On the day before Halloween in 1938, CBS aired a broadcast program named War of the Worlds - a program whose plot depicted a Martian invasion of earth. Due to several unforeseen factors, over a million Americans were sent into a panicked frenzy.
A series of tension and anxiety had escalated since the beginning of World War II, and with the grave tone the narrator used on the radio, many people were led to believe the story he told. 1.7 million people believed the tales being told of how Earth was falling victim to invaders from Mars, and the majority of them took action by packing their belongings fleeing their houses. Riots of fear struck towns and roads. Countless calls and concerns were dialed into the CBS headquarters and police stations, the citizens desperate for answers or anything to calm them down. Ironically, the vast amount of incoming calls short-circuited phone lines, leaving people unable to call anyone for any answers at all. This only fed the panic, as the fearful thought this the work of the Martian invaders.
For weeks on end, the newspapers fed off the effects of the scare, while CBS was defending itself against flustered listeners. Numerous lawsuits were filed, though only one made it through - a man insisting to be paid back for using his shoe money in order to escape from the invasion. Formal and informal apologies were broadcasted, and the usage of "We interrupt this program..." was unofficially banned from clearance, since its "dramatic effect" was too powerful.
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