Hey Legend Trippers, would you
believe that back in 1938, citizens of the United States thought we were being
invaded by aliens from Mars, It’s True. While this is not a legend, but it is a really unique story and there is a monument to commemorate this event to go visit. 30 October will mark the seventy fifth anniversary
of the make believe invasion. Now you are asking “How could this happen?!” Well, it all started with a radio broadcast on CBS by Orson Wells. He and his staff
were doing a radio dramatization of the H.G. Wells novel “War of the Worlds”.
In the broadcast Mr. Wells updated the story and had the Martians attacking the
United States and he accomplished this by doing simulated news bulletins
broadcasts.
It worked so well that a lot of the listeners thought the
broadcast were real and that real Martians were trying to take over the world. People
were packing the vehicles and evacuating the major cities. On the good side,
nobody was hurt or killed, but the next morning a lot of people were mad at CBS
for the stunt. Later everybody started laughing about it. There are numerous
websites where you can still listen to the historic broadcast. Here is one at http://www.waroftheworlds.org/
It worked so well that a lot of the listeners thought the
broadcast were real and that real Martians were trying to take over the world. People
were packing the vehicles and evacuating the major cities. On the good side,
nobody was hurt or killed, but the next morning a lot of people were mad at CBS
for the stunt. Later everybody started laughing about it. There are numerous
websites where you can still listen to the historic broadcast. Here is one at http://www.waroftheworlds.org/
The first reported landing was at
Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Today to commemorate the broadcast, the citizens of
Grover’s Mills erected a monument to remember the broadcast. When we were
visiting my wife’s family in Pennsylvania, I took a day trip to Grover’s Mill
to find the monument. It took a while, but I found it nestled between a playground
and a baseball field.
ABC in 1975 did a movie about the panic broadcast called “The Night That Panicked America”. In it you see how they created all the sounds effects and how they selected Grover's Mill. You can watch in it on YouTube. Just click on the address at the bottom to view it.
ABC in 1975 did a movie about the panic broadcast called “The Night That Panicked America”. In it you see how they created all the sounds effects and how they selected Grover's Mill. You can watch in it on YouTube. Just click on the address at the bottom to view it.
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