A signal that terrified them...

An account of a broadcast that sent a country into panic...
More Patron content available at: www.disrupt.plus/
Soundtrack: • The signal that terrif...
Discord: / discord
Edited by:
BebopFilms
QDC www.quinnconne...
SammyLamb sammylamb.art/
Veeti Taimisto
Written by:
Lucas Bezzero

[@johnekopy]

"Anything that came through that new machine was believed" Orson Welles Clearly people haven't changed one bit.

[@Lunam_D._Roger]

One of my favourite quotes, can't remember who from, goes like this. "Individuals may be smart, but people are fucking retarded."

[@johnekopy]

@@Lunam_D._Roger haha, I like that

[@gram.]

Yo dats deep mayne

[@flashpone7910]

@@Lunam_D._Roger Crude version of the quote from Men in Black by Tommy Lee Jones’ character.

[@Lunam_D._Roger]

@@flashpone7910 Thanks mate, I was wondering where it originated from.

[@Kuna-xc5os]

Now here's the plot twist: The martians actually came and convinced everyone that the radio broadcast was actually just fiction to cover up their initial landing.

[@-book]

:0 spook

[@Rayman1971]

The Earth landings were faked!!!!

[@Nikku4211]

zucc

[@gtPacheko]

@@Rayman1971 Mars is flat!!!

[@minemilx2702]

What's the name of the piece at 1:00

[@cg4304]

My grandma tells me this story every time I visit her. She told me she didn’t even know what had happened till a day or 2 after because they lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Made a lot of people question their religion at the time.

[@junkokonno]

@dre.flacko 🗿

[@Andytlp]

nowadays people are swayed by random FUD articles and by targeted advertising, designed to reach most susceptible people. In an age where people can be involved in anything people sure do feel like they have less purpose than ever. Probably why they dive head first into conflicts they have no clue about or even bother fact checking first. All emotion no logic.

[@RJT80]

@@Andytlp Half the country has been operating on pure emotion over logic for 50+ years now.

[@nate_d376]

Cherish those stories. Soon they won't be told again, except by you, second hand. I miss my grandmothers and grandfathers, and the stories they would tell.

[@snuklens]

@@RJT80 nobody truly makes decisions logically. We are humans. We have emotions.

[@SpookeyGael]

The vast majority of the "panic" caused by the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast was actually either exaggerated, sensationalized, or invented wholesale by newspapers who saw radio as a competitor and wanted to dirty its reputation by associating it with public hysteria (including the Seattle newspaper that reported on the incident in Concrete, Washington, owned by the infamous William Randolph Hearst). The broadcast itself was only listened to by a small portion of the country (about 2% of all people listening to radio at the time) and of that portion the majority knew it was fictional, at least after the first few minutes. So, ironically, the people who constantly parrot the "nationwide panic" narrative about the broadcast are actually the ones being duped into believing a false story invented by the media; that medium being newspapers, not radio.

[@SpookeyGael]

Orson Welles later exaggerated the incident himself, mostly as a way to promote his career through sensationalism.

[@TheGoodMorty]

@@SpookeyGael Thank you, so many people here repeating the story as if it establishes some kind of psychological fact about people's imaginations.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Yeah, it's pretty well known that the stories about the mass panic surrounding this broadcast were _extremely_ exaggerated. It's like when Blair Witch came out, even though they were 100% serious about it being real found footage, everyone knew that it was just three actors running around a forest.

[@thewkovacs316]

@@SpookeyGael promote the show, which was up against charlie mccarthy i dont believe mercury radio theater ever had a sponsor...despite the high quality of it's broadcasts

[@Rage_Harder_Then_Relax]

@@dungeonsanddobbers2683 Ahhhhh...No they didn't . Many people were unsure if it was real or not. Seems people still don't give all the facts, make shit up as they go or under-report.

[@atrainradio929]

Having been working and got my degree in radio broadcasting, there’s literally no broadcast more important in radio history than this show. It taught the entire industry so much, not the least of which showed in incredible power radio (and the theater of the mind) has on society and the impact it can have on its listener. Welles was a genius like no other. I wish this style of broadcast didn’t go out of style, because I personally find radio theater to be far more entertaining and impactful, because I can imagine how it looks in my head, rather than a less imaginative film director may imagine.

