# Do Americans always get scared.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189 "2005-02-21T16:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/21 "2005-02-22T14:35:43Z")
I was going to bring up the London hoax , but **Bosda** beat me to it. A panic resulted from a broadcast of War of the Worlds in Quito, Ecuador in 1949: [http://www.swl.net/patepluma/south/ecuador/martians.html](http://www.swl.net/patepluma/south/ecuador/martians.html) As Bosda noted, it ain’t just us. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/22 "2005-02-22T15:18:23Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > In the 80’s there was a made-for-TV movie called “Special Report” which simulated news coverage of a crisis involving a terrorist nuclear bomb in Charlston, SC. To avoid a repeat of WOTW, they innundated the viewers with dislaimers that it wasn’t real, at both ends of every break and with a message crawl during the program every 10 minutes or so. It was [url=“[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/)”]_Special Bulletin_. I think I’ll start a Café thread on it… ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/23 "2005-02-22T15:18:38Z")
FTR, my grandpa remembers the broadcast, and thoroughly enjoying it for the skillful play that it was. He had tuned in to hear the Mercury Theater and got the Mercury Theater, with Orson and all the others, and while he hadn’t read it he was familiar with the rather famous Verne book. It was also listed in the paper what the show would be. Nobody he knew panicked either. And while he didn’t know all four million folks in Brooklyn with him, there were obviously a big chunk of Americans who knew better. Besides, you could spin the dial and see if any other stations were covering it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/24 "2005-02-22T15:19:37Z")
[Special Bulletin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/25 "2005-02-22T15:41:56Z")
> [@](#): > > FTR, my grandpa remembers the broadcast, and thoroughly enjoying it for the skillful play that it was. He had tuned in to hear the Mercury Theater and got the Mercury Theater, with Orson and all the others, and while he hadn’t read it he was familiar with the rather famous Verne book. It was also listed in the paper what the show would be. > > Nobody he knew panicked either. And while he didn’t know all four million folks in Brooklyn with him, there were obviously a big chunk of Americans who knew better. Besides, you could spin the dial and see if any other stations were covering it. Nitpick – WOTW was based on an H.G./ Wells novel. SF wrier William Tenn wrote an interesting essay about the broadcast. Although all reports statde that there was a disclaimer at the intro (which most people missed because they were listening to the opening monolgue on the Edgar Bergen/ Charlie McCarthy show), he was there and swears that there was _no_ disclaiming intro on the channel he heard it on. I can easily believe this. It would help contribute to the panic. You’d think that it would be easy to switch channels and thus show that this was a hoax, but this was still in the early days of radio, and it’s possible that some places received few stations, and many people weren’t sophisticated enough to think of that. Not to put them down, but I think they were a lot more trusting back then. Not everyone was so easily fooled – I’ve seen contemporary editorial cartoons poking fun at those taken in by the hoax. But that doesn’t mean that a lot of perple still weren’t fooled. – **CalMeacham** , whose wife grew up in Grover’s Mill, N.J. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/26 "2005-02-22T16:16:09Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > It was [_Special Bulletin_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/). > > I think I’ll start a Café thread on it… [_Special Bulletin_ thread in Café Society](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303706), if anyone is interested. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/27 "2005-02-22T16:59:10Z")
I noticed today that BBC World Service radio are going to broadcast a re-make of the 1938 Orson Welles programme. It is a LA Theatre Works production and stars Leonard Nimoy and Gates McFadden. Broadcast times are Saturday 26 Feb 18.30 hours GMT and Sunday 27 Feb 02.00 hours GMT. This should be available all round the world. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/28 "2005-02-22T20:22:44Z")
Is there a way to hear it besides shortwave? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/29 "2005-02-22T20:54:28Z")
> [@wisernow](#): > > Last night I was on Discovery channel and happend to watch ‘Martian Mania’. > \ > Why are the Americans so gullible as to believe anyone, be it a lying radio host or a president that says “Look they are coming to get you…”? > I do not wish to be pitted, but…seriously? Why is it that some people assume that everything they see on TV is real? I mean…seriously? Much like the Travel Channel that produces shows about ghosts to appeal to those who believe in them (and even those who don’t but are looking for entertainment), the Discovery Channel also includes some shows about more questionable areas of science in order to improve its ratings and appeal to a wider audience of interested viewers. As others in this thread have stated, many countries all over the world (like [Mexico](http://www.geocities.com/INEXPLICATA2000/issue3/5.htm)) have had UFO scares that resulted in mass hysteria. In fact, during the time War of the Worlds was made, Germany was having its own “problems” with UFOs, as were Italy and Britain. Also, I’m sure that as a charter member on this board, you already know that making asinine statements like the above is going to get you pitted. Why bother unless you’re seeking attention? And why bother to create such an idiotic thread if you don’t come back and respond to anything in it? Hmm? