86 years after infamous 'War of the Worlds' broadcast, visitors in the sky have New Jersey panicking again

The panic in New Jersey and across the nation is very real as there is still no explanation for the multiple drone sightings over the state. Reports of these drones have poured in nightly after the first sighting on Nov. 18, 2024, and the source of the drones is still a mystery. The drones have been seen over reservoirs, the U.S. military's Picatinny Arsenal facility, President-elect Trump's Bedminster golf course, and were even reported following a U.S. Coast Guard vessel.

Almost 100 years ago on Oct. 30, 1938, many of these same parts of New Jersey were also the setting for the infamous radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" by Orson Welles. This radio play, detailing Martians who landed in Mercer County, New Jersey, fooled many who tuned in late and believed the events were really happening.

It would be unfair to compare the current drone situation directly with the "War of the Worlds" broadcast. There was no real event that corresponded to the broadcast, and no one saw anything in the sky. However, there are several interesting parallels, says A. Brad Schwartz. Schwartz is the author of "Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News," a historical analysis of the infamous 1938 radio broadcast. "War of the Worlds has become a huge part of local folklore in that part of the state, so anything touching on the subject of UFOs is going to remind people of the broadcast," said Schwartz. Many in New Jersey, he says, have family stories of someone who listened to the broadcast. Some even went on school field trips to visit the "landing site."

But the parallels do not end there. Wedged between two World Wars, the nation was in the midst of the Great Depression and mass unemployment. "Much like today, October 1938 was a very anxious time in America and around the world, when fears of war, economic depression, and environmental catastrophe felt very real for many people," says Schwartz.

In fact, he says, many listeners of the broadcast did not think the visitors in the broadcast were Martians, but instead, Nazis, or that the crash landing was tied to some other environmental catastrophe.

"When there's that much anxiety in the atmosphere, it tends to attach itself to an event like 'War of the Worlds'," says Schwartz. "People speculate publicly about their origin without knowing all the facts." This has been seen with the current drone situation, where explanations have ranged from mischievous hobbyists, an Iranian mothership, the Chinese, the Russians, our own government, Amazon, Google, Elon Musk, or even, yes, aliens.

"One of the lessons I think people can still take away from War of the Worlds," says Schwartz," is to think more carefully about our sources of information, especially with a story like this that seems alarming or feeds into the anxieties of the moment."

For their part, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a statement asserting that "it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully," according to Reuters. White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a press briefing on Dec. 12 that "there is no known malicious activity occurring" related to the reported drone activity.

Nevertheless, some U.S. senators have made statements calling for the reported drones to be shot down.

There is a lot of anxiety that exists today — especially with the current political situation and the advent of particularly powerful technologies — technologies that we don't know how to manage on a global stage. Similar anxieties existed in the late 1930s, when new forms of mass media were appearing. Some feared these technologies would threaten democracy.

"Today, we all need to be even more careful to ensure that what sounds like news comes from a reliable source before we believe it or share it. That's the best and only way to stop fear from going viral and spiraling out of control," says Schwartz.