove that he was, I on the other hand have proof that he wasn't.
It takes a very closed mind, like yours, to blindly hate people that you do not know.
And Walt Disney had a very open heart and mind.
Quit hating on Disney.
Superboy171 3 years ago
Walt was part of The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which was an anti-Communist and anti-Semitic organization.He also suported the Nazi's (and Mussolini) before the war. Also if you search for racist diseney cartoons here on youtube you may be suprised.
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
Walt was forced to either join the MPA or stop making movies. That was the way politics were being played in 1947, the iron fisted way H.S. Truman made business men play ball.
I challenge you to offer one piece of valid evidence to prove that Disney was a Nazi sympathizer.
And I have seen the so called "racist" Disney cartoons here on Youtube, and the only thing that surprised me was how people construed these cartoons as being racist in the first place.
Superboy171 3 years ago 2
I think saying that these cartoons Walt did are inherently racist is stretching it pretty thin. Were they ignorant of the offensiveness of these cultural stereotypes? Yes, but stereotyping is a far cry from racism. People would be wise, and indeed tolerant themselves if they were not confusing humor that could be considered insensitive with outright racial hatred.
Superboy171 3 years ago
"Were they ignorant of the offensiveness of these cultural stereotypes? Yes, but stereotyping is a far cry from racism." actually sterotyping is part of the defernition of racism.
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
No it isn't.
The full definition of racism is: Discrimination and/or prejudice based on race.
Stereotyping is defined as: The ascribing of a formulated character trait to an individual.
By trying to correct me you've made yourself look like an idiot. Stereotyping IS a far cry from racism, and if you disagree then you have a different definition of the word than the one that is academically accepted.
Superboy171 3 years ago
Stereotyping is not necessarily racist but negative sterotyping based on race (witch is what those cartoons depict) is racist. Ergo they are racist cartoons.
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
Yosimite Sam is a beloved character known around the world and accepted for being what he is: a negative stereotype of a south-westerner. The character is portrayed the way he is because it's funny. It is not a humorists fault if an audience member such as yourself take's offense when something he is doing in the way of a parody- you take as an insult.
Your laziness to understand simple concepts like this, and your utter lack of a normal sense of humor is frusterating.
Superboy171 3 years ago
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I detect no irony in those movies, they are racist, just because they are old or from another time is no excuse, your agruement is pretty flimsy, by that logic you can excuse the black and White Misterals or Jim Davison.
"normal sense of humor "? are you jokeing? You find racism funny?!
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
When did I say racism was funny? You are the one calling comedic stereotypes racist not me. If you cannot tell the difference between the two; then you are overly sensitive.
I did not say irony was involved, irony has got nothing to do with it. All comedy is based on some sort of misunderstanding. Either it is someone getting you to misunderstand them, or it is individuals misunderstanding each other. Stereotyping is simply a form of misunderstanding used often in comedy.
Superboy171 3 years ago 6
Comedic sterotypes based on lazy and negative asumptions of race is racist, your defense is getting so weak. It feeds into the whole attitude that black people should know their place and are second class citizens, that attitude has been around since slavery. Yosimite Sam is aceptable because he doesn't represent a minority who had been violently disciminated against. The black crows in Dumbo arn't funny for that reson, the lead character is called Jim Crow for crying out loud!
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
Right, right because we all know the minority can't be racist and are justified in bigotry because they are oppressed. Go back to 1968.
You know there was a time when we were all allowed to make fun of each other like in Grand Turino. The day we move past racism is the day when "black jokes" are viewed like "blond jokes".
MrPisster 2 years ago
And don't get me started on Uncle Remeus.
almanacofsleep 3 years ago
well, maybe not so trusting after this stunt. i often wonder if we're at the other end of the spectrum now, and if martians did invade on live tv we'd sit and point out the edges of the blue screen and applaude at the end of a great show?
agentbikini 3 years ago
He looks sexy apologizing...
sanlivette 4 years ago 2
Yes, such a sexy voice.
weikko79 4 years ago 3
I've heard recently that the "panic" is an urban legend, it never really happened, the media at the time made it look like it did so as to sell more, but actually there may have been a panic in some retarded small town somewhere with a few people, and that's it, and it was reported by one newspaper, then another one, then it was all over the country and in the end it was the "millions of people" panic. But it never really happened.
Onaryc59 4 years ago
thats what people say about the concentration camps, and oh my look how that went
KSClaw 4 years ago
KSC: it's irrelevant. Just because some idiots say concentration camps weren't real doesn't mean that those who say something else wasn't real are wrong! I am now convinced the panic was an urban legend, it mainly happened in the reports the papers wrote at the time. Too many ppl based their "research" on those papers, but when you investigate the "real" incidents at the source, you find it never happened. It's like the Bermuda triangle thing. All distorsions, exaggeration or plain lies.
Onaryc59 4 years ago
I believe the reports say, "thousands" which is most certainly in the realm of believability. I've never seen or heard of a report that exaggerated what happened or smacked of sensationalist distortion.
prayfertrey 4 years ago
P'f'trey: Wikipedia: "1.2 million were 'genuinely frightened". "Later studies suggested this "panic" was far less widespread than newspaper accounts suggested". "evidence of people taking action based on this fear is "scant" and "anecdotal"." "stories of people doing anything more than calling up the authorities typically (...) were often reported by people who were panicking themselves." "Contemporary accounts spawned urban legends, many of which persist". See discussion page too.
Onaryc59 4 years ago
Sure... and some of that panic was due to ppl. thinking Europe was invading, and not so much Mars.
prayfertrey 4 years ago
P'f'trey: I doubt it. The show was about invaders from Mars, not Europe. It was aired in 1938, before WW2 and the Cold War. The few who did panick were thinking martians as in the show they'd heard. Some panic also fed on itself as some ppl went to the places of the "events" and saw other ppl panicking, and thought the whole thing was real! But that's no more than a few hundreds, not 1.2 million...
Onaryc59 4 years ago
We know folks were nervous about war at that time? And that wiki article recounts how ppl. missed the first part of the program... What seems to have happened is that people called in to find out what was happening (I don't know how many), from their people told their neighbors, who told their friends, and that's how the rumours got started.
And Orson's point was that ppl. were believing whatever came out of their radios, and this was an object lesson not to.
prayfertrey 4 years ago
P'f'ftrey: That sounds possible, even probable. The other radio channel had a more popular show, and when the commercial break came on, they tuned over to Welles's show, and got confused about what was going on. My initial remark was about 1) how many ppl were involved 2) the real nature of the "panic".
Onaryc59 4 years ago
Are you familiar with Stanley Milgram and his obedience experiment?
prayfertrey 4 years ago