[@SludgeCorpInCorp]

I didn’t even know there was still money in that industry! sounds fun!

[@keikialanifrazee8892]

It’s why they also still do audio books. Some actually put out sound effects, music, and multiple actors reading the audio books for you. Anything lucrative will gain momentum. However, Mr Welles is someone who sees the future & it’s social aspects. Which reflects on what is actually really going on NOW in our “social media” news, and it’s created such biased distrust like no other. Cuz why? Money. And Controlled thru FEAR. Our Emotions is what is always being manipulated for another persons gain.

[@madmanszalinski]

There were a couple movies in the 80s that tried to bring it back (to an extent)

[@Nikku4211]

@@keikialanifrazee8892 Part of the reason this radio play was so effective is because it was broadcast by a huge, very popular radio station, and when people tuned to it too late, they weren't be able to tell it was fiction. With audio books, you can choose when to start, and you know coming in that you're listening to a work of fiction. It's not as immersive as a broadcast from a station that also has its own news station. Seriously, that radio play was like if some real, big news station decided to upload analogue (or digital, if that's becoming a new trend) horror videos to the exact same KZbin channel they also use for real news.

[@ethanwagner]

I would recommend trying to give some ARG (alternate reality games) projects a chance (which is, granted, much easier said than done due to their curious nature or not identifying themselves) but yeah, it seems to me to be the modern adaptation of this "con artist" broadcasting perspective. Never quite know the whole truth. I can find some cool rabbit holes to dive down if ur interested

[@meluckycharms111]

The way Orson Welles describes the radio is pretty much the relationship that many people have with cable news, or the internet, today. Seems like history repeats itself each time we society gets a new technological medium. Very interesting

[@DVincentW]

Stop watching TV and take control of what you do online, or get off it yesterday. No one can resist the sophistication of internet social prestige.

[@ThePizzaGoblin]

Its capitalism. It takes over everything and commercializes it, so normal people move to the new thing, and then companies latch onto the new thing and ruin it. Remember how awesome the internet was when it was first starting?

[@FelineBlue]

@@ThePizzaGoblin couldn't agree more

[@xoriented983]

Shhh dont spread it or the fbi will be at your front door

[@joker709_7]

It's scary not interesting to be honest.

[@WildNoobThe2nd]

You know i have a feeling that he mentioned the 25th island of greece intentionally due to its name being Amorgos, and that being very close in name to a game with characters composed of 5 ovals

[@eliasjakob3358]

Amogus

[@timoshki8528]

I must resist saying the suspicious word

[@syahmikadira6832]

@@timoshki8528 S-s-sus???!!!

[@defaultmesh]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@Vysair]

GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD

[@bubbletea1985]

To me, this story feels like one of the first examples of "unfiction", or a fictional story that tries to convince the audience that it's real

[@zinedinezethro9157]

Basically ARG

[@harrylane4]

Not only did it not attempt to convince the audience it was real (most of the broadcast was done in traditional radio play format, the news parts are only one section) but literally nobody at the time actually thought it was real. That’s a fabrication by historians who wanted to paint people in the past as easily manipulated and afraid of new technology. Same goes for the film of a train arriving at a station. There are ZERO contemporary reports of anybody being even remotely scared by the film, but as history moved on, things were exaggerated to a point where people were screaming and yelling in the theater thinking an actual train was coming.

[@astracrits4633]

@Potato King To be fair, they wouldn't really have to make things up. There have been plenty of crazy internet hoaxes, and enough people have been falsely "cancelled" that an incident like this could easily occur and nobody would be surprised.

[@----.__]

CNN in a nutshell

[@darksoul7024]

@@----.__ cap

[@AP-bc7mg]

Crazy to think in less than 100 years we went from radio shows to 4k streaming.

[@nunyabiznis3595]

what about 65 years between first flight and landing on the moon

[@safiabah4832]

It’s even crazier when you realize we’ve also circled back to radio in a way through podcasts!

[@Tiniuc]

Crazier to think we went from horse drawn carriages to landing a man on the moon, too.

[@asdfssdfghgdfy5940]

Crazier to think we went from mozart to billy eilish

[@asdfssdfghgdfy5940]

Wait

Disrupt makes more entertaining videos than literal movies. He's perfected the art of content creation.

