| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 63658 |
| QUOTATION: | Ladies and gentlemen, I have a grave announcement to make. Incredible as it may seem, strange beings who landed in New Jersey tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from Mars. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Orson Welles (1915–1984), U.S. filmmaker, actor, producer. Radio broadcast, Halloween, 1938, CBS; from the original story by H.G. Wells (1898). The War of the Worlds (audiocassette 1995).
According to the later reports, despite clear warnings that the broadcast was science fiction, listeners jammed switchboards and roads as they abandoned their homes in large numbers, with some people claiming they had actually seen the Martians. |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia. |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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