"War of the Worlds version 2.0"
This picture shows an apologetic Orson Welles after his October 30, 1938 radio broadcast.
This is the story (written by Howard E. Koch who was black listed in Hollywood for communist views in 1950) that most Americans are familiar with, some actually believe this caused deaths in 1938. The truth is it caused a panic but nowhere near what the hype was. At no point was any violence or suicide committed. Yet people are under these false beliefs today. Due to the legend and the story taking on a life of it's own. What people in general don't know is this... It was done again twice in South America where it did result in deaths.
An American named William Steele, who also worked on an American program called "The Shadow" and Orson Welles was the original voice for that character. Obviously Steele was familiar with the panic of the 1938 broadcast. Yet, Mr. Steele decided to test a number of Chilean towns and cities at 9.30pm, on November 12th 1944 from a radio station in Santiago. Newsweek reported at the time November 27th1944 issue an electrician named Jose Villarroel, a resident of Valparaiso approximately 70 miles northwest of Santiago was so frightened that he died of a heart attack. He has the distinction of being the first earthling that has died due to a perceived alien invasion. Despite the fact that a week previous to the broadcast an on air disclaimer was issued along with two more during the broadcast stating that this was all a fictional account to be aired. Which leads up to our next and most malicious use of this work.
February 12th 1949 Quito, Ecuador
Leonardo Páez
Eduardo Alcaraz brought the Chilean script to Leonardo Páez who was given the task to direct a radio drama. What resulted was total mayhem. These two decided to not give any warnings about the fictitious broadcast at all. As a matter of fact they rewrote it with terrifying detail and aired it by cutting into a song midway. They also hired an actor who sounded just like the Mayor of Quito. All of this transpired while Ecuador's President Galo Plaza Lasso was out of town during the broadcast. The streets were riddled with panic about invading Martians as well as speculation that Peru was invading. The death toll ranges from 6-20. One thing for certain is that when the performers realized the extent of the panic towards the end of the broadcast they announced that it was fictional. The end result was an unruly mob that went downtown and burned the radio station to the ground the building also housed El Comercio newspaper . Several people died that were active in the performance but Alcaraz & Páez escaped. Páez's girlfriend of the time was killed during the fire. Even though there were authorites and firefighters at the scene the mob wouldn't let them intervene. Below is a photo of the blaze that consumed the radio station and newspaper that evening.
Coincidently the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was Founded September 18, 1947. When you look at CIA involvement in South America over the years. It makes you wonder how something like this in it's third phase could've been so deadly. Were all the new tweaks implemented in a way to insure such a reaction? I've dug trying to find a connection back to the CIA to no avail. Much like any covert operation ties are hard to find. Could this have been the CIA's first Psy-Op?