Spain Reports Its Own ‘Space Aliens’ Broadcast Panic

Hundreds of panicked Spaniards flooded TV and radio switchboards with calls this weekend when a newscaster broke in with a report showing space aliens hovering over New York.

The purported news flashes that appeared Saturday and Sunday on the Telecinco network were in fact advertisements for the film “Independence Day,” which opens in Spain on Friday.

The PubliEspana advertising firm figured viewers wouldn’t be taken in by the TV takeoff of H.G. Wells’ 1942 radio stunt that created panic in the United States.

But plenty of Spaniards believed the film’s scenes of a White House press conference about the invasion.