[@thorn6494]

Dead channel

[@kingtal99]

We need more documentaries done by him.

[@Foxyy01]

Shut up paid channel

[@ClaytonBigsby01]

Ehh

[@ClaytonBigsby01]

Perfected ? Bro he’s the Same as every other KZbinr and I’m certain he didn’t create the format . Perfect it ? Whatever you say. He narrates over clips with some cgi

[@foscogrubb]

Pretty sure the mass panic was all exaggerated by the media. It's one of those well believed urban legends that keeps getting pushed around like its fact. When in reality, most everyone knew it was a play. For one, the book had been out for awhile at that point, and more importantly, people aren't that stupid.

[@johntitor7989]

I dont doubt it, don't *really* care to find out tho.

[@RoseyStar24]

It was. You can look it up and it's right there

[@sirgeorgescott2995]

Thank you. There was NO mass hysteria. Most people understood that it was just fictional entertainment. The "Mass Hysteria" myth keeps being propagated and people keep believing it.

[@brentfarvors192]

Go away! You aren't memory holing this one SHILL! YES, there was MAJOR PANIC! YES. We all know a close relative that was alive during the broad cast. NO. You are NOT going to be successful.

[@RoseyStar24]

@@brentfarvors192 I have a family member that lived through it too. Go on the wiki for the incident and read the extent portion. Some people panicked but it was a very very small amount. The news stations used it to make the radio news to look less trustful, so they lied about the panic.

[@kasuraga]

I love that when it comes down to it. He intentionally did it to troll everybody, simply because he was sick and tired of everybody taking every word they heard on the radio as truth.

[@GalacticNovaOverlord]

What's funny about this is that it is the people who believe this mass panic happened in the first place who are manipulated. You have been trolled one ironically lol

[@TheMidnightMinute]

Seeing the oscilloscope made me understand why the new Facebook "Meta" logo seems so familiar and fitting for a social media company.

[@DennisMartinezCalifornia]

Your comment gonna blow up bro

[@Flumphinator]

Lissajous plots! I hate Facebook, but that is a nice little piece of graphic design.

[@bigboss-qv7pe]

@@Flumphinator it's not graphic design, its symbolism

[@tabcreedence6553]

also looks like human gene

[@arfansthename]

@@tabcreedence6553 something mr. zuck doesn't have

[@FourOf92000]

thank you for telling this story as a story of humans doing human things with lessons for humans, instead of "lol old people were dumb"

[@FelineBlue]

Yep, that quote itself really drives it home: "Anything that came out of the new machine was believed". That is exactly what happens with misinformation on the internet now - people have always been people, the type of technology is just different now.

[@RJT80]

I stream a lot of old time radio. The PSAs from in the immediate aftermath of WW2 and the spread of communism are particularly interesting and still relevant. The need to protect our school curriculum and children from outside influence, our institutions from outside influence, our family structure, our faith support systems that give so much strength to our communities, etc. The playbook of our adversary was not a new one. Our grandparents knew what was coming. And here we are.

[@israelmaccabee2309]

@@FelineBlue beautifully explained

[@andrewfrankovic6821]

No, they were just less informed. Getting information quickly and well organized only makes you look smarter. Did I say look smarter? MY bad.

[@justcrap3703]

@@andrewfrankovic6821 "Look smarter" Bullseye. Once you argue with them and the discussion went beyond the things they "memorized", their true intellect shows. Non-existent.

[@shuttah]

54 years later, television would have its own War of the Worlds moment, when the BBC aired the ghost hunting TV special Ghostwatch on halloween night, 1992. Presented in a serious and scientific tone and using a reputable cast, including Michael Palin, Sarah Greene, Craig Charles and Michael Smith, it caused mass panic across the UK, and birthed multiple new broadcasting regulations and standards to prevent broadcasters from ever fudging the line between fact and fiction ever again. Would highly recommend looking into it. its facinating.

[@boldCactuslad]

thankfully, to this day, nobody has ever lied on the air again! 🙄

[@JustAFriendlySatanWorshipper]

@@boldCactuslad i know right, one can only imagine the chaos. Good that rules & regulations were put to prevent that Lmao

[@InvalidSE2]

The tv version was bad but not the audio version

[@nemesisurvivorleon]

@@boldCactuslad ah yes, THANKFULLY.

