"RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Warning." "Poisonous black smoke pouring in from Jersey marshes, reaches South Street." "Gas masks useless." "Urge population to move into open spaces." "Automobiles use routes 7, 23, 24." "Avoid congested areas." "Smoke now spreading over Raymond Boulevard." "[TIRES SCREECHING]" "RADIO VOICE: 2X 2L calling CQ." "2X 2L calling CQ New York." "Isn't there anyone on the air?" "Isn't there anyone?" "2X 2L." "EDWARD R. MURROW:" "This is the result of panic, the blind unreasoning terror of men who run and do not truly know what they are fleeing." "And this is the factual story of such a panic." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Good evening." "I'm Ed Murrow and this is the story of "The Night America" "Trembled." it was October 30, 1938, a night weather like other October nights in other years except for perhaps two factors." "First, it was a year in which the nations of the world, at peace for almost 20 years, had recently seen shattered their comfortable illusion of security." "2,000 miles away, across an ocean now realized to be no longer a safeguard against invasion, the arrogant demands of a power hungry dictator had short weeks before forced haughty Britain and proud" "France to agree to the humiliating peace of Munich." "Thus, point one." "But world events had left men shaken and unsure." "Hence, open to emotional attack against their reason, against their intelligence, and their logic." "Point two is somewhat harder to accept, but it's equally valid." "It can be traced back countless centuries beyond civilized mankind's reasoned fear of war to primitive man's instinctive terror of the great unknown." "For October 30 was that mysterious night when dark tradition tells us fiends and demons walked the whims of the world." "The one night of the year when even sensible men believe that almost anything can happen, the eve of Halloween, 1938." "And in a radio studio of the Columbia Broadcasting System in New York City, the actors and staff of the Mercury Theatre on the air were putting the final touches to what was frankly a terror tale, which was to go on the air within a few short minutes." "We see them now in the final moments of rehearsal with their director." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Jason." "Hey, fellas, hold it will ya please?" "Hold it down over there." "Thanks." "Jason, page 19, that hissing humming sound," "I'd like you to mix in the hum a little bit faster, and build it more than you did in the past." "Can you do it?" "OK, I'll do it." "OK, let's try it." "Philips?" "19?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I got it." "Pick it up about here." "Mm-hmm." "Yeah, the-- the captain and two policemen advanced with something in their hands." "Yes, I can see it now." "It's a white handkerchief tied to a pole, a flag of truce." "If those creatures know what that means, what anything means, no, wait, wait, something's happening." "A humped shape is rising out of the pit." "I can make a small beam of light against a mirror." "What's that?" "There's a jet of flames springing from that mirror, and it leaped right at the advancing men." "It strikes them head on." "Good Lord, they're turning to flames!" "OK, nice job." "That's perfect, do it just like that." "Well, that oughtta scare the daylights out of 'em." "It does me, and I've been rehearsing it for hours." "You never can tell." "Radio listeners are pretty blase nowadays." "Bill?" "Yes Sir." "The sequence where you're calling all stations, the CQ call." "Page 28?" "Yeah." "Now build that a shade more." "You think you're the last man alive on earth." "So let's have a little more desperation, huh?" "I don't wanna ham it up." "Well, this is pure fantasy." "Play with all the stops out, OK?" "OK." "I'll do that." "15 mi-- 15 minutes?" "Right." "OK." "All right, everybody take 10." "Positions at 7:55." "In October of 1938, the Columbia Broadcasting System" "Radio Network consisted of 110 affiliated stations in 44 states." "There was practically no sizable community in America which could not be reached by CBS broadcast." "Thus, from Maine to California and from Canada to the Gulf, listeners were tuned to the Mercury Theatre on that fateful night In the eastern United States, the area closest to the scene of fictitious peril, reaction" "was most vivid and violent." "However, it should be remembered that in their behavior, these Easterners we're not unique." "Everywhere emotions and reactions were the same." "Panic struck universally out of the dark but peaceful sky on a night that began quietly enough." "[DOOR BUZZER]" "MARY:" "Mother, that's Bob." "Will you let him in please?" "Hello Bob." "Good evening, Mrs. Morgan." "Come on in." "Mary'll be done in a minute." "Thank you." "Hello" "Mr." "Morgan." "Hello Bob." "Nice out?" "Yes Sir, it's swell." "Gettin' chilly?" "No, it's just right." "Perfect football weather." "You see the game yesterday?" "You bet I did, 14 to nothing." "Pretty good team this year, eh?" "Seventh in the national writing." "We oughtta be first too." "We haven't even been scored on yet." "Those seven iron Dukes." "Think they'll the Rose Bowl?" "Well, I'll tell ya, I think if we get by Syracuse and pitt, we got a