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Halloween: Listen to the original "War of the Worlds"

Seventy-four years ago, Orson Welles narrated this alien invasion story, setting off a panic of interplanetary proportions.
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New York Times headline the day of the panic.
New York Times headline the day of the panic.
Published: Oct. 31, 2012 at 9:13 PM
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com

In October, 30 1938, 74 years ago, Orson Welles read H.G. Wells' novel about an alien invasion as an episode of the Mercury Theatre on Air. Read as a series of bulletins, and without commercial breaks, many listeners were accidentally tricked into believing an actual alien invasion was happening. Panicking people called police, and newspapers reported thousands fleeing their homes.

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