Hazardous Assumptions

On October 30, 1938, a national radio program
playing dance music was interrupted with a special
news bulletin. The announcer heralded news of
a massive meteor, which had crashed near
Princeton, New Jersey. The reporter urged
evacuation of the city as he anxiously described
the unfolding scene: Strange creatures were
emerging from the meteor armed with deadly
rays and poisonous gases.

The infamous broadcast, which caused panic
throughout the country and mayhem all over
New York and New Jersey, was made by Orson
Welles, a 23-year old actor giving a dramatic
presentation of the H.G. Wells novel "The War
of the Worlds." His compelling performance
created traffic jams and tied up phone lines,
interrupted religious services and altered bus
routes. Several times in the program a statement
was made regarding the broadcast's fictional nature.
Still, many Americans were convinced that Martians
had landed. One man insisted he had heard "the
President's voice" over the radio advising all citizens
to leave their cities. Another, on the phone with a
patrolman, cried in alarm, "I heard it on the radio.
Then I went to the roof and I could see the smoke
from the bombs, drifting over toward New York.
What shall I do?"

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