Orson Welles with Reporters

The War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G. Wells was one of the first stories to depict the meeting of humans and aliens. Welles’s book helped popularize modern science fiction and the idea that aliens might exist. In 1938, director Orson Welles directed and narrated an adaptation of H.G. Wells book for radio. The radio dramatization told a similar tale in a series of news bulletins and eyewitness accounts that added to the story’s realism. Despite repeated warnings about the fictional nature of the broadcast, some listeners believed that a small town in New Jersey was in the midst of an alien invasion—which the press in turn had a field day with.

In this photo, Welles meets with reporters to explain that no one connected with the broadcast knew it would cause panic.