THE DAY THE MARTIANS LANDED
or stories they never tell on HCJB
By Don Moore
A slightly edited version of this article was originally published in
the October, 1992 issue of
Monitoring Times
magazine.
Remember when the Martians invaded? Of course! - It was back in
Grandpa's time. We hear about it every Halloween. On October 30,
1938, Orson Wells presented a dramatization of War of the
Worlds on the CBS network. Wells' Martians landed near
Princeton, NJ and proceeded to wreck havoc on the surrounding
countryside. Well, maybe there weren't really any Martians, but
the broadcast certainly created havoc across the country.
Millions of Americans tuned in after the opening credits and
thought the invasion was for real. As police stations were
swamped with phonecalls, many city-dwelling Americans jumped in
the family car and took off for the safety of the country.
Others went off in search of a priest to give a final confession.
At New York City's naval base, shore leaves were canceled and
sailors were called back to their ships. In short, panic seized
the entire nation.
How could Grandpa have been so dense as to actually believe that
Martians really had landed? And now every year we wave it about
for the world to see - Look, everyone at how we got fooled in
1938! It's sort of a blemish on the national IQ. Well,
fortunately we're not the only ones to get bowled over by
imaginary Martians. Just eleven years later it happened again,
south of the equator, in Quito, Ecuador. The Ecuadorians got
taken in just as bad as grandpa did, but their reaction was,
well, a little bit stronger.
The Martians Land
Nestled at the foot of Mount Pichincha, in a fertile Andean
valley, Quito has always been as peaceful as a city could be. When
the 1940s came along, Quito may have lagged behind the rest of the
world in some things, but communications was not one of them. In
downtown Quito, next door to the Ministry of Communication, was the
three-story Comercio building. This was headquarters for Quito's
premier newspaper, El Comercio, which was respected
throughout Latin America. Also in the same building was Radio
Quito, owned by the newspaper, and the most popular radio station
in the city.
NEW INFORMATION (April 2010)
I recently received an e-mail from Ivan Paez, son of Leonardo Paez. He forwards this link about
a book his father wrote which links to
another article about the War of the Worlds
event in Quito based on Leonardo Paez's story.
While the other article mostly confirms what
is my 1991 article, there are a few key differences. For example, the article point out that
station management had, in fact, signed a contract for the production (contrary to my source that
the management had not been told about it). My sources were articles from the U.S. and British press
published shortly after the incident. Given the distance and quality of communication in 1949, it doesn't suprirse me that
there have been some inaccuracies and incomplete information in those news reports.
It should be assumed that the article based on Leonardo's writings
has the correct information wherever my details do not match what that story tells. Of course, if you are interested in this
story be sure to read the other article as it has even more details.
On a side note, Ivan also tells that his father moved to Venezuela in 1955 and was the director of Radio Universidad in Merida until about 1978. Leonardo passed away in 1991. If you are a long time shortwave listener, like me, you may remember Radio Universidad. In the 1970s it was regularly heard on its shortwave outlet of 3395 kHz. I have a number of loggings of the station from those days. What makes this
especially interesting to me is that I visited Merida in Dec 1994/Jan 1995 and visited Radio Universidad. I was in the same manager's office that he used for many years.
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In February, 1949, Leonardo Paez, the art (program) director of
Radio Quito and Eduardo Alcaraz, the station's dramatic director,
were looking for something new and exciting to do on the air.
Something that would really draw attention to Radio Quito. They
had heard of Orson Wells' famous War of the Worlds
program, and that seemed to have just the level of excitement
they needed. A script was drawn up and actors and sound effects
were arranged for. Paez and Alcaraz saw no need to tell station
management about their plans. It was just another drama
production. Finally, on Saturday, February 12, 1949, everything
was ready to go.
As usual, listeners in Quito and surrounding towns tuned in to
Radio Quito's evening newscast, which was followed by the nightly
music program. Suddenly, an announcer broke in mid-song, Here
is an urgent piece of late news! He then gave a long and
frightening description of how Martians had landed twenty miles
south of the city, near Latacunga. Latacunga had already been
destroyed and the aliens were approaching Quito in the shape of a
cloud. A few minutes later came another announcement, The air
base of Mariscal Sucre has been taken by the enemy and it is
being destroyed. There are many dead and wounded. It's being
wiped out!