good chance." "MARY:" "Hi Bob." "Hi there." "Sorry to keep you waiting." "That's OK." "We got plenty of time." "Second show doesn't start for an hour." "Oh, where are we going?" "I thought maybe they Rialto." "Oh, what's playing there?" "Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in Care Free." "You seen it?" "No, but I'd love to." "Good night, Dad." "Bob, don't keep her out too late." "No Sir." "MARY:" "Good night, Mom." "Good night, dear." "Night Bob." "Good night, Mrs. Morgan." "What's on tonight, Dad?" "Oh, what time is it?" "Oh, getting onto 8." "Ah, CBS, the Mercury Theatre, NBC" "Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy" "Charlie McCarthy." "I like him." "Let's listen to that." "[PIN BALL NOISES]" "Ya, you know, you take now a punk like this Hitler, all spit and polish, the mob yelling' hail every time he wipes his nose." "A guy like him don't raise an army just for the fun." "Mark my words, there's gonna be trouble, maybe even sooner than ya think." "DICK:" "Ah, Hitler's just a big bag of wind." "I don't know about that now." "Ah, fill this please." "He already grabbed Austria and Czechoslovakia ain't he?" "Now he's got his eye on Poland." "A big bag of wind." "Where everybody made the mistake was, they never should've buckled under him from the beginning." "If they just told him to go jump at the lake, well, what could he do, huh?" "Huh?" "France on the west, Russia on the East," "Mussolini in the South, why, he can't move a muscle any direction." "Yeah, he could go up." "Up?" "Yeah, get all of a sudden from the air anywheres he likes, America even." "America?" "Sure why not?" "Ah, I'd like to see him try to bomb this country." "Yeah, you maybe, but not me." "Because he just might get away with it." "I don't want to be nowheres around when the bomb starts fallin'." "You know, you sound like them Europeans." "They're all to yella to call his bluff." "Yella?" "What do you mean yella, huh?" "Well, I just said that" "Yeah, I heard what you said." "You think I'm yella, is that it?" "Now wait a minute Bob, he didn't mean it." "No, let go of me." "How about that?" "You think I'm yella?" "Now, look you two, I don't want no trouble here." "Lay off, will ya?" "I didn't mean you." "I just mean anybody who won't stand up and fight for his country." "Yeah, I'll fight for my country same as the next guy." "Don't think nothin' different, eh?" "(HUMMING)" "[DOOR BUZZER]" "Is that the babysitter?" "I imagine." "Good, it's" "What's your hurry?" "It's no 9 yet." "Well, I'm hungry." "Oh, thirsty you mean." "Ha." "Evening Mrs. Chandler." "I'm not late am I?" "No, Millie, right on time." "Is the baby in bed?" "Mm-hmm and asleep." "You remember when to feed him?" "Yes ma'am, 10 o'clock." "Right." "The bottle's in the refrigerator." "You remember how to warm it up?" "Yes ma'am." "Oh, I left milk and sandwiches in the refrigerator too." "So help yourself." "We won't be gone too long." "I'll be all right, Mrs. Chandler." "I brought my homework so I've got plenty to do until you get back." "Yeah, well, hold down the fort, Miller." "Yes Sir." "We'll be at the country club." "I left the phone number on the telephone pad in case you need it." "We'll get along just fine." "Good night, Millie." "Good night, Mrs. Chandler." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "10 seconds." "OK." "Stand by everybody." "The Columbia Broadcasting System, and its affiliates, present the Mercury Theatre on the air in "War of The Worlds"" "by H.G. Wells." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Ladies and gentlemen, the host of the Mercury Theatre." "We know now that in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own." "We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns, they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps, almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water." "Any action, Mike?" "Not a thing." "You get the coffee?" "Yeah." "You said black, didn't ya?" "Yeah, that's right." "That's yours then." "Thanks." "POLICE OFFICER (ON RADIO): 154 calling PD1." "154 this is PD1, come in." "POLICE OFFICER (ON RADIO):" "Mac, give me a run down on a Jersey license 32F92." "Repeat New Jersey license 3F92." "Rundown on New Jersey license 3F92, will do, hold on." "Wainwright again." "Who else?" "Does he think they're all stolen cars?" "He calls in about 20 a night." "That's what you call an obsession." "He reads too much Dick Tracy." "Well, that could be." "PD1 calling 154." "POLICE OFFICER (ON RADIO):" "Go ahead PD1." "Description, New Jersey license 3F92, 1936, blue, two-door Olds sedan, registration A387564, motor G" "14 86 90, owner Horace Adams, 1 4 0 7" "West Boulevard, Camden, you got it?" "POLICE OFFICER (ON RADIO):" "Got it." "Thanks Mac." "Right." "A real eager beaver." "Well, you gotta have somebody like him to keep you awake on a night like this." "Yeah, I suppose." "Sunday nights are usually pretty dull after Labor Day." "Pretty dull?" "You know, I took this job because I thought it was going to be exciting." "On this particular evening, October 30, the Crossley rating service estimated that 32 million people were listening in on radios." "For the next 24 hours not much changed in temperature." "A slight atmospheric disturbance of