Martian invasion
Red planet assault
A Martian invasion is an attack on Earth by beings from Mars—a staple of science fiction since H.G.
Wells's *The War of the Worlds* (1898).
Orson Welles's 1938 radio adaptation famously caused panic among listeners who believed a real invasion was underway.
The phrase now applies broadly to any alien attack scenario, or jokingly to any sudden overwhelming arrival: The office felt like a Martian invasion when the new interns showed up.
- alienNon-native being
- warfareArmed conflict between groups
- red planetRust-hued celestial body
- science fictionSpeculative fiction with technological themes
- militaryArmed forces collectively
alien attack · resistance · dystopia · conquest · world domination · counterattack · evacuation · mass hysteria · radio drama · pulp magazines · bunker · spacefaring · tripods · heat ray · death ray · extraterrestrial · interplanetary · Orson Welles