On October 30, 1938 Orson Welles, a successful theatrical producer and actor, broadcasted a radio play of the invasion of earth by warriors from Mars, the Martians. In this play Welles adapted passages of the well known-book, “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells. It was so realistically written that to many Americans it seemed to be true. Millions of people believed there was a real invasion from Mars. All across the USA, the listeners reacted. They called radio stations, police and newspapers. Many people fled from their homes onto the land.
At the beginning of the radio play, they think that a meteor has struck New Jersey. But the meteor opens, Martian warriors emerge and begin to kill with their special space ships.

Orson Welles

Orson Welles was a US actor & director. He led "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast 1938 and wrote, directed and starred in the movie "Citizen Kane" 1941.Welles also directed "Macbeth" in 1948.

Why did so many people believe in the radio play?

The play seemed to be so realistic, because Orson Welles for example finished his introduction with a weather report. He increased this with a dramatical background music, on-the-scene-reports, experts in the studio, special updates and interviews.
Also the new inventions influenced the American people: New weapons were invented. They were like robots. Or the radio, which influenced the people not only in the radio play of Welles. People believed in all news, which the radio published. They believed, that fiction was fact.

The Idea

In 1938,when the people didn’t have TV, they sat in front of their radios and listened to music, news reports and radio plays. In the same day, when Orson Welles broadcast his play, the most popular radio program was aired on another station. Because of that, Welles tried to think of ways to increase his audience rates, hoping to take away the listeners from the popular play. So he decided to make a new version of ”The War of the Worlds” and to present it as a new report.

Historical Background

The radio play had also a historical background which was one of the reasons why in caused a mass panic:

• Civil War in Spain (1936-1939):A military rising originating in Morocco, headed by dictator General Francisco Franco, spreads rapidly all over the country, thus starting the Spanish Civil War. Franco is supported by Germany, Italy and Mexico. In 1939 Franco and his troops attack Madrid. In this War people attacked each other with a new kind of bombs.

• Hitler in Germany (1933-1945): Nazism was an individual and a mass phenomenon. In 1936, the masses celebrate their identification with the leader Hitler. As he takes over in Germany, the people march in the streets and demonstrate. Also Hitler introduces the theory of the superiority of the Arian race. The German remilitarise, make a pact with Austria (1938), invade Czechoslovakia (1938) and Poland (1939).
Propaganda is central to Nazi Germany.

• Italy invades Ethiopia (1935/1936): Italy conquers Ethiopia with a war.

All these things, which mainly happen in the 1930s, make the people believe, that the story of the Martian invasion was true. In those wars the people had new airplanes to bomb their enemies. Nothing was impossible.