undetermined origin is reported over Nova Scotia causing a low pressure area to move down rather rapidly over the Northeastern states bringing a forecast of rain accompanied by winds of light gale force, maximum temperature 66, minimum 48." "This weather report comes to you from the Government Weather" "Bureau." "We now take you to the Meridian Room in the Hotel Park Plaza in downtown New York where you will be entrained by the music of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, from the Meridian Room in the Park Plaza in New York City, we bring in the music of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra." "And, with the touch of the Spanish," "Ramon Raquello leads off with, "La Cumparsita."" "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "[TYPING NOISES]" "Thanks Tony." "[TYPING NOISES]" "What do you got?" "You writing that Rocky Mountain crash?" "Yeah." "Almost finished." "How much copy you got on it?" "A column, a column and a half maybe." "Build it to two columns." "I got a good picture here and a double column spot on the front page." "OK, but there's not really much to it, no serious injuries." "Yeah." "We could use a good lead story." "All I've got is a community fund report." "That's the trouble on Sunday nights, nothing ever happens." "That's right, that's the trouble with Sunday nights in the news business." "Nothing ever happens." "These people are comfortable, relaxed, you might say even bovine in their smug complacency." "It's a Sunday night like other Sunday nights, quiet, uneventful." "America is at peace." "There's no threat of war." "They have no way of dreaming that within a few short minutes, their complacency is to be rudely shattered by an actor's voice speaking lines from a play." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program, of dance music to bring you a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News." "The opening words, the words that shook the nation." "PHILLIPS:" "At 20 minutes before 8 central time," "Professor Farrell of the Mount Jennings Observatory, Chicago," "Illinois reports observing several explosions of incandescent gas occurring at regular intervals on the planet Mars." "The spectroscope indicates the gas to be hydrogen and moving toward the earth with enormous velocity." "Professor Pearson of the observatory at Princeton confirms Farrell's observation and describes the phenomenon as quote, "Like a jet of blue flame shot from a gun."" "We now return you to the music of Ramon Raquello playing for you in the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza" "Hotel situated in downtown New York." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "One troubled face out of 10." "But this is the face of dawning panic on the night America trembled." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "The night America trembled." "We are bringing you the true story of the most memorable dramatic broadcast in the history of radio." "The Mercury Theatre's unforgettable dramatization of war of the worlds." "The broadcast had just begun." "Its effect is not yet beginning to make itself felt in the cities and hamlets of a nation soon to be caught in the grip of ungovernable terror." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Now a tune that never loses favor, the ever popular" ""Stardust."" "Ramon Raquello and his orchestra." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Cards gentleman." "Three." "Un, deux, trois." "So make them aces, will ya?" "One big one." "Uh oh." "OK, ah-- dealer takes two." "Opener bets." "Check the one card draw." "Check." "Two bits." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Ladies and gentlemen, following on the news, given our bulletin a moment ago" "Try me and find out." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "the government meteorological bureau" "OK, I'll up you a quarter." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "of the country to keep an astronomical watch on and further disturbances occurring on the planet Mars." "Planet Mars?" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Due to the unusual nature of this occurence, we have arranged an interview with a noted astronomer, Professor Pearson, who will give us his views on the subject." "In a few moment's, we will take you to the Princeton" "Observatory at Princeton, New Jersey." "We return you, until then, to the music of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra." "I wonder what that's all about." "Who cares?" "Will you turn that off?" "Turn it off?" "I'm studying." "You wanna study, go up to your own room." "I'm the gregarious type OK?" "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "You happy?" "Mm-hmm." "Is this as good as a movie?" "Ha, ha, better." "Look, it's a shooting star." "Hey, that was a bright one." "Cigarette?" "Mm-hmm." "Thank you." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Isn't it lovely?" "Just look out there." "Look at those stars, they look so close." "You feel like you can just reach right up and touch them." "Sure, you can." "Do you want a handful?" "You're crazy." "Crazy about you." "Mary?" "Mm-hmm?" "I got something for you today." "What?" "This." "Bob!" "Well, how 'bout it?" "What will my parents say?" "Oh, you know what they'll say." "They'll say we're too young, too immature." "But they've been saying that for a year." "What do you say?" "Shall we?" "Tonight, right now." "We" "I-- I'd like to, Bob, but" "What's the matter?" "Aren't you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." "Well then-- oh, Mary, I" " I know a Justice of the Peace and we could be there in an hour." