Attack Of The One Hit Alien Wonders

It was 77 years ago today; Orson Welles and his troupe of radio actors decided to play a prank on the CBS radio audience by faking an alien invasion on the air. It wasn’t really faking an alien invasion in the technical sense. It was merely a 62-minute radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds.

At the time, Welles and the other radio actors decided to create a normal broadcast that was interrupted by the announcement that something strange was happening on planet Mars. Anomalies, gas jet plumes and lights were allegedly shooting out of the planet and later as the program plodded along, there was an interruption of the so-called regularly scheduled programming announcing there was a crash of an unknown aircraft somewhere in the vicinity of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey.

The radio play started gaining momentum, as the troupe seized on the opportunity to have on the spot live reports from Grover’s Mill. Of course all this was done in the CBS studios and folly experts were working feverishly to produce sounds of the door on the alleged crashed cylinder and the octopod-looking creature crawling out and dispensing the crowd with a death ray.

To be truthful, this part of the show was probably the only part the audience heard.

On the evening of October 30, 1938, most people tuning into radio were in fact listening to the highly-popular Chase and Sanborn Hour, a comedy variety show hosted by the ventriloquist Edgar Bergin, which was airing at the same time as War of the Worlds on competing radio station, NBC. One of the guest stars was Rudy Vallee. It is believed that many people at that time tuned from NBC and were just catching the report of the invasion.

This explains why no one heard the disclaimers that this was a dramatization. It was estimated however that a sample ratings inquiry indicated that nearly 5000 people sampled tuned in to hear the fake invasion on the radio. It was also interesting to note that many people surveyed said the alien story was not the chief reason they were frightened. Many of those that listened cited the part of the broadcast where the fake reporter stated, “This is the end now, black smoke is drifting over the city. People in streets see it now —They are running for the east river —Thousands of them dropping like rats.

They were all convinced that this was an attack carried out by the Nazis.

Hitler even commented about the scare stating that the panic was “evidence of the decadence and corrupt condition of democracy”.

Newspaper’s over reacted typing out headlines that were over the top .

‘Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact’ was the front page headline on The New York Times. ‘Radio Fake Scares Nation’, said the Chicago Herald and Examiner. ‘US Terrorised By Radio’s Men From Mars’ said the San Francisco Chronicle. There were also front page stories in the The Boston Daily Globe and The Detroit News. One repeated claim was that within a month, 12,500 articles had been published throughout the world on the alien mass panic.

It has been speculated for some time the mass hysteria had been generated by the print media to attack radio saying that it is an undependable source for information.

The newspaper industry sensationalized the panic to prove to advertisers, and regulators, that radio management was irresponsible and not to be trusted.

This does not, however, shed any light on how the small audience that reacted to the broadcast, generated enough hysteria about alien invasion, when we have been told that beliefs in aliens or the thought of life in space is a product of conditioning that happened in the 1950’s.

Charles Fort was one of the first writers of science fiction when, in his 1931 book Lo!, he assembled the many reports of objects and people strangely transposed in time and place, and coined the term “teleportation.” There was also a man who wrote about flying ships coming from beyond earth -his name was Ray Palmer. He was one of the fathers of “Amazing Stories” magazine that had been around since the 1920’s.

The seeds were planet and by 1938 when America was worried about another war breaking out, the frayed nerves of the public were already being challenged with a fake alien invasion.

World War II broke out and by 1942 there was a strange aircraft that was sighted in Los Angeles. On February 24th and 25th 1942, a little known invasion of a large flying saucer and several smaller ones was reported over Los Angeles. In what is now known as the Battle of Los Angeles, 1,430 rounds were fired at the flying disc. And as many as 25 smaller aircraft accompanied it.

There were many people on the ground who were killed or wounded by unexploded anti–aircraft shells.

Nearly 10 years after the War of the Worlds broadcast, Kenneth Arnold, a pilot was flying over Mount Rainier saw 9 shimmering shields flying through the air. He stated that the skimmed across the sky like a saucer skipping across the water.

The media latched on to the euphemism, and deemed the aerial phenomena “Flying Saucers.”

Nearly a week after the initial sighting the hysteria started all over again. A reported flying saucer crashed near Roswell Air Base in New Mexico. The Army Air Force was chided about their report, and rather than being seen as a laughing stock by the press, resorted to tell the world it was a weather balloon.

Undaunted, two Christian singers who called themselves the Buchannan Brothers released a song in 1947 that was played on the radio called “When you see those Flying Saucers.” The popular tune was dubbed hillbilly folk music . The song urged people to pray for the world because “flying saucers” in the sky meant that judgment day was at hand.

Arguably, it was this song that started the fad where songs about flying saucers, Men from Mars and extra-terrestrials began and soon there was a war the best one hit alien wonder.

