War of the Worlds

Seventy years ago, the power of radio was demonstrated in the most unexpected way. An adaptation of HG Wells’ 1898 novel, The War of the Worlds, which features a Martian invasion, had listeners fleeing from their homes in panic. The fictional news bulletins incorporated into the drama by director, co-writer and performer Orson Welles were taken for real by radio listeners who had never heard fiction presented in this way. The Broadcast for the CBS Mercury Theatre Air show became a broadcasting landmark.