It's as large as a bear and it glistens like black leather. The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, a Presbyterian congregation fell to its knees and began singing What A Friend We Have in Jesus. In Providence, Rhode Island, police received over 4,000 calls from anxious listeners. In Newark, New Jersey, people climbed onto apartment house rooftops and, looking across the Hudson River, saw clouds of smoke over Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
Hundreds fled Newark, causing massive traffic jams. In Grover's Mill, N.J., seven duck hunters, listening to the CBS broadcast on a car radio, decided to fight back. They formed a patrol and headed into the woods. Suddenly, one of them cried out and pointed to a sinister ovoid shape looming above some trees. The group opened fire with rifle and shotguns, but it was no good.