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Good morning from Collegeville,

On this day in 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre presented a radio broadcast of the H.G. Wells novel, “War of the Worlds”. They made it sound as if they were interrupting another program and many of the listeners did not catch the introduction disclaimer and so panic ensued. A Martian spaceship had landed in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey and Martians were ravaging the landscape.

“Is has been estimated that of the 6 million people who heard the original broadcast, more than 1.5 million believed it to be true and more than a million others were genuinely terrified, and contemporary accounts tell of police stations swamped with calls.” Source: The Writer’s Almanac

Even in Upsala, folks believed that it was really happening and they ran to the neighbors farm so that they could die together. In 1988, Grover’s Mill, New Jersey installed a Martian Landing Site monument to celebrate its hour of fame.

The APHC show this week is a rebroadcast of a show presented at The Fitzgerald Theatre on October 29, 2005. Special guests include Prudence Johnson, Ruth McKenzie, Nickel Creek and the Midwinter Tuba Quintet. In the News From Lake Wobegon, Garrison recounts a few of the town’s Halloween pranks.

“Never take counsel of your fears.” Andrew Jackson