War of the Worlds Essay
Orson Wells’ 1938 Mercury Theater of the Air radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds caused nationwide pandemonium on a scale never seen before. People in New York and New Jersey, where the bogus alien attacks were said to be taking place, took to the streets with shotguns and members of the New York National Guard reported for duty to fend off the invading extraterrestrials. Phone calls jammed police stations across the nation. The impact of this single broadcast surprised the nation and the effectiveness of radio was finally put into perspective. There are several reasons why the War of the Worlds broadcast had the effect it did. Foremost, many of the listeners tuned in after Welles had read the disclaimer, stating that it was purely an adaptation of the original Wells play.