In 1938, future filmmaker Orson Welles broadcasted a special Halloween episode on radio featuring an adaptation of the novel War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. The novel narrates a fictional invasion on Earth by Martians.
At the beginning of the broadcast, it is stated that Welles would be presenting the novel - its name is mentioned as well as the author. . After reading an explanation on how humans were being watched and studied by other intelligent beings from space, the radio program plays some music.
From then on, the music is constantly interrupted with , reporting everything from explosions being observed on Mars to the arrival of extraterrestrials on Earth. It is said that listeners panicked after such reports.