War of the Worlds.

One of the funniest bits of trivia concerning the recent history of the United States is this:

In 1898 Herbert George Wells wrote one of the most famous science fiction novels of all time, namely The War of the Worlds; this novel describes the fictional 1895 invasion of Earth by aliens from Mars, who use laser-like Heat-Rays, chemical weapons, and mechanical three-legged 'fighting machines' (see image on the right). After defeating the resistance the Martians devastate much of eastern England, including London, before being unexpectedly killed by terrestrial diseases, to which they have no immunity.

Now we get to the interesting bit. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles performed a live radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' classic novel The War of the Worlds, as a Halloween special, on CBS Radio. Now, famous screenwriter Howard Koch had converted H. G. Wells' novel in such a way that it resembled a documentary - the program started as an apparently ordinary music show, only occasionally interrupted by news flashes. Initially, the news was of strange explosions sighted on Mars, followed by news about a 'meteorite' crashing in New Jersey, and gradually the story escalated from there.

Many people, who missed or ignored the opening credits of the program, took it to be an actual news broadcast. Complete panic ensued, with people fleeing the area, and others thinking they could smell the poison gas or could see the flashes of the fighting in the distance.


Several people actually rushed to the 'scene' of the events (New Jersey) to see if they could catch a glimpse of the unfolding events, including a few astronomers from Princeton University who went looking for the 'meteorite' that had supposedly fallen near their school. Some people, who had brought firearms, reportedly mistook a local farmer's water tower for an alien spaceship and, you guessed it, shot the tower.


Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, two radio-personalities of that time, are often credited with 'saving the world', simply because they were broadcasting at the same time on NBC Radio. presumably, many terrified listeners were reassured by hearing their familiar tones on the neighbouring channel.

The aftermath of this incident is considerable. For instance, the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was first received in skepticism by the American public, as a consequence of Welles' radio performance. Even now theories are going round proclaiming that the entire incident was staged in order to cover up the fact that there actually was an alien invasion on October 30, 1938.

Now, isn't that a great story?

Why this history lesson, I hear you ask? Well, I just saw the trailer for the upcoming Spielberg/Cruise-collaboration, the latest adaptation of Wells' The War of the Worlds, and it looks absolutely amazing. Click here for the teaser and here for the TV-spot.

I'm curious as to how many people will flee the cinema come June 29.

Cheers