Guerra dos Mundos - Braga, 30 de Outubro de 1988

W O R L D
World Notes PORTUGAL
Space Saga In Braga
Nov. 14, 1988
"Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin . . ." On Halloween eve 50 years ago, Orson Welles' broadcast of H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds panicked citizens on the U.S. East Coast who believed Martians were invading. Last week when a radio station in northern Portugal re-created the celebrated 1938 drama, people again reacted in terror. Minutes after the anniversary broadcast began in Braga (pop. 125,000), a mini-panic was on. Said Antonio Costa Guimares, one of the show's producers: "It was total chaos." While some residents fled, others rushed to the * spot where the fearsome extraterrestrials were said to have been sighted. In a show of strength that would have startled any alien bold enough to advance on Braga, a local fire chief sent two fire trucks roaring about in search of the outer-space cadets. The program, which had been announced well in advance, was intended as homage to Orson Welles. The actor, who had called his Mercury Theatre production a way of dressing up in a sheet and saying boo, would have enjoyed it hugely.