Science fiction movies about flying saucers and even cartoons were cashing in on the flying saucer craze.

Chuck Jones created the cartoon “Rocket Bye Baby” for Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoon series. The cartoon has always been one of my favorites because it deals with the possibility that, during a close pass of the planet Mars, a baby meant to be born on Mars is accidentally delivered to Earth and the Earth baby is sent to Mars.

Martian mixed baby called “YOB” winds up being so highly intelligent that he does the family’s income taxes. The mother is worried because the baby is also spelling out Einstein’s theory of relativity using letter blocks, making a molecule model with tinker toys, creating a model of the solar system using a basketball and Christmas ornaments and making a graph on a chalkboard titled ‘Hurricane Possibilities for the Year 1985’.

Of course, the cartoon was lampooning the space race and the reports of the alien crash landing at Roswell in 1947.

In the 1950’s, classic singers like Ella Fitzgerald recorded an alien tune in the 1950’s called “Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer.” Not to be outdone many more singers recorded science fiction songs and made connections with the atomic age – the chief reason these aliens were visiting according to some reports. Country and rock bands were singing songs about flying saucers – and one particular song by country singer Eddie Cletro and his Round Up Boys has been called a collector’s item.

Eddie Cletro had one of the most unusual careers in country and western music. Based in Los Angeles, he had no hit records, but he did have a great voice and a great band – the Roundup Boys – and several of his recordings have long been highly sought after among collectors, particularly, Flying Saucer Boogie.

Then a song about as strange creature called the “Purple People Eater” recorded by Sheb Wooley made it to Number 1 on the Billboard charts.

In the 1960’s groups like the Ran Dells recorded the novelty song the Martian hop and in 1964 the familiar raspy voice of Jimmy Durante was heard singing the song “Goin’ UFOin’.”

During my radio career I began working at a station called K-Lite 93 FM. The songs were light rock and a song by the Carpenters called “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary craft was played often – as a song by Neil Diamond called “Turn on your Heart Light.” To be honest at the time I had no idea that the song was about E.T. the extra- terrestrial.

By the time I was doing Classic rock radio I was playing songs like “It came out of the Sky” by Credence Clearwater revival. “Starman” by David Bowie, Brownsville Station’s “Martian Boogie,” and “Wheel in the Sky” by Journey

Many people know that “Come Sail Away” by STYX is about alien abduction.

I then worked at a modern music station where songs like “Down in the Park” by Gary Numan, “ I Ran” by a Flock of Seagulls, and Peter Shilling’s “Major Tom.”

Gary Numan’s, “Down in the Park” was influenced by J.G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick. It tells the story of a futuristic park in which Machmen, androids with human skin and machines rape and kill human beings to entertain spectators who, along with their numerically-named robotic “friends,” view the carnage from a nearby club.

“I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls, is about a man being abducted by an alien woman with glowing eyes, taken up in a beam of light. He is tempted to go with her, but he runs far away from the clouds, the ship, and the girl.

An astronaut that goes into space realizes that when he arrives he feels right at home and does not come back to earth in the Song “Major Tom.”

Before I was a talk radio host I was a Rock Jock on KBER 101.1 FM in Salt Lake City—I was turned on to a Song that was performed by Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler called Area Code 51 about Area 51 and Megadeath’s Hangar 18.

When I moved to Portland, I produced Ground Zero on KUFO. I discovered at the time that Van Halen’s 5150 album where Sammy Hagar was vocalist had a song called “Love Walks In.” Many people when they listen closely to the song’s lyrics realize the song is about alien abduction. Sammy Hagar later admitted that in 1967 he was abducted by aliens and that they were the reason he has been inspired to perform.

I also remember playing a song “Aliens Exist” by Blink 182 and also learning that Tom DeLonge, the lead singer was also abducted by aliens.

I am sure there are many more songs that I could come up with, and a lot of novelties could probably be found on a Dr. Demento album, but believe it or not I find the most frightening song about aliens is by Katie Perry. ET by Katie Perry was always played on a radio station that was next to the area where we prepared the Ground Zero show.

I would always get the creeps when hearing it, because the lyrics sound as if she is literally inviting aliens to come and abduct her.

When the UFO alien stories are combined with the appeal of hit rock’n’roll music, the chart impact is unstoppable, and thus one of the oddest and most charming moments in our musical history is when Rock and Roll and alien lore became as compatible as peanut butter and chocolate.

As I have said, I am sure there are many songs that I haven’t mentioned – there are more songs that go beyond the UFO and the alien and predict the future… but of course that will be a topic for another time—until then I will be listening to the one hit alien wonders and smile because somewhere out in space – all those songs are being picked up somewhere and who knows maybe these beings are dancing the Martian Hop.

Text – Check out Ground Zero Radio with Clyde Lewis Live Nightly @ http://www.groundzeromedia.org