The Night Mars Invaded America 👽 | War of the Worlds, 1938
Pack: The Night Mars Invaded America
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88 years ago, Mars invaded America… sort of. 📻👽
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre turned a Martian invasion into terrifying radio news. Some listeners believed it. The famous story of nationwide mass panic? Greatly exaggerated.
No spaceships. No heat rays. Just one unforgettable broadcast.
Would YOU have believed it?
The opening is an original fictional dramatization, not a quotation or recording from the 1938 broadcast. Martian scenes are AI-generated illustrations. Archival pictures show Welles facing reporters after the broadcast.
Archival picture credits: Universal Newsreel / National Archives and Records Administration; The Express (1938) / Wikimedia Commons. Original narration, graphics, music and sound design created for this Short.
Historical sources: - https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2014/10/27/this-week-in-universal-news-the-war-of-the-worlds-broadcast-1938/ - https://www.neh.gov/article/fake-news-orson-welles-war-worlds-80 - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/
Full sources: https://shadowfetchstudio.com/shorts/the-night-mars-invaded-america-war-of-the-worlds-1938/
Sources
- National Archives, The Unwritten Record: This Week in Universal News, the War of the Worlds broadcast (1938)
- NEH, Fake News: Orson Welles's War of the Worlds at 80
- Smithsonian Magazine, The Infamous War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Was a Magnificent Fluke
Images
- Welles press-conference newsreel, October 31, 1938, Universal Newsreel / National Archives and Records Administration
- Orson Welles with reporters, The Express, November 4, 1938, public domain in the US (Wikimedia Commons)
- Martian invasion scenes (radio, tripod, window): AI-generated illustrations, Shadowfetch Studio, labeled in the video
- Recreated headline: original graphic, not an archival page, Shadowfetch Studio
