The Greatest Prank in American Journalism

The Broadcast That Shook America

Welles, alongside his Mercury Theatre on the Air troupe, adapted H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel The War of the Worlds into a radio play. However, instead of presenting the story as a traditional narrative, Welles crafted it to sound like a series of real-time news bulletins interrupting a regular music program.

The broadcast began with an introduction stating that it was a dramatization, but as the show progressed, listeners tuning in late missed this disclaimer. What followed was a chillingly realistic series of reports describing explosions on Mars, an extraterrestrial invasion landing in New Jersey, and destructive heat rays obliterating everything in their path. The play included frantic field reporters, terrified eyewitnesses, and even a fictional government official addressing the nation in an eerily convincing manner.