One Halloween Eve

One Halloween Eve

October 30th, 1938 

( yes, I'm old, but not quite this old enough to have experienced this first hand) 

Many years ago, when the young medium of radio was the communication network of the country.  Long before television, computers, and the internet. Only proceeded by newspapers and books... radio, a real time modern sensation that not only entertained but provided instant access to news, sometimes live when it was actually happening. Todays generation can not conceive the role of the radio to being the singular powerful source for instantaneous reporting of the news. A live voice and background sounds that brought you directly into a surreal moment... sometimes loaded with emotions... sometimes envoking  happy thoughts, and sometimes even fears. And add to this your own imagination... and you were  enmerged into the emotional events being reported on the radio as if you were really there, when and where it was happening. Radio, the life blood of information and entertainment.  Families would gather around the radio to be entertained or listen to the news of the day... just as families today might gather around the TV to watch a show or sports. Radio in its early days held a power that captivated people, a Marvel of Technology at that time. A time when people were less cautious of what they were hearing, and had the innocent mindeset that anything they heard was truthful and real. And on one Halloween Eve, one of the matters of the imagination and entertainment, decided to have a happy Halloween scare on his weekly radio show. "The Mercury theatre on the air" radio show reinacted a live performance of  "the war of the worlds".  Disguised as a musical entertainment show, interrupted by breaking news reports of the earth being invaded by martians, the detailed realistic news reports were coupled with what would seem to be live on the spot coverage. Theatrical sound effects completed the performance... and the imagination of the radio listeners fueled emotionally charged fears that what was being reported,  was truly really happening. Earth was being invaded by martians and committing mass destruction as they marched across the country in their machines of death. The show was intended as a Halloween prank, effectively a  "Boo" in the spirit of Halloween. But many people believed the invasion to be real. The panic on Halloween Eve. Some say... The night that practiced America. Accounts vary as to how many people were actually thrown into terror and panic. 

SIDENOTE: the young medium of radio was so influential that used skillfully in the wrong hands, it could mesmerize and hypnotize people into believing everything they would hear. It was one of the biggest propaganda tools used by Adolf Hitler to influence the German people to not only accept his doctrine and beliefs, but allowed him to control their minds and their lives... and follow him into the war for world domination. 

I wouldn't say that our political leaders use the media to this extent,  but they clearly use the media for their own agenda which is usually not in the best interest of the people... No matter how much they want you to believe it so.