The Night America Trembled (5/6)

On the night of October 30, 1938, one of the most bizarre experiences in the history of radio occurred. It might be argued that nothing of this nature happened before or since.

On that night, the CBS radio network aired the Halloween episode of Mercury Theatre on the Air. Narrated by Orson Welles, this compelling story of Martians invading earth captured the attention of listeners nationwide. Despite disclaimers issued during the broadcast, many people took the broadcast literally and panicked. The broadcast was actually an adaptation of H. G. Welles' novel, The War of the Worlds.

In this Studio One recreation of the story, renowned newsman Edward R. Murrow brings us the story of what happened that most unusual night. Look for some familiar faces among the cast!

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Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• the
• night
• america
• trembled
• orson
• welles
• edward
• r.
• murrow
• documentary
• sci-fi
• science
• fiction
• war
• of
• worlds
• martian
• invasion
• aliens

[hwy61media]

Thank you for your insightful commentary. Today it is easy to be amused at the reaction people had to this broadcast but it did air during the cold war and that probably served to heighten the panic. Those who panicked could not have possibly listened to the show in its entirety and fell victim to mass hysteria. I would think that, for the most part, cooler heads prevailed.

[PhoneJews]

Cold war in 1938? Alright.

[badfiddler123]

Sorry to correct you but it was NOT aired during the Cold War. The Cold War started at the end of the 2nd World War (1945). This was aired in 1938. Attention to facts please!

[MegaDede43]

It's hard to believe that ppl could fall for this and just how nieve we can be ....but then again we're not that different today, there are alot of ppl who still believe the 9/11 commission report...same thing different time...great movie though!

[LoudCitizen]

I love the little touches, like telling listeners which highways are closed.

[Songsmirth]

It's easy to think that we would have thought differently but really, had we tuned in during it, would our immaginations taken us over? I've never seen this program but you can see how it made people feel at the time. Even with the advertisments. We will believe what we want to. Impressive that radio artists could cause this panic. The written word does have power. Some fans of Twilight scared their necks to show Robert Pattinson that they loved vampires! What on earth. Kid freaked out.