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Ladies and gentleman, a special announcement from Trenton," "New Jersey." "It is reported that at 8:50 PM, a huge flaming object believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey 22 miles from Trenton." "The flash in the sky was visible within a radius of several hundred miles." "And the noise of the impact was heard as far north as Elizabeth." "We have dispatched a special mobile unit to the scene and will have our commentator, Mr. Phillips, give you a word description as soon as he reach there from Princeton." "In the meantime, we take you to Hotel Marinet in Brooklyn where Bobby Millette and his orchestra are offering a program of dance music." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "That must be what we saw." "No, couldn't be." "New Jersy's 500 miles north." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "We take you now to Grovers Mill." "PHILLIPS" " HOST (ON RADIO):" "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carl Phillips again at the Wilmot farm, Grovers Mill, New Jersey." "Professor Pearson and myself may be 11 miles from Princeton in just 10 minutes." "Well, I" " I hardly know where to begin to paint for you a word picture of the strange scene before my eyes." "I guess that's the-- the thing directly in front of me, huh, buried in a vast pit." "Must have struck with terrific force." "The-- the ground is covered with splinters of a tree it must have struck on the way down." "What I can see of the object itself doesn't look very much like a meteor, at least not like the meteors I've seen." "It looks, well, it looks more like a huge cylinder." "The color is sort of yellowish white." "Curious spectators now are pressing close to the object in spite of the efforts of the police to keep them back." "One man wants to touch the thing." "He's having an argument with the policeman." "And The policeman wins." "No-- now ladies and gentlemen, there's something I haven't mentioned in all this excitement, but it's becoming more distinct." "Perhaps you've caught it already on your radio." "Listen." "[SOUND EFFECTS OF WARPED MUSIC]" "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "Do you hear it?" "It's a-- it's a curious humming sound that seems to come from inside the object." "I'll move the microphone closer." "Here we are." "Now we're not more than, oh, 25 feet away." "Can you hear it now?" "[STRANGE SOUND EFFECTS]" "[PHONE RINGS]" "Hello?" "Oh, hello, Molly." "No, no, I'm just ah-- waiting here for-- for Paul and his wife." "We're going to church." "The radio?" "No I haven't, why?" "What?" "Well, just for a minute, perhaps." "Thanks Molly." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "The thing is smooth and as you can see of cylindrical shape." "Just a minute." "Just a minute, something's happening." "Ladies and gentlemen, this is terrific." "This end of the thing is beginning to flake off." "The top is beginning to rotate like-- like a screw." "The thing must be hollow." "Hey, she-- she's a movin'." "Look, the darn thing's unscrewin'." "Keep back there, keep back I tell ya." "Hey, hey, maybe there's men in it tryin' to escape." "It's red hot." "They'll burn to a cinder." "Keep back there, keep those idiots back." "She's off." "The top's loose." "Look out there." "Stand back." "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed." "Wa" " Wait a minute, someone's crawling out of the hollow top, someone or-- or some thing I can see peering out of that black hole two luminous discs." "Are they eyes?" "I-- it might be a face." "It might be-- good heavens, something's wriggling out of the shadows like a gray snake." "Now it's another, and another." "They look like tentacles to me." "There, I can see the thing's body." "It's-- it's-- it's as large as a bear and it glistens like wet leather." "The face, it's indescribable." "I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it." "The eyes are black." "I'm going to turn this thing off." "Oh, no." "It's makin' me nervous." "No Bob." "Listen." "Listen." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "Saliva dripping from it's" "OK." