Fire at Radio Station after Broadcast

On Sunday October 30^th  1938, a radio adaptation of the book The War of the Worlds was told by Orson Welles and aired on the CBS station in the United States. In his broadcast, Welles announced to the public that Aliens had invaded the United States. The broadcast aimed to over dramatize the event involving all parts of a normal radio show, weathermen, announcers, scientists and others to make people think that the invasion was real when in reality it was all taking place in the studio. It sparked mass hysteria and panic over the fear that the United States would be taken over by an alien lifeforce. People in New England began to pack up and flee, others frantically called into their radio stations and churches became a sanctuary for people to pray. More serious implications of the broadcast involved miscarriages, early births and even deaths caused by the mass hysteria. It was not hours after the broadcast concluded that people realized that it was not real and they were safe (Rosenberg).

This broadcast did not just spark panic in the United States, on February 12, 1949, the War of the Worlds broadcast came to Ecuador. Before the broadcast, ‘El Comercio’ a newspaper in Ecuador reported unusual sightings in the sky. These reports served as a preamble to the broadcast, casting doubt and suspicion in the minds of the Ecuadorian people when it finally aired. The broadcast was aired on the Radio  Quito station, which was owned by the newspaper. The newscaster reported a UFO sighting in Quito and followed the same elaborate plot as the original broadcast to convince listeners that people were reporting from multiple locations. Twenty-minutes in after reports of panic, the broadcast ended. However, those in the city were outraged and began to riot outside the building eventually setting fire to it, since the newspaper office was located in the building it burned quickly. The people responsible for the broadcast had charges pressed against them and the director of the station exiled himself in Venezuela (López). This was an incredibly bizarre event in a time of great hysteria amongst many nations, McCarthyism and many other communist fears began to spread in the US after World War II beginning a time of increased paranoia so it is unsurprising that people reacted quickly and somewhat violently in this terrifying situation.

Works Cited:

López, Alfred. “La Retransmisión De ‘La Guerra De Los Mundos’ En Radio Quito Que Acabó En Tragedia.” Yahoo!, February 12, 2018.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Causes Panic.” About. com 17022006 (2013).