A Scary Night

   As hard as it is to believe in 2013, with instant communication, internet, twitter, facebook, netflix and so on, that an adaptation of HG Wells "War of the Worlds" caused a panic in some parts of the U.S.
   It was 75 years ago today, Orson Welles did a live radio broadcast on the "Mercury Theatre on the Air" for CBS as a lead in to Halloween. What made it so believable was that the first two-thirds of the broadcast was presented as a series of news bulletins, which suggested an invasion from Mars was underway.
   Part of the problem was the fact Mercury Theatre did not run commercials to break up the program, further adding to the "realistic" sound of the broadcast.
   Even though there was a disclaimer supposedly broadcast at the start of the radio play, there were reports of people actually taking to the streets in panic, and (if it's to be believed) at least one death.
   The public response was one of outrage in some cases, with the news-bulletin format being described as cruelly deceptive. Even some public figures at the time joined the outcry over the broadcast. Despite, and perhaps because, of the noteriety, Welles (who later starred in one of the most famous movies ever, Citizen Kane,) fame spread.
   What you have to remember is in 1938, there was no TV, no internet. People got their entertainment from live radio broadcasts. Could it happen again today? I doubt it. With the advent of social media, and home computer use, I think it would be difficult indeed to perpetrate such a thing again.
   Happy Halloween tomorrow!

TTFN