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/30 "2005-02-22T21:42:33Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > Is there a way to hear it besides shortwave? Yes it is also web-streamed . Details here :- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/](http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/) ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/31 "2005-02-22T22:42:52Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > And why bother to create such an idiotic thread if you don’t come back and respond to anything in it? Hmm? To start with I was not aware that somewhat simlar incidents have happened elsewhere. Even then, I cannot imagine why someone would not at least turn the dial and tune into another station before running out of the house to leave town. Someone earlier asked me what my reaction would be, if CNN broadcast something similar. > [@](#): > > you should consider what you would do if CNN broadcast that Aliens were popping humans with lasers from outer orbit. I do not know about other things but I would most certainly cross check with at least a couple of other channels before packing my bags. In fact I would be surprised if that is not almost an involuntary response. If I am watching TV and a newscaster breaks in with such news, I am quite sure I would get agitated and scared, but then the remote would come into my hands and in a few seconds I would press change the channel to see what sort of coverage another channel has. About the other part, of trying to draw a parallel to the current situation, well maybe I should not have drawn a parallel if it appeared to be in bad taste. For that I apologize. However, I don’t think I am wrong in what I stated otherwise, because there have been numerous posts on this board that talk about how the administration of the US lies and instills fear into the minds of its people in order to fulfill its agenda. The similarity is there only in the sense that the administration exploits this mass weakness. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/32 "2005-02-22T23:06:11Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > FTR, my grandpa remembers the broadcast, and thoroughly enjoying it for the skillful play that it was… Slight hijack: I read that five or six times before I realized that it said broadcast and not Holocaust and I’m still trying to fight down my knee-jerk reaction to it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/33 "2005-02-22T23:17:55Z")
I’m not afraid of no Martian furriners. I got me a Slim Whitman record and I ain’t afraid to use it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/34 "2005-02-23T07:57:43Z")
Ask Michael Moore, it’s all the government’s fault. > **[Bowling for Columbine (2002) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310793/plotsummary)** > > Bowling for Columbine (2002) on IMDb: Plot summary, synopsis, and more... ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/35 "2005-02-23T21:08:12Z")
An interesting read on both the causes of the War of the Worlds “Panic” and a mention of some growing skepticism as to how widespread it actually was. [http://www.csicop.org/si/9811/martian.html](http://www.csicop.org/si/9811/martian.html) Without any real evidence whatsoever (hooray for IMHO), I suspect the level of “Panic” over the Wells broadcast was actually more comparable to the level of “Panic” over the Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” than 9/11… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/36 "2005-02-24T00:53:14Z")
Back in the '30s, my parents lived in NYC, and the evening of that broadcast they were visiting friends in New Jersey - in the exact town where the Martians had supposedly landed. My parents knew nothing about this until the next morning, when they read about it in the paper. As far as the OP is concerned: Maybe we should start a thread about all the moronic untruths non-Americans have fallen for. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/37 "2005-02-24T01:49:30Z")
Thanks, **Rayne**. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/38 "2005-02-24T02:16:34Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > As far as the OP is concerned: Maybe we should start a thread about all the moronic untruths non-Americans have fallen for. Like the metric system? Or how about the illusion most men outside the US seem to beleive that they look good in a speedo and that its perfectly normal to wear one to the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/39 "2005-02-24T02:19:52Z")
> [@wisernow](#): > > Do Americans always get scared… Asked the person whose location is anonymous. But seriously. Next time you’re in [France](http://www.abmc.gov/no.htm), stop by and read off the names of some Americans who were around in 1939 to hear “War of the Worlds”. That should give you some perspective of how they felt about the title of the program. Bring a lunch, you’ll need it. Some debts cannot be repaid, just appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189/40 "2005-02-24T14:36:00Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Asked the person whose location is anonymous. > > But seriously. Next time you’re in [France](http://www.abmc.gov/no.htm), stop by and read off the names of some Americans who were around in 1939 to hear “War of the Worlds”. That should give you some perspective of how they felt about the title of the program. Bring a lunch, you’ll need it. > > Some debts cannot be repaid, just appreciated. What the Fresh Hell is **that** about? 😕😕😕 Total _non sequiter_. 😕😕😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-always-get-scared/291189.md?page=3)