It Was War of the Worlds Again

Television viewers in the former Soviet republic of Georgia thought for a few panicky moments on March 13 that the country had come under attack by Russia for the second time since 2008.

A prime time news report on the Georgian Imedi TV channel showed Russian troops and tanks surging over the border and Russian planes bombing the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

The channel then switched to the White House, with a shot of President Obama standing next to Vice President Joe Biden. An announcer explained the president was calling for an end to Russian aggression.

But, as my favorite London newspaper The Independent, explained, this was an ill-conceived simulation. The announcer on Imedi explained it was a simulation at the beginning of the broadcast, as well as at the end -- but not during the broadcast. Any Georgian who tuned in after the brief announcement at the beginning thought their country was under attack. The Independent reported:

As the report aired, panicked Georgians called friends and relatives. Mobile phone networks crashed for several minutes, and there were reports of cinemas emptying as frantic parents called their children back home. Local news agencies reported an increased number of calls to the emergency services from people suffering heart attacks.

About the only person who would have appreciated this stunt is Orson Welles, if he were still alive. He managed to panic much of the United States on Halloween in 1938 with his "War of the Worlds" broadcast, which used simulated, but realistic, news broadcasts to depict a not-so-obviously imaginary Martian attack.