I had a 2 record set of this.
When I first read about the panic that Orson Welles caused, I couldn't believe it. But listening to this, I changed my mind.
In the rather early days of media--and it was well-produced, too--people were more believing of things heard. (Though given what so many believe today, I'm not sure I can limit my observation to the past.)
But this is the American Paranoia: there are these monsters from outside that want to come here and destroy what we have.
It would be UnAmerican for them not to.