Was the broadcast of War of the Worlds used as a cover up?

I've just finished listening to the original broadcast of H. G. Wells radio play of "war of the worlds"

here is a link to the download (be warned it is an hour long)

www.earthstation1.com...

I was interested to find that there is a theory that the whole thing was used to cover up the fact that there really was an alien landing at grovers mill

here's a couple of links to a bit of info on it

www.grassyknoll.homestead.com...

www.war-of-the-worlds.org...

I wondered if anyone else had heard of this and if you think it's just a myth that has been built up after the radio play.


Also do you think that the panic that resulted from the play goes to prove that the governments of the world are probably indeed acting in our best interests when they keep certain pieces of information from us.

(article on the effects that the War of the Worlds radio play had on the public)

www.daviddarling.info...

I have heard this Pantha...andi have the original cast *musical* version of this by Justin Hayward.

I wouldna be suprised actually if it was used as a coverup...it did cause mass hysteria and i think maybe one or two deaths as the way it was broadcast was made into a News Flash?

It is quite frightning to hear when i was younger but it was well done.

gonna listen to it again later...i just love the musical version of it.

gryff

I think it was just a test to see the reaction of the people to a real alien landing.

I've seen a couple of similar things - Alternative 3 (which was shown in the late 70's I think) and there was a movie shown in 2000 about an asteroid strike that KayEm was convinced was real (she missed the bit at the beginning that said it was fictional )

Originally posted by Gryffen
I have heard this Pantha...andi have the original cast *musical* version of this by Justin Hayward.

gonna listen to it again later...i just love the musical version of it.

gryff

My dad had the musical version on vinyl years ago. It is excellent! Richard Burton did the narration.
unfortunatly one of my dad's mates lent it up against a radiator and warped it, so I haven't heard it for years.
I will have to get myself a copy of it sometime.
It was strange hearing the original version and knowing that people actually sat around their wireless and feared for their lives believing that it was all real.

You'd think it would have exposed the radio stations to legal liabilities from listeners and FCC penalties. Maybe that's evidence to support the psyop hypothesis.

Originally posted by Pisky
I think it was just a test to see the reaction of the people to a real alien landing.

If that is true then it certainly proved a point.

but what I was really interested in was the story about the cover up.
After spending my youth listening to the story over and over again, I'm surprised that I've never heard this take on it.

That grassyknoll link story is funny.

So in order to hide the real pressence of aliens landing to retrieve something...the govt comes up with a plan to advertise a landing in the same spot and then say it was a hoax. Was this the Mexican govt that came up with this plan?


I think Wells liked to mess with people's heads and get them out of their comfort zone to see how they would react. Oliver Stone does something similar with his movies. I wish a new Orsen Wells was around today to shake things up...my post a while back about faking a UFO crash to see who in the govt showed up is kind of a reverse thinking on this conspiracy.

I actually have the original broadcast on cassette....you just have to listen to it that way, and you'll really see why it was a big scare at the time....

Still, there were people in Grover's Mill that reported that absolutely nothing happened, so no, I don't think it was a coverup... A test...possibly, but given Welles' background, I think it is what it is always thought to be, nothing more than a really good joke...

I am starting to doubt the story of a cover up because after having a good search around I can't find anything much else than what is in the 2 links that I provided earlier.
I am surprised to learn however that lessons weren't learnt from the whole thing as this shows

Another radio production of War of the Worlds in Quito, Ecuador (on February 12, 1949) used all Welles' techniques, altered to fit the region, with even more horrific results. Actors imitated the voices of government officials, including the mayor who declared women and children should flee while the men stayed to fight. A fake priest begged for God's mercy. This broadcast also terrified its listeners. Many ran for safety, but others began rioting. The radio station pled for calm, admitting the broadcast had been a prank. This embarrassed and infuriated the rioters, who surrounded the station, pummeling it with stones. Appeals to the authorities for help were fruitless. The police and the local army units had been sent off to the countryside to fight the Martians. By the time they were recalled, the radio station was in flames. Twenty people died, fifteen were injured, and $350,000 in damages had been done.

taken from here
www.worldandi.com...


what doesn't make sence to me is why people when faced with the prospect of an alien invasion would chose to start rioting instead of preparing to defend themselves and their families?

I seriously doubt it was a cover up of any kind. But the hysteria that ensued during the broadcast probably convinced the government that if anything like this ever did occur, they'd better not let the general public know about it.

let's see.. the BOOK "War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells was published in 1898. when was the radio broadcast? 1938? wasn't also it word for word? i don't think there was any connection at all. you might as well go and say that about any science fiction book turned movie/radio.

It wasn't suggested that the book was written to provide a cover up, but that the radio broadcast was put out to cover up the real alien landing.
I have to admit to never reading the book. Was it set in grovers mill? If so then yes that would mean that the whole cover up theory is false.

Think back to those times, I don't think it was a coverup at that time. The technology was still gloom, I feel that imagine being in those times and hearing something like this. I know I would freak out. I talked to my grandparents about those time, and they said that there are so many things now that were not back then. So thats just how I feel.

I'm going to see the play March 11. Its it good and what does it have to do with conspiricy?

do you mean what does the story have to do with conspiracy? nothing I suppose . If you mean what has this thread got to do with conspiracy, then did you read my first post?


(edit) sorry I think I might have misread what you meant. The conspiracy lies in whether there was an ulterior motive for broadcasting the play .

[Edited on 7-3-2004 by pantha]

Personally I think that it's just a myth. I don't think that it would have been created just for the fact of covering something up, but just a theory created after some obbsessed people saw the play, and really thought that it was reality...

J.

I think it was the government wanting to test out the use of propaganda through the radio, specificially involving UFO's to see how the public would react. This then led them to understand that it might not be the time to disclose the existance of UFO's to the public just yet

Or maybe it was Orson Welles just playing a sick joke. Maybe he realized if he dramatized it in a certain way it would cause such mass hysteria. Maybe he wanted to have an audience who really believed the story that he was telling. I wouldn't put it past him...

It was Orson Welles's idea of some fun.

It just goes to show how gullible the masses can be sometimes.

You guys should watch Orson's apology that was filmed the day after the broadcast. He even says how he can't believe how seriously people took the broadcast and he appears a bit shaken from realizing what happened.

As for NJ, no aliens landed there. People freaked out and panicked. End of story.

It is a testament to how great an entertainer Orson Welles was.

Now as for the Govt. It seems logical that the Govt would use Orson's broadcast as a bench mark to gauge as a possible factor in how the public would react to disclosure......especially in 1947. (that is of course if the Govt really has any UFO info)

y would it be a cover up? what purpose would it serve the U.S government? a mass panic would only affect the economy negatively by stopping all businesses.