[@stephenpmurphy591]

The American news media propaganda machine does this daily framing narratives to suit their base audience. Truth doesn't matter inflaming their base is all that matters.

[@kariduanimations]

How is it that you’re able to keep me on the edge of my seat for stories I already know?

[@dc4084]

There’s a similar story from Quito, Ecuador in the late 1930s that caused a whole load of tragedies. Radio Ambulante did a good episode on it for any Spanish speakers out there.

[@bloxxer9628]

Wow, sounds interesting, Quito is the city where I was born but I don't live there anymore and would like to know about the story. Where can I find it?

[@ithinkpaulmightbehavinastr8878]

Me metí a los comentarios, esperando que alguien haya mencionado el caso de Quito. Gracias mijín

[@havokbaphomet666]

Gracias por esto

[@comofue192]

Also Radiolab

[@urielcobo-cuisana2316]

Haha yeah I love In Ecuador. It's crazy thwt that happened haha.

[@meluckycharms111]

Also, I love that a clip of kittens fighting are used in place of actual war footage. Nice touch

[@coolwei1427]

Can I know more context about the kittens fighting video?

[@arfansthename]

@@coolwei1427 It contains 2 adolescent felines fighting over something off-screen. Hope that clears it up.

[@Elfnetdesigns]

With cats fighting, it's ALWAYS WAR!

[@DanOC1991]

The notion that a lot of people believed this broadcast is a well known urban myth. Most people didn't believe the broadcast at all, according to the live phone polls that were run nightly at the time, 98% of people knew it was fake. They ran ads throughout it and also repeatedly said it was fake on the broadcast itself. A lot of the stories that came out about it at the time were printed by newspapers, who intentionally sensationalised small events to try to drum up distrust and disinterest in radio broadcasts which were starting to replace them.

[@LeeSpork]

2% isn't necessarily a "not a lot of people"

[@cx3622]

One of my most favorite channels on youtube. I love the whole malware/worm/virus series.

[@Errox358]

And here we are, in our perfect internet bubbles being spoon fed the content we want to believe by algorithm.

[@Periwinkleaccount]

Algorithm*

[@SludgeCorpInCorp]

I get what your saying but what does that have to do with the video? edit - ohhhh like you mean people will believe anything online, nvm

[@kenlieck7756]

Just as you want to believe the unsubstantiated myth that Disrupt did such a gorgeous and evocative job of promulgating.

[@5446isnotmynumber]

@@SludgeCorpInCorp what does your profile picture have to do with this video???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????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[@Errox358]

@@Periwinkleaccount Thanks, fixed it.

[@DVincentW]

This broadcast was a message to the oligarchy that everyday people are influenced by media more than any other medium.

[@cmilter6360]

Sadly the Oligarchs own media, the control is almost total.

[@RJT80]

I don't know a single person who watches corporate media anymore. The white pill is real. It's easier than ever to introduce someone to alternative media that will show then how the sausage is made, and why. They'll likely push back. They might not even talk to you for awhile, if ever again. It can take years to fully step out of the bubble. Plenty never will, unfortunately. But the ride is turning in a major way and it scares the shit out of all the right people. The increasing authoritarianism shows their weakness.

[@gageboy14]

@@cmilter6360

[@andrewfrankovic6821]

@@RJT80 I don't know anyone anymore.

[@LuckyMrAsHat]

@@RJT80 Who exactly are the plenty that are stuck within the bubble?

[@tahoma6889]

When I was a kid, I scared my cousin into tears with the WWTW recording. She was really scared and I had to give in and tell her it was a radio play. “The sham invasion also demonstrates the lack of perception in the public mind, and its willingness to believe anything it hears.” -- Martin Anderson, writing in a front-page column days after the broadcast

[@SquishyMelon420]

0:30 When he said that, i remembered something.......

[@LaufzDS]

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun

[@awesomeman9227]

This video just shows how good Disrupt is at making videos and telling a story. I've already known of the HG Wells radio broadcast scare but I still watched the entire video intrigued as if this was new content. Perfect work!

[@cheesecake4648]

it was obvious from the start

[@vvvvv6574]

how good he is at making a 10 minute video for extra ads*

[@harrylane4]

If you thought the broadcast scare was real, then you clearly didn’t know anything about the broadcast, and neither does disrupt.

