The finale of this brief series on hoaxes in history is about Orson Welles and the War of the Worlds Hoax. It is the most famous of all the hoaxes in my series, so I saved it for last.

In 1938, CBS radio has a program titled Mercury Theatre on the Air that broadcast mostly literary classics, so that people without access to books could hear them on their radios. However, the show had only a small following at the time and no sponsors.

So, similar to what we saw in the first blog post in this series, the show’s promoters dreamed up a way to create a sensation. They decided to air the novel War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. In the book, written in 1898, Martians land in Great Britain and kill British subjects with their advanced weaponry—an interesting satire of Earth’s most prominent colonizers being colonized themselves. Only diseases for which the Martians have no immunity defeat them. Readers may also remember this book inspired a major Hollywood movie some years ago.

In the CBS War of the Worlds Hoax, however, the network changed the scene of the invasion to New Jersey and modified the story into a news broadcast. The hurried organization gave the performance a chaotic aspect, which, along with some clever sound effects, actually served to heighten public fears because it felt panicked and more like a true alien invasion would. Thus, gullible listeners, but also some listeners who tuned in after the start of the show, thought they were hearing the real thing.

Reaction to the War of the Worlds Hoax

While researching for this post, I found that there is some dispute as to exactly how many listeners believed the War of the Worlds Hoax. Some sources claim that later writers overstated the fear, and that very few people engaged in actual acts of public hysteria. Others claim a greater public reaction. Whatever the numbers, there was enough of a sensation that Orson Welles made a public statement at a press conference the following day disavowing any intent to scare the public. The sincerity of his remarks, however, have been in question ever since.

Please Click Here to Subscribe to My History Blog!

Indeed, most of the participants felt the performance would be a flop. Partly because they felt rushed, and partly because the idea of a Martian invasion was so ridiculous no one would ever believe it. Against all their expectations, however, they succeeded in putting together one of history’s most famous sleights of hand, the War of the Worlds Hoax.

Please Subscribe!

If you enjoyed this blog, please consider signing up to follow it by scrolling down or clicking here, and recommending it to your friends. As always, I welcome constructive and polite discussion in the comments section. Thank you!