War of the Worlds (radio drama)

 War of the Worlds

By: Jennifer Barajas

Fictional radio broadcast that causes panic

Orson Welles (left) and H.G. Wells (right) meet in
San Antonio, Texas, two years after the radio script aired
to discuss events in Europe. (AP Photo)

What seemed like an acceptable way of entertaining people for Halloween resulted in complete mayhem on Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938. Residents of New York and New Jersey were consumed with terror after hearing a live broadcast on the radio show “The Mercury Theatre on the Air” from 8-9 p.m. The radio script was a dramatization of H.G. Welles’ novel “The War of the Words” directed and narrated by Orson Welles. Although Welles introduced the show as fiction, his outstanding narration convinced listeners who tuned in late that Martians were attacking the Earth.

According to The New York Times article that was published the day after the incident, the radio script began with a weather report later interrupted by a “break-in” from a professor claiming to have spotted explosions on Mars. The description of the narration in the article continued as follows: “News bulletins and scene broadcasts followed, reporting, with the technique in which the radio had reported actual events, the landing of a ‘meteor’ near Princeton N. J., ‘killing’ 1,500 persons, the discovery that the ‘meteor’ was a ‘metal cylinder’ containing strange creatures from Mars armed with ‘death rays’ to open hostilities against the inhabitants of the earth.”

Immediately after hearing the allegations, local residents abandoned their homes in attempts to flee the lethal raid and find safe ground. Some called police stations to confirm if reports of the Martian intrusion were true while others frantically asked about the safety measures they should take. The panic caused traffic jams, interrupted religious services, and blocked communications. Even medical treatment was needed for those suffering from hysteria and shock.

The aftermath

           

The Oct. 31, 1938, front page of The Dallas
Morning News. (Copyright The Dallas 
Morning News Oct. 31, 1938)

A call to action was incited when reports of chaos that the radio drama had caused reached the Federal Communications Commission. Some pushed for more government regulation over broadcasts and encouraged censorship in favor of public interest. Not all FCC members agreed with the idea.

In the Oct. 31, 1938, publication of the Dallas Morning News article titled “Men of Mars Spread Havoc In Radioland: Weird Broadcast Brings Cries for Federal Control”, commissioner T.A.M. Craven is described to be outspoken about opposing broadcast censorship and claims that “the public does not want a spineless radio”.

Not all the commissioners commented on the mishap, but most of them did agree on taking steps to make sure that it will not happen again. According to the previous Dallas Morning News article, W.B. Lewis, vice president of the network responsible for airing Orson Welles’ show, said, “In order that this may not happen again, the program department hereafter will not use the technique of a stimulated news broadcast within a dramatization when the circumstances of the broadcast could cause immediately alarm to numbers of listeners.”

Welles also expressed his regret. In his apology, he said, “Radio is new and we are learning about the affect it has on people.”

Looking back

While researching articles on the radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds”, I noticed one major difference in the way news articles are written today versus how they were written in 1938. The biggest difference is that articles used to be lengthier, which made subheads more common. Both articles from The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News, which I printed from the filmstrips at the Alkek Library, included at least four subheads.

Today, the “War of the Worlds” radio incident is a piece of unusual yet comical U.S. history. How was it that people were so credulous and inattentive?

Perhaps it was because people were more superstitious in the past. Look how far we’ve come since the Salem Witch Trials.

Or, perhaps it was because people were not exposed to an abundance of violent and sensationalistic media like we are today. Who’s going to be credulous now that we have movies like “E.T.”, “Mars Attacks!”, “Star Wars”, “Predator”, “Independence Day”… shall I continue?

The New York Times/ Oct. 31, 1938

The Dallas Morning News/ Oct. 31, 1938/ 1, 6

Jennifer Barajas is a senior majoring in journalism and English at Texas State University. You may contact her at jyb7@txstate.edu or jybarajas@gmail.com