In 1938, on the day before Halloween, thousands of Americans tuned into CBS radio stations and heard what seemed to be panicked news coverage of a gory martian invasion. Problem is, they'd missed the opening credits: it was actually a documentary-style radio drama, directed by and starring actor Orson Welles, that was adapted from the H.G. Wells science fiction novel The War of the Worlds.
The New York Times and other newspapers reported the aftermath the next day. Thousands of Americans believed they were under attack; some had even fled their homes, and police stations were swamped with frantic inquiries from concerned citizens.
Read on for some more examples of such misunderstandings, hoaxes gone awry and embarrassing media misinformation.
Captions by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News.com staff writer.
- Talkback
- Most Recent of 2 Talkback(s)
- Thread View
- Flat View
- Dexter
- I was sent the Dexter E-mail & it was awesome! It really was done well - I even sent one to my mom & put enough clues in it so it just didn't come out and say her name - very cool little prank to play. Too bad some people have no sense of humor.... (Read the rest)
- Posted by: tges@... Posted on: 11/01/07 You are currently: Logged In | Log out
 I tunes ink magichardt@... | 10/31/07 |
 Dexter tges@... | 11/01/07 |
What do you think?
More ZDNet Photo Galleries
The Green Enterprise
-
- A look into the enterprise to explore eco-friendly practices and innovations. In this ZDNet video series learn about what's motivating green tech, and how green technologies are impacting IT. 0:42
-
Harnessing the power of waves
3:13
-
Planting solar gardens
5:06
-
Fill your car for $1.10 a gallon?
1:43
- All series videos »