[@windzyboy6445]

Video hasn’t even started and I am so excited! Every upload is a masterpiece from you all. (Edit: the pattern continues. Great work all!)

[@kingtal99]

Agreed.

[@allenmorris8348]

I remember reading about this in elementary school. One of the greatest examples of mass hysteria. People would evacuate their home towns and frantically shoot water towers that resembled the Martian machines.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Except none of that ever happened.

[@allenmorris8348]

@@dungeonsanddobbers2683How would you know? You weren't there, the only accounts are testimonials from books, radio, and newspapers. Your negativity is a cancer. It will cause you to be driven away from the ones you love, and be forgotten by the sands of time.

[@nobodyishere]

@@allenmorris8348 Jesus Christ! Stop roasting the man! He's already dead.

[@MonkeyMan-co9io]

@@nobodyishere roasting is an under statement

[@JacobFowler-qh5tv]

9:23 lmao modern alien talk

[@maxskellington910]

My dad always talked about this whole thing ksadhfkshsk It seemed so interesting to my young mind. The idea that people freaked over a horror radio broadcast they caught out of context is probably one of my favorite sorts of things lmao.

[@gram.]

Of those that panicked, most called e.g. the station and found it was a radio play before rushing out or whatever... Actually, most people knew it was just fiction and the stories are exaggerated. Sorry to be a buzzkill but js man.

[@maxskellington910]

@@gram. Yeah I'm aware! but I'm sure some folks got a shake out of it, which is still a pretty funny thought. Also it's interesting cause this could count as like, the first ARG (for lack of better phrasing) esque horror thing. I love it.

[@EMi-vt5ht]

the quality of your videos is insane, it's like i'm watching an official documentary

[@kevin_heslip]

Better than an official doc

[@jakebrodskype]

8:11 "Anything that came from that new medium was believed..." And with each new medium we keep seeing this behavior.

[@KyleInOklahoma]

*_I love the story but my wifes granma was 17 at this time & was just 3 years off the boat from Ireland. Living in South Boston & working in what is now known as the John Adams Courthouse or Suffolk County Courthouse. She also loved this story, but clearly remembers listening to it with her workmates on the 4th floor of the John Adams, and she knew of no panic or heard of none until decades later._*

[@theofficialnitrox]

This is gonna be great, I can feel it. Another amazing video coming from the legend himself

[@theofficialnitrox]

@JJ Оİаtuпji 🅥 hell no, stop spamming

[@someguynamedsteve9130]

I remember reading on cracked (a publication I have abandoned years ago now) writing that it was something of a myth that the radio program caused mass hysteria.

[@rocknrolan7371]

I also remember this

[@theLV2]

It's rather commonly accepted today that the supposed mass panic was grossly exaggerated by newspapers, who were at the time in a furious competition with radio. So it is rather ironic that modern internet users will mock their predecessors for so easily falling for fake stories, all the while falling for one themselves.

[@theFLCLguy]

There was absolutely no panic at all.

[@TheJunky228]

@@theFLCLguy safe and effective™

[@28russ]

​@@theLV2 Was thinkin the same thing. That it's ironic that most people will believe this vid without even questioning it as everybody's heard the story/ myth and most believe it to be true already. Hell I used to think was true that there's was mass hysteria until I learned it was actually all blown way out of proportion and as you say, was greatly exaggerated. I wonder if Disrupt did it on purpose or he's just unknowingly perpetuating the same old bs story 🤷‍♂

[@lemonbread378]

even when you already know the story they're telling, they still make it interesting and engaging to watch: incredible visuals, absolutely stunning

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

4:26 The military was trying to find bread teleportation technology.

[@lego5745]

Wasn’t expecting a video on the War Of The Worlds broadcast from you, but hey, I’m not complaining.

[@Fusion7857_]

my thoughts exactly

[@simplifiedsam]

Basically, taking anything out of context only results in disaster. But, we never learn.

[@RJT80]

When are we actually provided context anymore from corporate media? They now knowingly leave things out to push narratives. Enemy of the people.

[@kvarner6886]

1:00 that's my favorite piece by Tchaikovsky they're playing. So absolutely gorgeous. It's his piano concerto no. 1 in b-flat minor, if anyone wants to find it. I've always wondered if the Beach Boys used it as an inspiration for 'Wouldn't It Be Nice,' as some of the melody is SO similar.

