BOGOTA, Colombia - When the green men from Mars landed in the central plaza of Cotocollao, Ecuador, a stunned nation listened as one of the country's most famous radio personalities was vaporized by a death-ray. Firefighters and police rushed to the sleepy village to confront the alien invaders.

By the end of that night, 65 years ago, the announcer would still be alive but at least six others would be dead as furious mobs discovered they had fallen for a prank.

When Orson Welles produced his version of "The War of the Worlds" in 1938, it generated a firestorm in the United States. Thousands of people were duped by the realistic radio drama that described an alien invasion of Grover's Mill, New Jersey.

But the program, based on H.G. Wells' classic science fiction novel, had a deadly ripple effect throughout Latin America, where radio shows tried to copy its success.

Panic In Chile

In 1944, in Chile, a version of the radio drama was blamed for panicking thousands and giving an electrician a fatal heart attack, according to a Newsweek article from the time.

"Once more a radio dramatization of H.G. Wells' imaginative novel, 'The War of the Worlds,' had convinced a gullible citizenry that the earth's gig was up," the magazine reported.

But in the tiny nation of Ecuador, the stunt was pulled off so convincingly that even the authorities seem to have fallen for the story.

Jorge Ribadeneira was 19 when Radio Quito staged its own version of the alien invasion. It was Saturday night, and the station was broadcasting a live concert. The musicians were interrupted to announce that an enormous cylindrical object had crashed just north of Quito, the capital.

Moments later, Leonardo Paez, one of Quito's best known radio personalities, was rushed to the scene. As Paez broadcast "live" from Cotocollao's central plaza, a long "green arm" emerged from the alien craft, and then Paez was fried by a bolt of light.

Throngs of Quitenos panicked and tried to get out of the city as the radio reported a toxic cloud would be released if the aliens clashed with Ecuador's armed forces.

"There were people running around all over the streets and the army and police were heading toward Cotocollao," said Ribadeneira, now 83.

Tragedy In Ecuador

Six years after the original show was aired, the script was adapted into Spanish for the Chilean show. A few years later, a young man named Eduardo Alcaraz took the Chilean script to Ecuador, where he found Paez.

Paez was only in his 30s at the time but had already made a name for himself as an artistic powerhouse. He was a poet, playwright, reporter, radio actor and songwriter who composed some of Ecuador's most famous music.

In the wake of the tragedy, Paez would receive much of the blame. He was accused of creating panic by planting stories in the local newspaper and failing to warn the audience that they were listening to fiction.

"There are so many stories about him, but most of them are just legends," said Ximena Paez, 63, the broadcaster's daughter. Ximena says her father never tried to hide the fact that it was a radio play, but that the owners of the station tried to frame him to downplay their role.

What is known is that on the night of Feb. 12, 1949, the city was seized by panic as the show kept upping the stakes. Radio Quito patched in other broadcasters who were also "reporting" the arrival of alien craft, and an actor playing the archbishop of Quito fueled the panic. But there were also real acts that added to the effect. Someone apparently ordered police and firefighters to head to Cotocollao.

It didn't take long for the radio station to realize that it had overplayed its hand. But, when it shut down the show and tried to reassure the audience it was just fiction, it only enraged the crowd. Soon, a mob surrounded the radio station in Quito and set it ablaze.

"We saw an enormous fire," recalls Ribadeneira. "And we could hear the announcer, whose name was Luis Beltran, calling for help. He was saying 'Please let the firefighters through,' but the people wouldn't let them pass."

Other reports say that the police couldn't respond because they were in Cotocollao.

A Bittersweet Memory

Ximena Paez said her father always believed that security didn't react because they were embarrassed over having fallen for the prank. Most of the key players, including Paez, Alcaraz and Beltran, survived. But at least six people died, including the radio's pianist and violin player. Paez's girlfriend was also killed in the fire, according to Ribadeneira, who wrote a brief history of the event.

For Orson Welles, "The War of the Worlds" was a turning point. The event turned him into an international sensation, and he spun his fame into a distinguished movie career that included the making of the classic "Citizen Kane."

The outcome for Alcaraz and Paez is more complicated. Ecuador launched an inquiry into the event. Alcaraz fled to Mexico, where he worked in the movie industry until his death, according to Ribadeneira and others.

Reports from the time say Paez fled to Venezuela to escape the law. His daughter said, however, that after going into hiding for about three months, Paez was found to be innocent. In fact, he continued working for an additional six years in Ecuador, winning national theater awards, before moving to Venezuela in 1955. He died there in 1991.

Ximena said "The War of the Worlds" was a bittersweet memory for him.

"He was proud of it because it was such a good artistic production that people believed it," she said. "But it was a tragedy because people died."]]>