On 30 October 85 years ago, the population of the US was – according to Orson Welles – overwhelmed by mass panic, terrified by the all-too-real broadcast of his alien-invasion drama The War of the Worlds.

But Welles claimed it had some unforeseen side effects, per exclusive BBC archive.

In the years since, there has been much debate about whether the level of panic the broadcast actually caused has been overstated.

Regardless, it remains a landmark moment in broadcast history and a testament to the power of storytelling to capture the imagination of an audience.

This video is from ‘In History,’ which uses the BBC’s archive to explore historical events. For more like this, visit: https://bbc.in/46Qsgvk

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