Today in History - October 30

On this day in 1938. Orson Welles went onto the radio airwaves with a fictional broadcast of a Martian invasion of Earth; War of the Worlds. The radio show, from Mercury Theatre on the Air, was written to sound like breaking news. The War of the Worlds was adapted from HG Wells' novel, written, directed and narrated by Orson Welles.
People were shot by fearful others. It caused caused panic in the streets. Aliens were seen everywhere, and even though the broadcast frequently issued disclaimers that it was only entertainment, Welles' script was so believable to the thousands who were tuned in that havoc ensued and in the succeeding days, turned to outrage over having been duped so convincingly.
Perhaps Orson Welles revealed how easily masses of people could be manipulated into fear.
And did Joseph Goebells, who was then Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany take notice too, that scary night in 1938? He perfected the Big Lie technique in propaganda, which is based on the principal that a lie, if audacious enough, and repeated enough times, will be believed by the masses.
Today many thousands suspect the prewar episode was updated for the 21st century, the action a little different, the alien characters changed, modern technologically enhanced, and repeated on September 11, 2001 with Dick Cheney in the Orson Welles part.

The people remain manipulated into fear and perhaps believing the big, audacious, repeated lie.