The show's biggest flaw...

I think they hinted that the general populace blocked it out in conjunction with the government propoganda saying "nothing happened" but some people don't forget as they were too affected by it. Been awhile since I've seen it, but I seem to remember it that way.



That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die

They should have taken a page from, "Men In Black," and just explain it as some top secret government agency erasing people's minds somehow. Might have helped in the plot? I do remember thinking it was kind of a huge hole in the plot.

The forgetfulness was not taken for granted in the series, but was a mystery. How much of it was: 1. propaganda 2. collective shock and denial 3. a weird effect of the alien attack itself? The show was completely redone for the 2nd season so most recurring plot elements were reset. Personally, I think that the population would mostly all forget that they were invaded by aliens decades ago is an intriguing idea, even though it didn't play as well as one could have hoped. Also, the bit about the Welles broadcast was just one small piece of the puzzle - it was definately not meant to explain why people had forgotten.


My grandfather fought on the beaches of France in WWII, but doesn't seem to remember it. He probably does, but tries not to.

The series was leaning more towards reason #2 above. That for people to remember something really fantastic - and horrible - they really had to have their collective faces rubbed in it hard. What if in modern times, the government plainly states that they are in communication with aliens, but that we are not allowed to see or hear about this? It'd rate a high "weird factor" for PR but nobody would really believe it at a mainstream cultural level until aliens attacked the Macy's parade or the superbowl. Hell, scientists have been warning about global warming since the early 1960s, but only 40 years later is it popularly considered a real phenomenon.

I was actually just going to post a topic about this. I watched the series when it first aired but I was only 11 and 12 years old so I don't recall much. I'm five episodes into the first season now and although it hasn't aged that well...the music is godawful, as is the acting, the story is still great...except for what this post is about. I find it completely stupid that people STIll don't believe in aliens when the world was almost decimated 30+ years earlier. Now, since I'm only 5 episodes in they may explain something, but I was looking forward to this not being an 'X-Files' type cover-up.

They said it was some psychological effect of contact with the Martians. If memory serves, they said it was the same reason most abductees didn't remember being taken until they had been hypnotised. I think it was either explained to, or by, General Wilson in the first episode.

You are correct it was the probably the weakest part of the series (besides the 2nd season.) If that event happened it would be one of the definitive moments in mans history. Even as dumb as kids are today it would still be in the books somewhere.

"If it bleeds. We can kill it."

The idea of the 1938 invasion was that 1 probe ship landed in tiny little town an the FARMERS of that town stopped the ship. Since no explaination was given I am going with it had malfunctioned crashed on Earth an happened to breakdown while the farmers were shooting at it.
One of the farmers who was there says the next day the military came an brought Orson Wells with them an a few days latter he made the radio broadcast as part of the cover up. The newspapers reported that the crazy farmers heard the radio broadcast an blew up there own reservour water tank an any farmer who tried to explain what realy happened was considered crazy by the general population.
Now everyone forgetting the 53 invasion is a weirder thing. In a episode they did street interviews asking people if they belived in aliens an everyone said no but when they talked to people old enough to live through 53 they kept asking specific questions an the old people not only started to remember but they became irrationaly affraid an fled the interviewer. In Buffy Willow's mom finds out magic is real, her daughter is a witch, tries to kill her own daughter for being a witch an that she is dating a guy in a band. Two days later she remembers her daughter is dating a guy in a band an forgot everything else. The same effect was going on. If you were not determined enough or were not the type of person who wanted to know the truth or you were not being bombared with the truth on a regular basis something would block the knowledge from you.
An before anyone flames me Mr. Trick stated that Sunnydale had one of the highest murder rates in the country but nobody noticed. I do not care how good the cover up is if every block has someone disapear, runnway or be murdered you should not feel perfectly safe unless something else is going on.

The invasion took place on the entire world. War machines were moving through major cities destroying buildings and killing thousands of people. How can she NOT have known about it? That would be like if you mentioned World War 2 to somebody and they tell you they never heard of it ... Oddly enough, OP, didn't they use this exact same line of thought with Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, only everyone has forgotten within a couple of years? My brother saw it and said that they had covered up the giant robot battle in the middle of a city witnessed by thousands as a hoax. Any way you look at it, it's a bad bad plot device.