There was a nervous, panicky tone to his
voice. The Martians, hideous, leathery-skinned creatures (8) ______ (spread)
out. New Jersey police (9) ______ (race) to stop them.
There was more music, more urgent announcements, chilling silence.
People were glued to their sets. Earlier they (10) ______ (phone) their
relatives and warned them about what (11) _____ (happen).
Across the whole of America, people were beginning to panic.
Then the announcer (12) ______ ( come) on to the air again: “ We take
you now to Washington for a special broadcast on the national emergency by
the Secretary of the Interior.’ A solemn voice was heard asking people not to
panic – but at the same time telling them that the Martian landing was not
only in New Jersey. Space vehicles (13) ______ (fall) to earth all across the
States. The beings from outer space (14) _____ (already killed) thousands of
troops and civilians with their death-ray guns.
One of the Welles’ actors (15) _____ (pretend) to be the President of
the United States and warned the American people against the dangers of
panic. The show ended with the announcer screaming from the top of CBS
skyscraper that Manhattan was being taken over. His feverish commentary
finished in a strangled scream.
In New Jersey, where the Martians were first reported to have landed,
the roads were filled with cars racing for the hills. Families fled from their
homes with wet towels over their heads, believing this would save them
from the nauseous space gases the radio (16) ______ (tell) them about. The
panic (17) _____ (begin).39
Sailors in the Us Navy were recalled to their ships in New York harbor
to be ready to defend America against the Martians. From Los Angeles to
Boston there were reports of ‘meteors’. Some people actually claimed to
have seen Martians.
After it was all over, Welles, already a well-known actor at the age of
24, was fiercely criticized for throwing half the USA into terror. Dozens of
people took legal action against CBS, but in the end the complaints were all
withdrawn and, instead of taking Welles’ show off the air, CBS bosses
congratulated themselves for having hired the most-talked about actor in
America.