What happens
Sid Ryan, head of Publicity Associates, is approached by Lucia, a self-proclaimed Martian, who hires him to run a suspense campaign for a mysterious product. Ryan builds the buildup around a June 1st Martian Day parade up Fifth Avenue, enlisting midgets, extras and horses dressed as invaders. The campaign grows enormous, and Ryan begins to suspect a link to a film studio's upcoming space picture. The transcript ends with the parade underway and a disturbing incident in the crowd.
New York City, Fifth Avenue, in the 1950s, at a publicity agency and during a Martian Day parade
Characters: Sid Ryan, Lucia, Oliver, Commissioner Patrick, Benny Marcus, Gloria Montes, Marty Sanford
Listen for: Lucia's claim to be a Martian and the mounting scale of the publicity campaign
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.