Orson+Welles'+War+of+the+Worlds+Radio+play

 The release of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds Radio Play resulted in many American developing radical ideas. National Geographic News wrote, “Thousands of people, believing they were under attack by Martians, flooded newspaper offices and radio and police stations with calls, asking how to flee their city or how they should protect themselves from "gas raids." Scores of adults reportedly required medical treatment for shock and hysteria.”(Lovgen). Although the radio broadcast was a fictional piece that was adapted from H.G. Wells book, War of the Worlds, it caused great fear. It was created with the intent of sounding as if it was a legitimate news report, and even included a weather report that sounded genuine. The result was mass panic and millions of people fearing for their lives. Many people in New England “fled their homes”(Rosenberg) while others “improvised gas masks”(Rosenberg). The scene that followed in the wake of the broadcast was chaotic at best. However, despite the many negative factors brought about by the War of the Worlds Radio Play, it also brought with it several important lessons. These lessons included, the dangers of developing radical ideas as well as the importance of not believing everything that is broadcast over the radio.
 * Liam - Radical Thoughts **

Works Cited Lovgen, Stefan. ""War of the Worlds": Behind the 1938 Radio Show Panic."News.nationalgeographic.com. National Geographic News, 17 June 2005. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

Rosenberg, Jennifer, and On Sunday. "War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Causes Panic." About. Com Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

 On October 30, 1938, CBS Radio broadcasted the radio play adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the worlds. “The radio play was extremely realistic, with Welles employing sophisticated sound effects and his actors doing an excellent job portraying terrified announcers and other characters” (History). While CBS put out a disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast telling people it was fictional, those who tuned in later thought it was real. People feared for their lives as they heard of a meteorite hitting New Jersey and New York under attack by aliens. While this hoax caused mass panic, it displayed the effectiveness of radio to warn people in emergencies. Radio was becoming more popular, bringing competition to newspapers as to who could best spread the news. “The hoax worked, historians say, because the broadcast authentically simulated how radio worked in an emergency” (Lovgen). War of the Worlds also opened up the world to the beginning of science fiction. As people were already on edge over WWII, the radio play served to spark wonder over other dangers that the world might face in the future.
 * Jim - Current Belief **

Works Cited Lovgen, Stefan. ""War of the Worlds": Behind the 1938 Radio Show Panic." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 17 June 2005. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

"Welles Scares Nation." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

 The emerging theories about aliens have now turned more to the government. People have now turned an eye to the government being behind these unexplained events and happenings. The radio play by Orson Welles, War of the Worlds, caused the nation to go into panic. They believed that aliens where attacking, then found out it was fake. Later more and more events as time went on were believed to be aliens. Events such as Roswell crash “In July 1947, rancher Mac Brazel discovered some strange debris in an area northwest of Roswell, N.M. Brazel couldn't identify the debris, and a nearby military base released conflicting information about the material's origin.” (Goldmeier1). These events have cause many new theories to rise up, the main one being that the American government is behind these unexplained events. These theories have changed due to the unexplained nature of the events and the digression from the government. Roswell has been widely thought of as the government covering up the aliens. According to Strickland, “the mystery of Area 51 is still only one example of the vast network of supposed government cover-up of alien contact” (Strickland 1). These new theories have caused uproar but have not been confirmed. The people may never know if they are real its all just a mystery of the world.
 * Colton - Emerging Theories **

Works Cited <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Goldmeier, Stephen. "Six Of The Most Widely-Believed Alien Conspiracy Theories." Io9. N.p., 17 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Strickland, Jonathan. "Top 10 Space Conspiracy Theories." HowStuffWorks. Discovery Channel, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles sparked nation-wide panic. With the radio still being the most popular means of receiving news bulletins, there was no shortage of listeners to take in all of the details of this incredibly realistic broadcast. Today, the mere thought of aliens invading Earth has become comical to the average person. However, during the time of the broadcast, the general population was fascinated with science fiction, a point emphasized by the National Geographic, “It was also the time during which science fiction developed as a popular genre” (Lovgen). With so many popular science fiction novels addressing the notion of an alien invasion, such an event was unsettling to most and for many, a genuine possibility. Even in spite of the introduction which “emphasized that it was based on the H.G. Wells novel” (Lovgen), many individuals ended up tuning in late, making this dramatization seem no different from an actual news broadcast. The consequences of this fake broadcast were jaw-dropping, as summarized by About.com, “All across the United States, listeners reacted. Thousands of people called radio stations, police and newspapers. Many in the New England area loaded up their cars and fled their homes. In other areas, people went to churches to pray” (Rosenberg). Such a dramatic and widespread response showed that most of the listeners completely believed what they were hearing, as outlandish as the entire event sounds. What followed was complete outrage towards Orson Welles, unsurprisingly resulting in numerous lawsuits. Welles’ iconic broadcast demonstrated the vulnerability most individuals in the United States had towards information distributed by the mainstream media, and how their misinformation can become widely accepted without question.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Dylan - Popular Belief **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Works Cited <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Lovgen, Stefan. ""War of the Worlds": Behind the 1938 Radio Show Panic." Nationalgeographic.com. National Geographic, 17 June 2005. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Rosenberg, Jennifer. "War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Causes Panic." About.com. About, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.