[@ChronicTaxEvader]

Legit just checked the description to see if anyone asked for it because of how much I love it

[@kvarner6886]

@@ChronicTaxEvader I'm so glad to see someone else down here talking about it!

[@ChronicTaxEvader]

@@kvarner6886 if only it were the van cliburn interpretation, probably my favorite one to date

[@lizbmusic11]

I've worked in radio nearly 40 years and still do. This was before my time but is definitely what inspired radio earning the phrase 'theatre of the mind'. The greatest broadcast ever! I have a deep passion for this medium which reminds me I must go finish my show. Thanks for putting this on you tube coz I'm sure many of the younger generation won't know about it. First they said "video killed the radio star" then it was going to be the internet but radio is still here! And we always will be!

[@bhaddiemadi9256]

the chills your editing gives me from the haunting and capturing aesthetics

[@Bombo41]

This channel is so good it should be a show!

[@xryxix]

Yo absolutely

[@yazoshaughnessy7429]

It is a show 😉

[@TheLPN05Fan]

This video made me awe. Literally a masterpiece in it's own right, as E V E R Y video I've seen on this channel so far.

[@user-wn7tj5km8d]

This is absolutely the best channel on yt.. The level of the content is so high, eyeargasm and eargasm!

[@MookVideos]

What is very interesting about the 'mass panic' associated with the WOTW broadcast is that a lot of the reports came from a flawed study conducted in 1940. At the time of the broadcast there was very little in the way of mass panic short of a few mainly localised disturbances, because when it aired few people listened to it compared to other shows on at the time. All recorded reactions from people in this study - which assumed a listenership of 6 million people but that was far more than actually did - went down as 'panicked', and it wasn't made clear 1) what that meant and 2) whether they knew the broadcast was a fictional story or not. It's an interesting footnote in the tale of how the media can create a mass panic event when, in reality, it didn't really happen in the way that it is so often assumed it did.

[@brentfarvors192]

BS. Stop trying to change the past. We all have relatives. We know there was major panic. Seriously, just STOP!

[@MookVideos]

@@brentfarvors192 maybe if you looked into it for more than five minutes you'd change your tune

[@mokongthe3856]

Disrupt's Editing and overall Quality of the Making, is just too good.

[@stripyzeeber7899]

That was some mass trolling right there. Lmfao

[@azizaking4401]

This was just incredible. The story, the editing. I learned something new and was left waiting for the next line even before the last was finished.

[@Nikku4211]

I already knew about this radio play, but this is a really cool video, and I had no idea of the real life electrical power issue that came after.

[@MD12134MD]

Super high quality stuff here. Much more coherent than the multiple timeline/narrative videos you've done recently. More of this!

[@jaxonsevero1045]

lol

[@Eidolon777]

Wtf the editing is so crisp, it’s not just good edits alone but edits that use sound effects and the lack there of to create emotion.

[@TefiTheWaterGipsy]

Brilliant video! I have been told about this so many times, my Nana was obsessed with "the wireless". I knew she meant radio. She used to make insane stories up to entertain my brother and I. When I was older, she told me about the Wow broadcast and I didn't believe her. I asked my Dad about it and he told me with less drama and more detail. Between them, they explained just how central to a modern life the radio was and what it was like to go to the cinema to watch the news. The rest of the time, people sat around the radio with bated breath during WWII. I got why people would think it was real. I've never actually seen this covered anywhere else and the whole video is brilliant. Expertly well done.

[@EdgarTheOgre]

Changing a little bit the subject, I made a thesis on this event (and the book) on the fields of neurolinguistics. I won't bother you with the details, but just imagine, as best as you can, that you read/listen to a story about extraterrestrial beings in strangely shaped machines/ships making human paste to feed and shooting heat rays that vaporized you in an instant. But you are a person between the late 1800's up to the late 1940's. Now it is easy, the concept of lasers and alien saucers are a common thing within world culture, but back then such concepts were as alien as the beings in the story. We will never know how is it to read about science fiction like people in the past did. Now science is part of culture. Even pretensions movies like Interstellar can be easily understood, but imagine if such story was written in 1900 (just as imaginary science that came up to be quite accurate because of coincidence). That's is a level of mind blow contemporary society will never know. And fun fact, a laser is in fact a heat ray. Lucky guess by Wells I guess. Or is it.

