Would the same panic occur if the WAR OF THE WORLDS scandal occurred today?

NO - I do not believe that the same panic that occurred in the 1940's with the entertainment broadcast of WAR OF THE WORLDS.  Reason being because, at the time of the broadcast, we were just learning about space and the vast unknown of outer space.  We were also, for the first time, being shown movies that depicted fictional alien creatures, which made people focus in on what they had seen and were now hearing happen.


Close to 70 years have passed and sadly, most people do not listen to their radio to hear stories like that being told.  We listen to radio to hear our favorite music, or our favorite talk show hosts, but we have grown beyond the radio being a source of theatrical entertainment.  I also think that we are more cynical in our beliefs, and that, if we were to hear something of this magnitude, everyone would be questioning the incident and if it was real, it would be broadcast on the over 500 television stations we have access to, or it would pop up on our cells phones and computers, so that type of hysteria would not set in.