1938 'War of the Worlds' broadcast sparked panic

On 30 October 1938, Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre on the Air adapted H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds as a radio drama.

The broadcast used fictional news bulletins interrupting music programmes to report a Martian invasion in Grovers Mill, New Jersey.

Many listeners who missed the opening announcement believed the reports were real due to radio's trusted authority in the 1930s.

The event became a famous example of misinformation's power, with some listeners contacting police or leaving homes in confusion.

Historians question the extent of widespread panic initially reported, but the broadcast remains a lesson in media influence.