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Buffalo's "War of the Worlds" coming to the big screen

Posted at 6:08 PM, Oct 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-03 10:03:40-04

Back in 1968, some people believed Buffalo was taken over by aliens and the world was ending... all thanks to a Halloween radio broadcast. 

WKBW Radio's "War on the World's" broadcast is considered the second most famous radio version of HG Wells Martian Invasion story that aired in 1938. The HG Well's Martian Invasion story actually scared people into thinking the world was ending, and the Buffalo version did the same. 

"It sounded like it was an actual news broadcast," Dan Neaverth, WKBW narrator said. "We broke in and we were playing records... even though we knew it wasn't real it just sounded so real." 

Creator Jeff Kaye and local legends like Irv Wienstein, John Zach, Dan Kiegler, and many more helped create the fictional Western New York scene. 

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the theatrical broadcast. A documentary was created by All Services WNY, and sponsored by the Buffalo/Niagara Film Office and Niagara County Community College to celebrate the anniversary. 

"There are not many 50 year old radio shows that people are making documentaries about," Sandy Beach, the Disc Jockey for the Buffalo version of "War of the World's" radio broadcast said. "We are very proud to be apart of it." 

The film will debut on October 30th at 7pm at the North Park Theatre in North Buffalo. 

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