RADIO

Judging by its original script--which is to be sold at auction at Sotheby’s later this month--Orson Welles’ famous 1938 radio hoax “War of the Worlds” was toned down considerably for broadcast by CBS censors. Sotheby’s Marsha Malinowski said Sunday the yellowing script shows nearly 30 changes suggested by CBS censors “to diminish the realistic tenor” of the piece. In a clear, bold hand, censors changed the names of New York landmarks such as the Museum of Natural History in an attempt to underline the show’s fictional nature. The names of actual military installations in the area of the fictional alien landing were also altered. The original script is expected to bring between $25,000 and $35,000.