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All the United States New Jersey West Windsor Township 'War of the Worlds' Monument

'War of the Worlds' Monument

A bronze monument to the infamous radio broadcast in the real New Jersey town where the fictional Martians crash-landed.

West Windsor Township, New Jersey

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Christopher Linton
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‘War of the Worlds’ Monument   Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  spadaadjusting / Atlas Obscura User
Aerial view of Wilson Farm, scene of the “attack” on America described in the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast.   NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
William Dock of Grover’s Mill stands ready with his shotgun to ward off alien attackers, circa 1938.   Bettman/Getty
War of the Worlds Monument   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
A building in Grover’s Mill close to the monument.   dlc31723 / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
WoW   johnmeegan / Atlas Obscura User
A photograph taken of the water tower (hard to locate through trees)   spadaadjusting / Atlas Obscura User
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About

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carl Phillips again, out at the Wilmuth farm, Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Professor Pierson and myself made the 11 miles from Princeton in 10 minutes. Well, I—I hardly know where to begin to paint for you a word picture of the strange scene before my eyes, like something out of a modern Arabian Nights."

"Well, I just got here. I haven't had a chance to look around yet. I guess that's it. Yes, I guess—that's the thing, directly in front of me, half buried in a vast pit. Must have struck with terrific force. The ground is covered with splinters of a tree it must have struck on its way down. What I can see of the object itself doesn't look very much like a meteor, at least not the meteors I have seen. It looks more like a huge cylinder."

The words above were broadcast on the evening of October 30, 1938, as part of a radio drama adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic The War of the Worlds. The performance, presented by actor and filmmaker Orson Welles, consisted of simulated news bulletins reporting on the crash landing and subsequent invasion of Earth by Martians.

In an era before news and information could be quickly and easily verified, and in a country tense during the buildup to World War II, some listeners believed the fictional broadcast was of a real event. Although many stories of widespread panic and chaos have been debunked over the years, the broadcast did resonate with many Americans and some were legitimately afraid. The program was accused of being deceptive, leading to calls for stricter regulations to prevent similar scares from occurring in the future.

In 1988, the unincorporated community of Grover's Mill—the very real town featured as the landing site of the very fictional Martian invasion—erected an eight-foot-high bronze monument to this unique event in broadcasting history. Inscribed with a description of the evening and a rendering of the alien craft from the story, the monument stands in a quiet location near a pond.

Related Tags

Aliens Monuments Hoaxes And Pseudoscience Science Fiction Radio

Know Before You Go

The monument is located in a field in Van Nest Park, on the south side of Cranbury Road just east of Clarksville Road. Interpretive signs in the park also tell the story of the broadcast.

Community Contributors

Added By

ronin

Edited By

salmson2a2, dlc31723, Collector of Experiences, spadaadjusting...

  • salmson2a2
  • dlc31723
  • Collector of Experiences
  • spadaadjusting
  • blimpcaptain
  • johnmeegan
  • theannemeadows

Published

September 17, 2010

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Sources
  • http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hl=en&tab=wl
  • http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/orsonwellswaroftheworlds.htm
  • http://learn.southsuburbancollege.edu/theatre/groversmill/WOTWPlaque.html
  • https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/dms-decimal
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_drama)
'War of the Worlds' Monument
218 Cranbury Road
West Windsor Township, New Jersey, 08550
United States
40.312739, -74.605089
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