War of the Worlds (1938 Radio Broadcast)

"The War of the Worlds" is a book written by H.G Wells in 1898. On October 30th 1938, Orson Welles used the text as a base for a radio broadcast which sent many into hysteria. His broadcast convinced many that aliens were in fact invading the planet Earth. Welles read with convincing vigor, presenting the story in news bulletins which made the whole thing that much more dramatic and seemingly real. While there were indications that the broadcast was fiction, many missed these disclaimers. The population was also generally on edge due to the imminence of World War II.