American film director and actor Orson Welles (left) photographed with English author H.G. Wells when they met in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 30, 1940. The pair were discussing events in Europe when this picture was taken. Wells wrote "The War of the Worlds" which Welles produced as a radio show in 1938. Photo: AP Photo

BOGOTA, Colombia - The radio show was a trick. When the green men from Mars landed in the center of Cotocollao, Ecuador, 65 years ago, a stunned nation listened in. One of the country's most famous radio show hosts had been turned to dust by a death-ray.

The radio announcer was still alive, in fact. ###### Firefighters and police rushed to the village of Cotocollao to face the aliens.

By the end of the night, six people had died. When furious crowds discovered it was a trick, they attacked the radio station.

The radio show in Ecuador was copying an earlier one. ###### Thousands of people believed the realistic radio show. It described an alien invasion in New Jersey. Welles based his show on a famous novel by H.G. Wells.

Alien Attack Aired

###### Radio stations there tried to copy it.

In 1944, in Chile, a version of the radio show scared thousands of people. One man died of a heart attack.

Jorge Ribadeneira was 19 when Radio Quito staged its fake alien attack in Ecuador. ###### The station interrupted its broadcast to announce that a spaceship had crashed in Cotocollao.

Moments later, Leonardo Paez was rushed to the scene. He was one of Quito's best known radio hosts. As Paez broadcast "live" from Cotocollao, a long "green arm" reached from the alien ship. ######

People in Quito panicked and tried to escape the city.

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

The original "War of the Worlds" had been translated into Spanish for Chilean radio shows. Eduardo Alcaraz took the Chilean script to Ecuador. ######

Paez was a radio actor and writer of plays. He also wrote some of Ecuador's most famous music.

"We Saw An Enormous Fire"

Paez was blamed for the sad event. He was accused of not warning the audience that the show was fake.

######

It is known that on the night of Feb. 12, 1949, the city was seized by panic. Police and firefighters were sent to Cotocollao.

The radio station soon realized that it had gone too far. It shut down the show and told the audience it was fake. ###### They set fire to the radio station.

"We saw an enormous fire," remembers 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 come because they were in Cotocollao.

###### Paez, Alcaraz and Beltran survived. But at least six people died, says Ribadeneira. He wrote a history of the event.

A Confusing Memory

"The War of the Worlds" made Orson Welles famous. ######

The outcome for Alcaraz and Paez was worse. Ecuador investigated the event. Alcaraz escaped to Mexico, where he stayed until his death.

Paez's daughter said that Paez was later found to be innocent. ###### In 1955 he moved to Venezuela. He died there in 1991.

Ximena said "The War of the Worlds" was a confusing 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."]]>