October 25 – 26, 2025

The War of the Worlds” radio play, directed by Orson Welles in 1938, is a dramatization of H.G. Wells’ novel that presented a fictional alien invasion of Earth as a series of breaking news bulletins, simulating a real-time news broadcast, which led many listeners to believe a Martian attack was actually happening, causing widespread panic due to its realistic sound effects and panicked on-air reporting style. The story centered around a Martian landing in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, where the aliens emerged from cylindrical spacecraft and unleashed deadly heat rays against humans, causing mass chaos and ultimately a futile military response.