The War Of The Worlds

On October 30th, 1938, a twenty-three-year-old Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre troupe performed a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds that supposedly sent millions of Americans into mass hysteria. But did it really happen that way?

In this episode of Disturbing History, we pull back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood events in broadcasting history. We walk through Depression-era America and a nation already on edge from the looming threat of war in Europe, break down how Welles and writer Howard Koch crafted a broadcast so realistic that it mimicked the exact style of emergency news coverage listeners had been hearing for months, and then we get into what actually happened that night versus what the newspapers wanted you to believe happened.

Turns out the newspaper industry had every reason to exaggerate the panic because radio was eating their lunch, and a flawed 1940 Princeton study cemented the myth for decades.

We also tie it all into the modern UFO disclosure movement and how the exaggerated panic narrative has been used for nearly ninety years to justify keeping the public in the dark. This one goes deep, and it might change the way you think about media, trust, and the truth.

Have a forgotten historical mystery, disturbing event, unsolved crime, or hidden conspiracy you think deserves investigation?

Send your suggestions to [email protected].

Disturbing History is a dark history podcast exploring unsolved mysteries, secret societies, historical conspiracies, lost civilizations, and the shadowy stories buried beneath the surface of the past.

Follow the show and enable automatic downloads so you never miss a deep dive into history’s most unsettling secrets.

Because sometimes the truth is darker than fiction.