The broadcast now took on an eery reality, as different actors
stepped up to the microphone, some chosen for their ability to
sound like well-known public officials. First, the 'Minister of
the Interior' arrived, and urged citizens to stay calm to help
organize the defense and evacuation of the city . Next, it was
the 'mayor' of Quito's turn: People of Quito, let us defend our
city. Our women and children must go out into the surrounding
heights to leave the men free for action and combat. Then a
priest begged for mercy from God as a recording of Quito church
bells ringing in alarm was played in the background. The prayer
was interrupted for a telephoned report from an announcer at the
top of Quito's tallest building. He described a monster
surrounded by fire and smoke coming towards the city. More
reports were telephoned in from residents of the nearby village
of Cotocallao, which was now under attack.
Panic in the Streets
By this point, the population of Quito was in panic. The city's
streets filled as thousands fled their homes, many wearing their
pajamas. The noise in the streets was the first inkling Radio Quito
had of what they had done. An announcer came on and revealed that the
broadcast was entirely fictional. Station staff members, many
trusted voices, frantically pleaded for calm in the city.
Radio Quito's appeals did nothing to calm the mobs in the street.
In fact, hearing that the whole thing was a hoax angered people
even more. From all directions, thousands converged on the El
Comercio building and began stoning it. About 100 people were in
the building when the riot began. Most were able to escape the
mob through a back door, but some were forced to flee to the
third floor. The police and army were called to come put down
the riot, but they were already busy. They were on their way to
Cotocallao to battle the Martians.
More rioters arrived. Some brought gasoline, others had crumpled
copies of the El Comercio newspaper. Gasoline was used to
fuel the fire as dozens of burning El Comercio's were
thrown at the building. Soon, the building was engulfed in a
mass of flames which began spreading to nearby buildings.
Several dozen people were still trapped on the third floor. Some
leapt from windows to escape the flames. Others tried forming a
human chain to climb down, but the chain broke and most crashed
to the pavement.
Finally, the police and army arrived, but it was only with tanks
and massive doses of tear gas that the crowds cleared, making
room for the fire trucks. The fire was put out before it caused
extensive damage to nearby buildings, but it was too late for the
El Comercio building. Only the front was left standing.
The presses, radio equipment, and the newspaper and radio station
files were destroyed, leaving $350,000 in damage, an astronomical
sum in 1949. More tragic, was the human cost. Twenty people
died in the fire, or trying to escape it. Fifteen more were
injured.
Radio Quito Rebuilds
The next day, the staffs of El Comercio and Radio Quito
began picking up the pieces, except for Paez and Alcaraz, who
were indicted. Other Quito and Guayaquil newspapers offered
their presses so that the newspaper could continue printing.
Gradually, the paper and the radio station were rebuilt, and they
regained their positions as the most respected media in Quito.
Apparently neither wants to remember the most memorable event in
their past, however. In a 1980 article on the 40th anniversary
of Radio Quito, El Comercio didn't include a single
sentence about the Martian broadcast.
Today, Radio Quito is a not-to-difficult catch on 4920 kHz in the
sixty meter band. It can be heard most evenings until 0400 sign-
off, and mornings after 1000 sign-on. Programming is mainly news
and sports, with occasional radio dramas. But, don't expect to
hear any science fiction. Radio Quito stopped doing that sort of
thing a long time ago.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lichty, Lawrence. 1970. World and International Broadcasting:
A Bibliography.
Martians & Wild Animals. Time. February 14, 1949;
p46.
The New York Times. February 14, 15, and 16, 1949.
The Times of London. February 14 and 15, 1949.
When You Say That, Smile. The Commonweal.
February 25, 1949; p483-484.
This article is copyright 1992 by Don Moore.
This website is maintained by Don Moore,
Association of North American Radio Clubs
DXer of the Year for 1995.
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