[@spacedandy7555]

Melty heat ray laser goes pew pew.

[@davidbanan.]

another thing Im not even sure that scientist was a word yet, wasn't it still Experimental Philosopher or what ever?

[@EdgarTheOgre]

@@davidbanan. i'm not really sure, but evidence shows that the word was born in cambridge in the early 1800's to replace concepts such as "philosopher of sicence", "cultivator of sicence", and similars. There's a dude who made official use of the word at that time, don't remember the name. But, i don't know if the word "scientist" was used regularly in daily talk in the early 1900's. Maybe an expert will show up and explain it to us xd

[@BradyAye]

disrupt is the 90% of the brain, that I never thought i’d use.

[@A_VorteX]

I really love the style of Disrupt's videos. The edition is sooo good and unique, it makes it feel like a movie.

[@SLENDERCOAST]

This channel and NEXPO are the GOAT’s of KZbin. The editing and story telling are flawless

[@iplayminecraft2248]

8:20 i hate it, its perfect

[@Rabavilas]

0:35 noo way they were making among us jokes back then

[@ToxicMothBoi]

Everytime i see a disrupt upload, i take the time to watch it and focus on everything. Always such an immersive experience♡

[@sirjeanpepper2492]

For anyone wondering, the piece of classical music around the minute mark is Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto. Sick video as always!

[@jacobm6050]

1950s radio always sounds scary. What were they expecting.

[@benjaminsnell3393]

It was 1938

[@mikibish]

You forgot to mention the bit where the news papers at the time greatly exaggerated the whole "mass panic" thing in an attempt to bad mouth radio when in reality the vast majority of listeners were well aware it was just a play. It's ironic how most people now believe the fictional stories about a fictional story that most knew at the time wasn't real.

[@tillmanminter2]

the quality of audio in your videos is insane. listening with headphones is such a satisfying experience. just hearing how you mix your audio left to right at certain points is really cool to me

[@aerith4697]

Holy shit there so much interesting visuals and sounds and effects in this video I was enthralled. And I'm actually really happy with the outro and the sneaky brand rep at the end. 10/10

[@GenericInternetter]

Was kind of disappointed because I already know this story, but it's great for those who haven't heard it yet

[@chrisdelarm3256]

No one asked

[@sauceyeti4381]

So it's like the ancient predecessor to the Found Footage genre. Except it happened In real-time and had actually terrified people...

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

But it didn't terrify anyone. People knew this was fiction, and the "mass panic" elements of the story were completely fabricated by newspapers as a way to try and discredit radio.

[@Rose_Butterfly98]

'It's on the 25th island of Greece' Amorgos

[@larrysfarris]

It was originally broadcast October 30, 1938. My father was a Junior in high school, in rural Kentucky. He once, mentioned his recollection of hearing it, to me. He was at home studying and doing his homework and listening to the radio. He told me, initially he was quite concerned as to what was going on but the longer he listened to it, the more he decided it was just a radio show {program}. He did recall that some of their neighbors throughout the countryside were quite upset at the time.

[@intheozone8763]

the quality of your videos is insane 💙

[@_Nothsa]

It's so crazy how Disrupt has their own STREAMING SERVICE now!

[@potatonado2550]

WHAT IS IT

[@spectrickx1678]

Imagine being a regular listener unknowingly dialing through your radio. Then hearing this.

[@Deinonuchus]

I used to listen to radio shows as a kid in northern Alaska. We didn't have much television and radio dramas were still a big thing in the boondocks at the time. It was how I was introduced to The Firesign Theatre comedy troupe. Some DJ played "Don't Crush That Dwarf. Hand Me The Pliers" one night and I thought it was a radio show.

[@Otacanthus]

War of the world was very sensationalised. It only got it's big cred in retrospect with the mercury theatre overstating how many calls and how many people freaked out. News outlets and videos like this is more adding to the fire and using it as a cautionary tale. There weren't as many listening to make the broadcast as widest panic as they want you to think. And the blackout part seems completely unrelated. What do you think people do with a mass blackout in a city? They go outside.

