On October 30, 1938, mass hysteria hit the United States when Martians invaded New Jersey..
or at least that’s what people believed. An hour-long radio broadcast by actor Orson Welles and his “Mercury Theater on the Air” brought an 1894 book by H.G. Wells, “War of the Worlds” to life.
In a mock news broadcast that broke into the station’s regular music hour, the audience was told of an invasion by “monsters” attempting to wipe out civilization, beginning with New York and New Jersey. Though an announcement stating that it was a fictional play ran four times, many listeners tuned in for only a short time, hearing the message and reacting immediately. Police switch boards lit up across the country, and many people on the East Coast ran into the streets or called loved ones in panic, thinking they would not have long to live.
Source: Discovery Journals/ Internet
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