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "Riffleless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate." "The monster, or whatever it is, can hardly move." "It seems weighted down by, well, by possibly" "Oh, it's horrible." "[PHONE RINGS]" "Times World." "City desk." "A what?" "Wait a minute." "Hey, Johnny you got anything on the wire about a meteor falling in New Jersey?" "No, ma'am, we haven't got anything on it." "Nothing at all." "No ma'am." "Don't mention it." "What do you suppose is ailing her?" "Why, what's up?" "She said she heard something on the radio about a meteor landing in New Jersey carrying Martian monsters." "Boy, people." "So the Mercury Theatre on the air blithely proceed with its dramatization of H.G. Wells" ""War Of The Worlds."" "The actors, of course, have no way of knowing their performance is sowing the seeds of panic amongst hundreds of thousands who believe they're actually hearing a facto report." "But others are beginning to feel it's impact." "For instance, the officers on duty at the state police and fire dispatchers office in Trenton, New Jersey." "[PHONE RINGS]" "State Police." "No Sir, we don't know anything about that." "Sir, there is no Grovers Mill in New Jersey." "There's a Groves Mill, but there's no Grovers Mill." "I can't help it, Sir, what the radio says." "There's no such place." "[PHONE RINGS]" "State Police." "No ma'am we don't know anything about that." "Well, I can't help that ma'am." "We just don't know anything about it." "Well, did I say somethin' about a quiet Sunday evening?" "Well, what's goin' on anyway?" "[PHONE RINGS]" "I don't know." "They say it's been announced on the radio." "You better check." "State Police." "[PHONE RINGS]" "No Sir, we have no information on that, sorry." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "We are bringing you an eye witness account of what's happening on the Wilmot farm, Grover's mill, New Jersey." "Meanwhile a counter interlude." "That must be it." "What the hell's he talking about Grovers Mill?" "There's no such place." "Maybe it's just a play or somethin'." "RADIO BROADCASTER (ON RADIO):" "We now return you to Carl Phillips at Grovers Mill." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "Ladies and gentleman, ah-- am I on?" "Ladies and gentlemen, here I am back of a stone wall that adjoins Mr. Wilmot's garden." "Form here, I get a sweep of the whole scene." "[PHONE RINGS]" "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "I'll give you every detail as long as I can talk, as long as can see." "More state police have arrived." "More state police?" "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "They're drawing up a course just in front of the pit." "State Police." "No, Sire, we have no information on that yet." "We're checking it now." "All right, just wait'll next year, you'll see." "Oh, next year, next year, always next year." "The Dodger's ain't won a pennant since 1920." "And you're sayin' they ain't never gonna win another, eh?" "Probably." "Boy, I wish I knew all the answers like you do, you know." "Oh, come on, you guys." "Why you two always arguing'?" "Mike, have you heard?" "Head what?" "About the Martians, a spaceship full of Martians landed near Trenton 50 miles from here." "It's on the radio now." "Martians?" "Well, that's what the guy said." "What guy?" "Well, some guy on the radio, some professor from Princeton." "The state cops are out there now." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "The captain and two policemen advance with something in their hands." "Yes, I can see it now." "It's a white handkerchief tied to a pole, a flag of truce." "It those creatures know what that means, what-- what anything means." "Wait, wait, something's happening." "A humped shape is rising out of the pit." "I can make out a small beam of light against a mirror." "What's that?" "There's a jet, a flame springing from that mirror and it leaps right at the advancing men." "It strikes them head on." "Good Lord, they're turning into flames." "Now the whole field's caught fire." "The woods, the barns, the gas tanks of automobiles, it's spreading everywhere." "It's coming this way about 20 yards to my right." "Ladies and gentleman, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to continue the broadcast from Grovers Mill." "Evidently there is some difficulty with our field transmission." "However, we will return you to that spot at the earliest opportunity." "Well, come on." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "In the meantime" "Come on, we gotta get down there fast." "I gotta a car." "Down where?" "Down to Grovers Mill." "Well, where's Grovers Mill?" "Somewhere near Trenton, I think." "Oh, now, wait a minute fellas." "We don't know what this is all about." "Who don't know." "It's like I told ya." "It's the Nazis." "But the guy on the radio said it was monsters from Mars." "It's Nazi air raids." "Come on, come on." "We gotta get down there." "Hey, you guys, wait for me." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been handed a message that came from Grovers Mill by telephone." "Ah-- just a moment." "Who's deal?" "Speak up." "What's the matter?" "Isn't anybody interested in poker anymore?" "Todd, this is important, listen." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "At least 40 people, including six state troopers, lie dead in a field east of Grovers Mill." "Their bodies burned and distorted beyond all possible recognition." "Ladies and gentlemen, the next voice you hear will be that of Brigadier General Montgomery Smith," "Commander of the state militia at Trenton, New Jersey." "Trenton?" "That's where my family lives." "Listen, listen." "I have been requested by the governor of New Jersey to place the counties of Mercer and Middlesex as far west as Princeton and East to Jamesburg under martial law." "Four companies of state militia are proceeding from Trenton to Grovers Mill and will aid in the evacuation of homes within the range of military operations." "Thank you." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "You have just listening to General Montgomery Smith." "Charlie, you hear that?" "They're calling out the Army." "And my folks, I" " I think I'd better call them." "Take is easy, Buzz." "They're all right." "What do you know?" "I'm gonna call them." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Grovers Mill are coming in." "The strange creatures are" "Listen, how far is that from here?" "Couple hundred miles." "Come on, let's play cards, huh?" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "The efforts of the firemen." "Deal me out." "I don't wanna play." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Combined fire departments from" "Ah, for Pete's sake." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Mercer County are fighting the flames, which menace the entire countryside." "We have been unable to establish any contact with our mobile unit at Grover Mill." "But we hope to be able to return you there at the earliest possible moment." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "Something moving, solid metal, kind of a shield like affair rising up out of the cylinder." "It's standing on legs actually rearing up on a sort of metal framework." "Now it's reaching above the trees and the search lights are on it." "Hold on." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a grave announcement to make." "Incredible as it may seem, both the observations of science and the evidence of our own eyes lead to the inescapable assumption that these strange beings that landed in New Jersey farmlands tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from the planet Mars." "Mars?" "Bob, Bob, turn around, go back, go back." "Bob!" "Bob!" "I wanna go home." "I wanna go home." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "October 30, 1938, The Night America Trembled." "The impact of the Mercury Theatre's broadcast of H.G." "Wells "War Of The Worlds" is as devastating as it is unexpected." "The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations, the newspapers, the police and fire departments of the whole nation all are being deluged by a Niagara of calls from frenzied listeners who believe the radio drama to be the real thing." "More than a million listeners from Coast to Coast are caught in the grip of a contagious mass hysteria." "And they flee in terror from an incredible bogeymen, mythical invaders from the planet Mars." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Strewn over the battle area from Grovers" "Mill to Plainsboro crushed and trampled to death under the metal feet of the monster or burned to cinders by its heat ray." "Langham Field, Virginia scouting planes report three Martian machines visible above treetops moving north toward Somerville with populations fleeing ahead of them." "B train not in use, although advancing at express train speed, invaders pick their way carefully." "One moment please." "Here is a bulletin from Basking Ridge, New Jersey." "Coon hunters have stumbled on a second cylinder similar to the firs embedded in the great swamp" "20 miles south of Morris" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Is this the country club?" "I want to speak to Mr. or Mrs. Chandler." "And hurry, please hurry." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Can be open and the fighting machine rigged." "They are taking up positions in the foot hills of" "Hello?" "Mr. Chandler, this is Millie." "Can you come home, please, right away." "No the baby's all right." "It's the Martians." "Yes, Martians." "Do you mean you haven't heard?" "Oh Mr. Chandler, it's all over the radio." "Awful things are happening." "The Martians have landed in New Jersey with flame throwers and poison gas and they've killed everyone in Trenton." "We've got to get out of here Mr. Chandler." "They'll kill us all." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Report enemy machines now" "No, I'm not a scandal, it's just that-- yes, yes, I'll wait 'till you get here." "But hurry, hurry." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Machines also sighted by telephone operators into middlesex within 10 miles of Plainfield." "Here's a bulletin, Winston Field, Long Island." "Fleet of Army bombers carrying heavy explosives flying North in pursuit of enemy." "[SOUND EFFECTS OF PLANES]" "PILOT:" "Army bombing plane V843 of Bayonne, New Jersey," "Lieutenant Voth commanding eight bombers reporting to Commander Fairfax, Langham Field." "This is Voth reporting to Commander" "Fairfax, Langham Field." "Enemy tripod machines now in sight reinforced by three machines from the Morristown cylinder, six altogether." "One machine partially crippled believed hit by shells from Army gun on Watchung Mountains." "Guns now appear silent." "A heavy black fog hanging close to the earth" "Yes, listen, this thing's gotten outta hand." "What thing?" "The switchboard downstairs is flooded with calls." "People who think it's the real McCoy." "You're kidding." "I wish I were." "It-- it's an awful mess." "But they can't." "It was clearly announced as a play." "Well, I know that, but they don't." "Well, what do you want me to do?" "Well, can't you make some sort of an announcement." "Tell