[@bansheeownz]

Perhaps not. But do you find its message valuable and relevant today? I won’t use any specific political example as I feel its divisiveness distracts from the message, because both the left and the right are egregiously and blatantly guilty of narratives that favor their interests. The media has always lied to us, there is no denying it. The important thing to ask yourself is, who is speaking to you, and what do they want? I can’t break it down any simpler then that.

[@Otacanthus]

@@bansheeownz It being relevant I can agree with, I didn't think about that aspect. But all the retellings feel like it ends with "Look how silly these people were for believing a story on the radio. And nobody believed a lie on the radio ever again, because the radio is more careful now" I think a nicer message would be to put examples in on how this probably made radio, and media in general, more sneaky to the way they tell "their truth", whatever it might be

[@coinsinthecushion5800]

Hearing those old radio voices makes me want to play Bioshock Infinite again

[@HangingWithDan]

I don't even need to see the video to enjoy this content. I feel like I'm listing to my iPod Podcast again back in time when podcasts used to be very interesting. Thank You!!!

[@GOD-mj9wt]

I've heard this story a couple times enough so I don't bother watching anymore videos or reading about it, but Holy crap disrupt just does so good

[@TheSnafs]

1:52 in and this is already better than 98% of shit on TV

[@P5YCHO1192]

I love this story. I can only imagine how scared the listeners were.😂

[@potatocharleh]

I remember listening to this when I was a kid on long car rides, my dad had a CD that recorded all of the fictional news and he loved listening to the stories and told me all about how many people tuned in at the wrong times which lead them to suicide and evacuation. Absolutely horrific turn of events. But it was so interesting.

[@berrypretty6305]

when i was a kid i went camping and there was a strange cloud formation everyone was talking about. one of the scout leaders had a bright idea -- play the war of the worlds broadcast. Not a single kid slept that night.

[@notanaveragedoktah8390]

Orson Welles in court appealing the shut down of his station: *"Your honor, i would like to claim that it was all just a small amount of tomfoolery!"*

[@scheimong]

The original fake news

[@KravenTheHaunter]

"Anything that came through that new machine was believed." *Glares at Facebook and Twitter*

[@sovietrook7425]

I love how in the end that little ad almost. It got me on the exact thing he was just talking about. Believing fiction and all that

[@natethegreat5968]

There is a play called the panic broadcast of 1938 about this and I am currently acting in it.

[@DoubleNN]

I had heard that there wasnt actually much in the way of panic, and the narrative around that was mainly manufactured by exaggeration on the part of the producers and some level of slander on the part of newspapers, who were in competition with radio and wanted to damage the reputation of the medium.

[@hanisu93]

this is a good video about the history that ive only read before. with the recordings of the radio show itself, i love it!

[@Edax_Royeaux]

It should be mention one of the actors on the broadcast gave his best FDR impression which no doubt added to the "realism" of the broadcast.

[@AceTheBatHound99]

I loved the video until that bit at the end 😂 I've waited my whole life for humanity to receive a translatable (& publicly released) radio wave from a planet beyond Sol.... So yeah, quite the tease

[@chrisdelarm3256]

No one asked

[@Asaenz2468]

I’m guessing this is about The War of The Worlds 1 minute in

[@quadrant9774]

Oh what's this going to be? "Orson Welles" Oh, no figure.

[@VintageMedia215]

Hands down the best version of this story being told. Shout out to the good folks at Disrupt.

[@horsemeat1776]

I'm surprised by how many people don't study this. Then again people don't really listen to the radio anymore so it's not really their fault.

[@miguelcornelius7341]

I'm one minute and 31 seconds in and i think i know what it's about The live broadcast of war of the worlds, or whatever it's called, i can never remember (Edit: haha i was correct!! Amazing video, have you guys ever considered a podcast?)

[@tomhayes7448]

The greatest artistic genius of the 20th century known as Orson Welles

[@sonork6219]

That was the most seamless ad transition I have ever seen

[@AsexTwin]

disrupt the best youtuber bruh

[@squirrelllllllllllllllllllllll]

Was anyone else scared by the cat's 'smile' at 8:18 ??

[@aies_scara]

Me

[@deadbrav]

What hadn't chanage the dracula's life: "watermelon" What change dracula's life: "hammer"

[@Soknik01]

Love what you're doing here disrupt. Pacing is one of the more challenging parts of good storytelling and you consistently nail it. To every member of your team I say well done!