Only the people who didn't listen to the whole show. The hysterical ones only caught bits of the show and panicked. People who listened to the whole thing knew it was a drama. It was introduced as such, the whole story from sighting explosions on Mars to people being killed on Earth happened in mere minutes, and Orson Welles said at the end that he couldn't TP every tree or soap every window in the country so it was his best way to prank everyone and say "Boo!"
I have the entire broadcast on a record I bought over 50 years ago.
Only the people who didn't listen to the whole show. The hysterical ones only caught bits of the show and panicked. People who listened to the whole thing knew it was a drama. It was introduced as such, the whole story from sighting explosions on Mars to people being killed on Earth happened in mere minutes, and Orson Welles said at the end that he couldn't TP every tree or soap every window in the country so it was his best way to prank everyone and say "Boo!"
I have the entire broadcast on a record I bought over 50 years ago.
Right. People don't pay attention and listen to everything.
My wife had a relative who heard a bit of the show, put a pot on his head, and ran outside with his gun in defense against Martians. :)
The whole country was in an uproar for a bit.