The broadcast sounded all too real, with live music interrupted by news flashes that culminated in a horrifying event at Grovers Mill, New Jersey.
But in recent years, some scholars have concluded that reports of mass hysteria were greatly exaggerated.
Back in 1998, on the 60th anniversary of the broadcast, Eyewitness News' Michelle Charlesworth visited Grovers Mills, a community that has embraced the legendary story with pride, even erecting a monument to the broadcast in a park.