On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells's 'The War of the Worlds' as a series of realistic news bulletins. The broadcast, which depicted a Martian invasion of Earth, allegedly caused widespread panic among listeners who believed the events were real, with reports of traffic jams, stampedes, and frantic calls to authorities. While the scale of the panic is disputed, the event became a landmark in media history.

The 'War of the Worlds' panic has been the subject of numerous poems, essays, and works of media criticism, exploring the power of radio and the vulnerability of audiences to illusion. The event has inspired poets and writers to reflect on the nature of truth, the ethics of media manipulation, and the psychology of mass fear. It also played a role in the development of science fiction as a genre and remains a touchstone for discussions of the relationship between art, media, and public perception.