them it's just a dramatization." "Well, it's three minutes until the break." "We'll tell'em then." "Oh, do that please." "The switchboard operator's are about ready to go out of their minds." "Planes circling, ready to strike." "1,000 yards and we'll be over the first, 800 yards, 600, 400, 200, there they go." "The giant arm raised, green flash, they're spraying us with flame." "2000 feet, engines are giving out." "No chance to release bombs." "Only one thing left, drop on them plane and all." "We're diving on the first one." "The engine's gone." "This is a Bayonne, New Jersey calling Langham Field." "This is Bayonne, New Jersey calling Langham Field." "Come in please." "Come in please." "This is Langham Field, go ahead." "Eight Army bombers in engagement with enemy tripod machines over Jersey flats." "Engines" "Trenton, New Jersey operator." "How many times do I have to tell ya." "Will ya please hurry?" "What do you mean, you can't get it?" "You gotta get through." "Heavy black smoke in the direction" "She said the circuits are busy." "Come on, I gotta call home too." "Charlie?" "Charlie?" "Hey where's Charlie goin?" "Now, Charlie's drivin' home with Dale." "Hurry up with the phone, will ya please?" "[TIRES SCREECHING]" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Warning." "Poisonous black smoke pouring in from Jersey marshes." "Reaches South Street." "Gas masks useless." "Urge population to move into open spaces." "Automobiles use routes 7, 23, 24." "Avoid congested areas." "Smoke now spreading over Raymond Boulevard." "[TIRES SCREECHING]" "It's just a radio play, Sir." "State Police, no, no, ma'am, ma'am it's just a radio play." "State Police." "No, Sir, it's just a ra-- no Sir, we have no official confirmation but we believe it's just a radio play." "Got anything yet, Browning?" "No, wait a minute, something's coming in now." "[PHONE RINGS]" "Hey, this is it." "MAC:" "State Police." "It's just a" "It's what we thought." "MAC: radio play, ma'am." "Attention all units," "Yes." "Attention all units." "We're not sure, but we thing so." "There is no invasion from Mars." "The invasion panic is the result of a radio broadcast." "Repeat there is no invasion from Mars." "Proceed to distribute" "It's just a radio play, Sir." "Information as quickly as possible." "Yes Sir, we're positive." "Attention all units." "Attention all units." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "I'm speaking from the roof of the broadcasting building, New York City." "Bells you hear are ringing to warn people to evacuate the city as the Martians approach." "Estimate that in last two hours 3 million people have moved out along the roads to the North." "Hutchinson River Parkway still kept open for motor traffic." "Avoid bridges to Long Island, hopelessly jammed." "All communication with Jersey Shore closed 10 minutes ago." "No more defenses, our Army wiped, Artillery," "Air Force, everything wiped out." "This may be the last broadcast." "We'll stay here 'till the end." "Paul." "Oh, Paul." "Mother." "Oh, Paul, Jane." "It's the end of the world." "We're all going to die." "I just heard it on the radio." "Give me me a ticket, anywhere, as far as this will take me." "And hurry, the Martians are coming." "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Black smoke drifting over the city." "People in the streets see it now." "They're running towards the East River, thousands of them dropping in like rats." "Now the smoke's spreading faster." "It's reached Times Square." "They're falling like flies." "Now the smoke is crossing Sixth Avenue." "[DOOR BUZZER]" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "Fifth Avenue." "It's 100 yards away." "50 feet." "Millie, what on earth's the matter with you?" "The baby." "The monsters." "The monster's are going to kill us." "Now, monsters, what are you talking about?" "The radio." "The radio?" "Dead." "The announcer must be dead." "POLICE OFFICER (ON RADIO): 2X 2L, calling CQ." "2X 2L calling see CQ." "2X 2L calling CQ New York." "Isn't there anyone on the air?" "Isn't there anyone?" "2X 2L." "It's just a radio play, Sir." "The whole city must have gone nuts." "You mean the whole nation, the AP says the same thing's happening everywhere." "Well, this is the lead story I wanted, and I can't even find time to remake the front page." "[PHONE RINGS]" "When is this ever gonna end?" "It's just a radio play, ma'am." "No ma'am." "There is no invasion." "It's just a radio play." "BROWING:" "Engine Company 5 and Chemical 5 to Somerset and Lord." "Hey, hey, wh-- where's Grovers Mills?" "What?" "We come to volunteer." "Volunteer?" "Yeah, the Nazi war planes, where'd they land?" "No its' the Martians." "Fellas, fellas, there are no Martians, there are no Nazis." "It's just a radio play." "Now go home." "A radio play?" "[PHONE RINGS]" "That's all, now beat it." "Get outta here." "But Chief, it was clearly announced as a play." "Here's a publicity released in tonight's paper." "Now listen, when the Mercury Theatre on the air broadcasts over the Columbia network at 8:00 PM, they will do H.G. Wells "War Of The Worlds."" "This is one of the first shows about Martians." "It tells how the octopus like creatures from Mars lay waste the earth until there are only a