Political Ad All Too Realistic, Sparks Panic Over ‘Meltdown’

More than a dozen people, some hysterical, called police after hearing a political advertisement that simulated a news broadcast of a meltdown at the Seabrook nuclear power plant, police said today.

Police Chief Paul Cronin said his department received 15 to 20 calls from concerned Massachusetts and New Hampshire residents who heard the Sunday night broadcast about a radioactive cloud headed for Boston and believed a real emergency had occurred.

“We were not notified,” Cronin said of the broadcast. “I think it was kind of irresponsible really. There’s no need of that type of thing.”

JoAnn Shotwell, a Democratic candidate for attorney general in Massachusetts who trails James Shannon in a primary race, aired the $4,000 broadcast over five Massachusetts radio stations Sunday night to show her opposition to the nuclear plant.

Charles Glazier, Shotwell’s press secretary, said reaction to the ad was favorable.

“We’re very pleased,” he said. “I certainly had no complaints.”

Bay State Civil Defense officials had warned Shotwell they feared a reaction such as created in 1938 by the Orson Welles radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds.”

Despite interruptions by Shotwell at five-minute intervals to explain the broadcast was just a simulation, police received calls from concerned residents shortly after the broadcast began at 8:30 p.m.

“People were very hysterical,” said police dispatcher Blanche McCallion. “I told them it was a sick joke from one of them Massachusetts politicians.”