Couple uncovers newspaper report on 'War of Worlds' broadcast

Scaring folks on Halloween can sometimes leave a lasting impression.

One such spectacular scare affected the entire nation in 1938 when Orson Welles delivered his dramatization "The War of the Worlds."

The panic that followed the radio hoax was remembered when new Cape Girardeau residents Craig and Robin Williams began packing up their former home in Memphis, Tenn.

In the attic they found a newspaper dated Oct. 31, 1938, detailing the aftermath of that Halloween scare.

"We were getting ready to move to Cape Girardeau and just cleaning and clearing things out," said Robin Williams. The newspaper was discovered at the bottom of a kindling box.

The front-page headline from the Memphis Press-Scimitar read, "U.S. Probes Radio Play That Caused Nationwide Panic." Impressed with the record of an event that shook the world, Craig Williams had the article framed when the couple arrived in Cape Girar-deau.

The newspaper story outlined the panic that followed Welles' presentation. Chaos resulted mainly on the East Coast of the United States, but there were also nationwide -- and worldwide -- repercussions. Three Berlin newspapers also reported the incident.

Sponsored by CBS, the dramatization followed the parameters of an ordinary newscast beginning with the weather report, followed by swing music and then an interruption by a flash report from an observatory professor who'd noticed a series of gas explosions on the planet Mars. On the scene reports of a meteor landing killing 1,500 people were later changed to "a metal cylinder containing strange creatures" armed with death rays who were at war with citizens. An actor representing the secretary of the interior spoke of the disaster urging citizens to evacuate.

Mona Hill of Cape Girar-deau was 18 at the time of the broadcast.

"Everybody was scared," she said. "We were living on William Street at the time and when we heard people outside we went out to see they were looking up at the sky. We thought they were kind of crazy. We didn't think it was true."

Newsreels and radio

In the 1930s, families listened to radio programs together and specific shows like Jack Benny and Fred Allen were anticipated from week to week, said Charles Clippard, a Missouri Veterans Home resident.

"People got their news from newsreels when they went to the theater," he said. "The dramatization of a newscast was believable because entertainment was what was expected and people believed this was a special announcement."

Despite the fact that "War of the Worlds" was clearly introduced as a dramatization of Welles' book and likewise announced four times during the one-hour program, people were convinced it was real.

Clippard, a native of Cape Girardeau, was 15 at the time.

"It caused almost as much excitement as Pearl Harbor," he said. "Many people shut off their sets to check on neighbors and family members. My family was not too upset. Perhaps because it was happening so far away."

The telecast was enough to prompt a response from the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

"The widespread reaction to this broadcast as indicated by the press is another demonstration of the power and force of radio and points out again the serious public responsibility of those who are licensed to operate stations," said then-FCC chairman Frank R. McNinch.

"I didn't hear it but I remember my aunt calling and saying the world was ending," said Cape Girardeau resident Mike Collins, who was 13 in 1938 and lived in Belleville, Ill., at the time of the broadcast.

He said his family wasn't too scared because after the presentation regular broadcasting resumed, Charlie McCarthy came on and everyone believed everything was all right.

cpagano@semissourian.com

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