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Twitterers Stage Mock Martian Invasion a la 'War of the World...

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Saved by 4 people (-1 private), first by anonymouse user on 2008-11-01


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A spontaneous re-enactment of Orson Welles' 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast unfolded Friday on microblogging site Twitter.

Hundreds of tweets detailed a mock Martian invasion, with reports both panic-stricken and humorous.

"Smoking, smoldering hunks of buildings, cars and people lay strewn about," wrote one user, joshlewis. "The tripods have left the Warehouse District in ruins." 

Another, iancanfield, wrote: "The freeways are packed! I've heard from a few stuck on 252 and 94, they are sitting ducks."

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Twitter has been used to comment on national events and disseminate crucial information quickly during natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and earthquakes.

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To distinguish the apocalyptic messages from the rest of the updates flowing through the site -- and to prevent igniting the kind of confusion and panic caused by Welles' historic broadcast -- participants are adding the tag "#wotw2" to the ends of their fictional accounts.

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