88th anniversary of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast

moviesOct 30, 2026181,059

On October 30, 1938 Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast a radio dramatization of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. Welles, then 23, framed the show with a spoken introduction and a sequence of realistic-sounding news interruptions and weather reports that led many listeners who tuned in after 8 p.m. to believe an invasion was underway. The play dramatized a Martian landing in Grovers Mills, New Jersey with reporters describing tentacled aliens, walking war machines, and a poisonous gas that annihilated 7,000 National Guardsmen; later bulletins placed cylinders in Chicago and St. Louis. Welles employed sophisticated sound effects and actors portraying terrified announcers to heighten realism; the production was not planned as a hoax and Welles later said he had little idea how legendary it would become. The broadcast aired in prime time after listeners switched from Edgar Bergen’s program around 8:12 p.m., and its realistic news format made it famous for provoking panic among portions of the audience.

A. Brad Schwartz

@abradschwartz.bsky.social

Since it’s almost the anniversary of “War of the Worlds,” I’ll add that we have the WPA Federal Theatre Project to thank for Orson Welles and many, many others…

38612h ago

Quoting this

Kevin M. Kruse4419

There was a moment in the 1990s when Newt Gingrich was sneering about public funding for the arts and said something like "Arthur Miller didn't need government money!" and then Arthur Miller wrote an op-ed noting that he had, in fact, been saved in the Depression by Federal Writers Project.

Helena Fitzgerald145

you ever think about how we did the mildest form of socialism-lite / actually federally funding the arts in this country one (1) time, it almost immediately produced the movie whose title still functions as a shorthand for "a great work of art," and we said "okay got it let's never do that again"

Dawn Xiana Moon7

If you want good art, you have to support it. Artists will always create, but artists working day jobs create less. We just don't have time & energy. And we cannot cede art just to people with parents who can fund their lives. There has to be room for people from all income levels & demographics.

Dreadnought Holiday

@dreadships.bsky.social

Reminds me of the radio DJ who played "Forever Autumn" after Princess Diana died, except he only had the War of the Worlds album to hand and didn't realise his error until well after the tripods started happily smashing up London again

203Yesterday

cambrian-explorer.bsky.social7

I once used Tubular Bells as interval music. Forgot about the "Piltdown Man" segment (where Mike Oldfield apparently drank a substantial amount of whisky and then screamed incoherently into a mic for a while). Realised this while backstage helping change the set for the 2nd half...

James Hodden7

Went to the funeral of a bloke I worked with, they started playing the orchestral cover of Who Wants To Live Forever, and blimey, there were just as many people trying not to laugh as there were people who were genuinely distressed.

Noun Verber 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇦🇵🇸6

youtu.be/aptvRDvDS5s?... Let's not forget recent classics

AJ McTERROR3

On the plus side, I think Di would have appreciated Richard Burton's narration

Kenny MacLeod3

"Tonight, we're remembering our beloved Queen of Hearts with this song by Justin UUUULLAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

andybnk.bsky.social1

Had the same day after 9/11 at a medical conference, I left my cd wallet with the lighting guy, someone asked for sombre music, he put on adagio for strings, from the Platoon soundtrack cd! halfway through the gunfire and explosions started!!!! 😱

Michael Warburton

@michaelwarburton.bsky.social

ORSON WELLES & his Mercury Theatre actors broadcasting live — 88yrs ago today — his radio production of ‘The War Of The Worlds’, which was so brilliantly & believably done that it sent much of America into total panic.

1322h ago

James T. Baker1

And Americans are STILL butt-plug stupid

Massimo (mirror)

@rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social

88 years ago Today, Orson Welles broadcast his radio adaptation of Herbert G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, as Halloween episode over the CBS Radio. The episode remains the most famous, the most cited and possibly the earliest example of mass media effect on the public. Original post

1186h ago

Quoting this

Ren Zelen4

And of course, a testament to the gullibility of the public when it comes to anything that’s broadcast by the media.

