War of the Worlds

When Orson Welles broadcast a Halloween special of the classic novel War of the Worlds in 1930, the country immediately plunged into a state of emergency. Many listeners entered the broadcast part way through, missing the beginning, which explained that it was indeed just a broadcast. Welles use of bulletin style updates for the first few parts of the show made the whole endeavor seem as though it were really happening. People rushed into the streets, shotguns in hand. Many tried to dig trenches and shelters to escape the invaders from Mars. The broadcast has since gone down in history as the greatest of all time.