Oh My God THis Is Horrible!

The Daily News' original coverage of 'War of the Worlds'

You need a quick break from the mind-numbing grind of Presidential election politics.

How appropriate that we can also celebrate the 70th anniversary of the "War of The Worlds"

Thursday, October 30th 2008, 2:55 AM

FAKE WAR ON RADIO SPREADS PANIC OVER U.S.

By GEORGE DIXON

This article originally ran in the October 31, 1938 edition of the New York Daily News.

A radio dramatization of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" - which thousands of people misunderstood as a news broadcast of a current catastrophe in New Jersey - created almost unbelievable scenes of terror in New York, New Jersey, the South and as far west as San Francisco between 8 and 9 o'clock last night.

The panic started when an announcer suddenly interrupted the program of a dance orchestra - which was part of the dramatization - to "flash" an imaginary bulletin ........Here's the rest of the story , and here's the actual broadcast .....  Fantastic!