This Many Years Ago

@thismanyyearsago.bsky.social

88 years ago, on the 30th of October 1938, a radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells was broadcast in the United States. The first half was presented as faux breaking news, convincing a part of the audience that an alien invasion was actually happening. #otd #history 🗃️

Editorial cartoon by Les Callan (1905–1986), reprinted from The Toronto Star in Radio Digest (February 1939) No date is provided for the original printing in The Toronto Star. The cartoon appears below a headline, "Memorable Broadcasts," and prefaces a printing of the transcript of the original radio play, The War of the Worlds, broadcast October 30, 1938. The text below the editorial cartoon reads as follows: FROM TIME TO TIME some quirk of fate, some state of mind, or some brilliance of thought makes a broadcast memorable. As such it deserves to be preserved, for after it passes from the news it becomes part of the color and woof of our history. As history and as a commentary on the nervous state of our nation after the Pact of Munich, we present this recent but none-the-less celebrated broadcast.

616h ago

CharleyNobody

@charleynobody.bsky.social

That’s when I realized America hadn’t changed much. 40 years later my sister thought War of the Worlds - played every Halloween by the local radio station - was real. Yes. She’s a Trump voter.

6812h ago

Dr Pop Culture USA

@drpopcultureusa.bsky.social

October 30, 1938: A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells story “The War of the Worlds", featuring Orson Welles, allegedly causes a mass panic.

256h ago

Cinefeast33 (demon version) 📽📺📚

@cinefeast33.bsky.social

Day of Infamy: 10/30/1938 23yo Orson Welles broadcast radio program of WAR OF THE WORLDS. Part of The Mercury Theater for CBS, the tale told of an alien invasion of earth presented in style of news broadcast. Listeners that missed the intro thought the real thing was happening! Panic! #filmsky 📽

Welles behind podium, speaking into broadcasting mic.

219h ago

Ye Olde Punk

@nehoc.bsky.social

So when are we gonna have an AI powered War of the Worlds situation?

717h ago

The Story of Writing

@sownow.bsky.social

On October 30th, 1938, the radio show "Mercury Theater on the Air" broadcast an adaptation of H. G. Wells’s "The War of the Worlds." Orson Welles directed and narrated the production, which to many listeners sounded like a live newscast describing an alien invasion of Earth. 🧵 #Radio #BookSky #OTD

Orson Welles at the microphone during the 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds.
Photo: Bridgeman Images
Source: US NEH

41h ago

Todd Alcott

@toddalcott.bsky.social

I saw a lot of high-school-aged kids roped in by it. The internet was much newer back then, and the website promoting the movie was very effective in its time. But yes, it's a lot like the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, a few people were confused and the media ran with it because it sold papers

8Yesterday

Martin "Ghouls! Ghouls! Ghouls!" Nutbeem

@martinnutbeem.bsky.social

The context, watching what was supposed to be an actual live TV show, in the early 90s was wild. We're talking Orson Welles War of the Worlds level hoaxing really. I twigged pretty early on it was "fanciful" but it was convincing enough to cause 30000 phonecall complaints from terrified viewers!

5Yesterday

AJRedЯum2

Stephen Volk wanted to put a high pitch tone on the broadcast that humans wouldn't be able to hear but that would have dogs going mad at the screen. Imagine the additional hoo-ha if they'd gone ahead with that.

Crary

@crary.bsky.social

Just so--and this sort of revisionism has really helped me understand how the popular legend of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" came to be.

5Yesterday

Something Pete Milan This Way Comes

@petemilan.bsky.social

Eighty-eight years ago tonight, on October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and The Mercury Theater on the Air created THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, creating the mockumentary. Here's a playlist of the many versions and remakes, as well as a couple more audio dramas that use the format. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

420h ago

Ginny

@gmoyer17.bsky.social

Today, in 1938, the War of the Worlds was Broadcast The radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds created localized fear and confusion with "special bulletins" of aliens landing in New Jersey, though historical research shows that widespread national mass panic was largely exaggerated by newspapers.

32h ago

3 sources

history.comOrson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio play is broadcast | HISTORY pod.foThe British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa: #129 Orson Welles' War of the Worlds and a 1930s BBC Ghost Story snopes.comDid the 1938 Radio Broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' Cause a Nationwide Panic?

88th anniversary of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcastmovies

88th anniversary of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast

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