The War of the Worlds - 1938 Radio Broadcast

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the reported panic, a public outcry arose, but CBS informed officials that listeners were reminded throughout the broadcast that it was only a performance. Welles and the Mercury Theatre escaped punishment, but not censure, and CBS had to promise never again to use the "we interrupt this program" device for dramatic purposes.

A study by the Radio Project discovered that some of the people who panicked presumed that Germans — not Martians — had invaded. Other studies have suggested that the extent of the panic was exaggerated by contemporary media.

When a meeting between H. G. Wells and Orson Welles was broadcast on Radio KTSA San Antonio on October 28, 1940, Wells expressed a lack of understanding of the apparent panic and suggested that it was, perhaps, only pretence, like the American version of Halloween, for fun. The two men and their radio interviewer joked about the matter, though clearly with some embarrassment. KTSA, as a CBS affiliate, had carried the original broadcast.

Both the War of the Worlds broadcast and the panic it created have become textbook examples of mass hysteria and the delusions of crowds.

In 1988, during the weekend nearest the fiftieth anniversary of the broadcast, West Windsor Township, in which Grovers Mills is located, held a "Martian festival" to mark the occasion. Designed solely to attract tourist revenue, this event included "Martians" firing harmless "ray guns" and various carnival rides and hucksters' stalls. The New Yorker magazine covered this event with a review beginning "It's not every day we get to see the Martians invade..."