few humans left." "Yes, that's absolutely right, every paper." "We-- well, how clear can you make a thing?" "All they had to do is check." "Nobody in his right mind would believe it." "RADIO SHOW FEMALE:" "He can give her Rudy Vallee for three days." "I'm gettin' hungry." "RADIO SHOW FEMALE:" "Hungry?" "RADIO SHOW MALE:" "Hungry?" "RADIO SHOW FEMALE:" "Well, I'm the one that's hungry." "I tell ya, darling, I'm so staved, I could almost ah" "RADIO SHOW FEMALE:" "Don't look at me that way." "No." "I'm just skin and bones." "MARY:" "Mama." "Mama!" "Mary, what's the matter?" "What's going on here." "It was a meteor, Sir." "No, no, it's the Martians." "They're coming." "Haven't you heard?" "They're destroying the world." "Martians?" "What are you talking about?" "It's on the radio." "Well, we've been listening to the radio ever since y6ou left." "We haven't heard anything about it." "Well, I don't get it." "It oughtta be on every station in the world." "Turn to CBS." "PHILLIPS HOST (ON RADIO):" "This is your host, ladies and gentlemen, out of character to assure you that "The War Of The Worlds" has no further significance than as the holiday offering it was intended to be." "The Mercury Theatre's own radio version of dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and saying, boo!" "." "Starting now, we couldn't soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so we did the next best thing." "We annihilated the world before your very ears and utterly destroyed the Columbia Broadcasting System." "Now, you will be relieved, I hope, to learn that we didn't mean it and that both institutions are still open for business." "So, good bye everybody, and remember please, for the next day or so, the terrible lesson you learned tonight." "That grinning, glowing, globular invader of your living room is an inhabitant of the pumpkin patch." "And ah-- if your doorbell rings and nobody's there, that was no Martian, it's Halloween." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "Of all the" "Why didn't you check the other stations?" "Well, we didn't have time, Sir." "We were too busy listening." "You mean you really believed it?" "Oh, you kids have got a lot to learn." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "It's all right, Millie." "It's all over now." "Are you-- are you sure, Mrs. Chandler?" "Yes, Millie." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "RADIO BROADCASTER:" "This is CBS, the Columbia" "Broadcasting System." "For the listeners who tuned in to the Mercury Theatre on the air broadcast tonight and did not realize that the program was merely a radio adaptation of H." "G. Wells famous novel, "The War Of The Worlds"" "we are repeating the fact, made clear four times on the program, that the entire content of the play was entirely fictitious." "But I" " I don't understand." "Well, it was just a radio play, Millie." "I just can't believe it." "It was so real." "Ah, yes, it was so real." "So real that i completely fooled poor Millie and more than a million others who slowly came to their senses and realized they've been panicked by a colossal Halloween joke." "And what were their reactions?" "Well, many laughed, with perhaps just a touch of historical relief in their laughter." "Me scared?" "Course not." "I knew it was a play all the time." "Sure me and the old woman was runnin' down the streets, mingled with the crowds, but we wasn't scared ourselves, just for the kicks." "Se how the others was takin' it." "You know what I mean." "Others were somewhat indignant." "A fine trick the play on people." "My-- my sister passed out." "All the kids were screaming their heads off." "The whole house was in an uproar." "Is that what you call entertainment?" "And still others we're furiously angry." "Hello CBS?" "Say, what are you gonna do about me?" "I'm 300 miles from home without a penny in my pocket." "Where am I calling from?" "Buffalo, New York, that's where I'm calling from." "And it's all your fault." "So the reactions of the period." "But there is one thing we must not overlook." "All this took place in 1938 in a less sophisticated yesteryear that did not know the atom bomb guided missiles and rockets that may shortly fly to the moon." "20 years ago, the concept of an alien race was novel to us, hence." "Alarming." "Today we realize that Mars is very near, closer perhaps in time than we imagined." "There is every reason to believe that long before the Martians come to us, we will go to them." "I wonder if we'll panic them as they did us on the night America trembled." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "BETTY FURNESS:" "No more burning your fingers reaching for toast." "This beautiful new Westinghouse toaster with this exclusive lift up lever, lifts small pieces an extra inch." "Buy now, save $6 on confection colors model, $4 on chrome model." "Your choice only $15.95." "[MUSIC PLAYING]" "ART HANNES:" "Studio One gratefully acknowledges the cooperation of Paramount Pictures, whose current release of Cecil B. DeMille's "10 Commandments." "" Westinghouse Studio One has come to you from New York and has been selected for viewing by America's Armed" "Forces at home and overseas." "This is Art Hannes saying good night for Westinghouse." "[MUSIC PLAYING]"