It happened on Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938 – 80 years ago.  The Martians arrived and war broke out around the world.  Well sort of….

On the night of Oct. 30, 1938, the Mercury Radio Theatre aired a performance of H. G. Wells’ 1896 “The War of the Worlds.”  The radio play was performed so well that some people panicked, ran from their houses and warned their neighbors of the impending invasion.  Stories also provide information of water towers being shot at in New Jersey and a woman in Pittsburgh wanting to take poison instead of being killed by aliens.    

You may be thinking, people 80 years ago were a little weird to react this way to a radio program.  But Orson Welles and the rest of the Mercury Theatre cast produced the show in such a way as to make it seem realistic.

How did they do that?

At the beginning of the performance, a warning was given stating that the play was a version of H. G. Wells’ book “The War of the Worlds.”  Throughout the broadcast, there were three additional warnings, but some listeners missed the warnings or didn’t listen to the warnings.  The play was done as a series of newsfeeds during what appeared to be a typical evening music show.  Listeners heard music with very realistic news bulletins.

The first newsbreaks talked about strange explosions being observed on Mars.  The next newsbreaks spoke of objects falling on a farm in Grover’s Mill, N.J.  They then cut back to the music.  The next newsbreak came “live” from Grover’s Mill, where police and locals were gathering around a cylindrical object.  Next Martians started to come out and there was a description of a “heat ray” being fired on the crowd.  Then the feed abruptly ended.

For the next 30 minutes, the performance went on to interview astronomers, describe an attack, interview local victims and finally the death of the aliens due to a virus (the common cold killed them).

The performance was so convincing that people called the police and CBS.  The police actually showed up at the studio to attempt to stop the show, detained the actors and threatened to arrest several of the people working on the performance.

In the weeks following, there was a public outcry about the news bulletin format used.  Some people actually called on the Federal Communication Commission to come up with regulations to stop future fake news broadcasts.

If you want to hear the actual broadcast, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs0K4ApWl4g&feature=youtu.be

For a transcript of the show, go to: http://www.sacred-texts.com/ufo/mars/wow.htm

For more information about the show and its aftermath, go to: http://thetruthseekersguide.blogspot.com/2013/10/75-years-on-war-of-worlds-psyop-part-2.html

 

THE NIGHT SKY OVER AROOSTOOK COUNTY

 

All of the times and events listed below are from www.calsky.com.  You may register at this site and load your location (anywhere in the world) to be able to get event information and times.  The University of Maine at Presque Isle is located at 68d00m7.8s west longitude and 46d40m45.6s north latitude.

 

The International Space Station is visible as follows:

Mornings–Oct. 25 to Nov. 16.

Evenings–Nov. 23 to Dec. 15.

 

To get a free sky chart go to www.skymaps.com.

 

Sun and Planet Visibility

10/25/2018

07:03 Sunrise.

17:27 Sunset.

17:42–18:00 Mercury.

Not visible Venus.

17:42 – 00:18 Mars.

17:42 – 18:30 Jupiter.

18:00 – 20:48 Saturn.

 

11/05/2018

06:19 Sunrise.

16:10 Sunset.

16:24 – 16:54 Mercury.

05:12 – 06:18 Venus.

16:24 – 23:12 Mars.

16:24 – 16:54 Jupiter.

16:42 – 19:12 Saturn .

 

10/20 05:00 Orionid Meteor Shower – 7 meteors per hour.

10/21 05:00 Orionid Meteor Shower – 9.4 meteors per hour.

10/22 04:00 Orionid Meteor Shower – 10.6 meteors per hour.

10/23 05:00 Orionid Meteor Shower – 9.2 meteors per hour.

10/23 Uranus at Opposition – directly behind the Earth.

10/24 05:00 Orionid Meteor Shower – 6.8 meteors per hour.

10/24 12:45 Full Moon.

10/26 10:18 Venus in inferior conjunction – between the Earth and the sun.

10/27 06:27 ISS 0.6 degrees from Alpha Canis Major – Sirius.

10/27 06:31 ISS 0.4 degrees from Alpha Bootes – Arcturus.

10/28 05:35 ISS 1.0 degrees from Epsilon Canis Major – Adhara.

10/29 07:05 Mercury 3.1 degrees from Jupiter.

10/30 80th anniversary of the Mercury Radio Theatre’s performance of H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.”

10/30 05:29 ISS passes 0.9 degrees from Alpha Canis Minor – Procyon.

10/31 12:40 Last Quarter Moon.

10/31 16:22 Moon at perigee – Closest to the Earth 230,011 miles.

11/06 10:30 Mercury at greatest elongation – 23.3 degrees east – visible in the evening sky.

11/07 05:38 ISS passes 0.3 degrees from Alpha Bootes – Arcturus.

11/07 11:02 New Moon.

11/08 04:46 ISS passes 0.5 degrees from Alpha Bootes – Arcturus.

11/11 11:30 Mercury at half phase.

11/13 05:11 ISS passes 1.4 degrees from Zeta Orion – Alnitak.

11/15 09:54 First Quarter Moon.

11/15 22:30 Moon 1.8 degrees from Mars.

11/17 05:00 Leonid Meteor Shower – 7.3 meteors per hour.

11/17 18:00 Leonid Meteor Shower – 8.0 meteors per hour.

11/18 05:00 Leonid Meteor Shower – 7.4 meteors per hour.