"That year, on the evening of Sunday, October 30, listeners who had tuned in to dance music on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network heard a news flash interrupt the "regular" program. A series of unusual explosions had been observed on the planet Mars, and a mass of hydrogen gas was moving towards Earth. The broadcast went back to dance music. Another news flash interrupted the orchestra, to inform listeners that a strange object had landed in a field in rural New Jersey."
"with Welles using all the latest tricks known to radio broadcasting: interrupting programming with "special bulletins," use of "experts" to lend credibility to the unbelievable news and emotional actuality from the scene of events. Orson Welles rehearsing his radio broadcast of 'The War of the Worlds' with an orchestra and actorsImage: United Archives International/IMAGO The alien invaders seemed unstoppable, as they incinerated entire armies with their heat rays and sent choking clouds of gas into New York City"
The 1938 CBS radio broadcast presented a dramatized Martian invasion that interrupted dance-music programming with staged news bulletins. Reported explosions on Mars, a hydrogen mass moving toward Earth, and a landed object in rural New Jersey were conveyed as live emergency updates. The production used simulated experts, on-scene actuality, and rehearsed orchestra cues to heighten realism. The dramatization described unstoppable alien forces incinerating armies and releasing choking gas over New York City. The nationwide broadcast prompted fear and numerous emergency calls in several cities. The broadcast occurred amid widespread prewar anxieties in 1938, when many civilians feared imminent conflict.
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