Paranoia and Depression

One Explanation for the War of The Worlds panic is that the show aired just after the Munich crisis, a war scare that was referenced at the beginning of the CBS broadcast.(2) For some listeners, the scare may have had nothing at all to do with aliens. Audiences may have been influenced to believe that it was human enemies who were invading the country.  

Some sociologists suggest that listeners were so easily deceived because of the general anxiety Americans felt due to years of economic depression.(2)