It's been a LOOOONG time since I read the novel. I also have the old Task Force boardgame in storage somewhere as well.
I definitely still enjoy watching the '50's classic War Of The Worlds movie. That enemy heat ray sound is still ingrained into my brain!
A conscious effort was made to avoid the "flying saucer" look of stereotypical UFOs. The Martian war machines (designed by Al Nozaki) were instead sleek, sinister-looking constructs shaped like manta rays floating over the ground. Three Martian war machines were made for the film, out of copper. One was modified for use in the film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (which Byron Haskin also directed) and was supposedly later melted down for a copper drive. Forrest Ackerman claimed to have owned one. It is believed that the third was destroyed in a fire.
Each machine was topped with an articulated metal arm, culminating in a cobra-like head, housing a single electronic "eye" that operated both like a periscope and a weapon. The electronic eye housed the martian "heat ray", pulsing, peering around and firing beams of red sparks, all accompanied by thrumming and a high-pitched clattering shriek when the ray was fired. The distinctive sound effect of the weapon was created by the orchestra performing the musical score, mainly through the use of violins and cellos. For many years, it was utilized as a standard "ray-gun" sound on children's television shows and the sci-fi anthology series The Outer Limits, particularly the episode "The Children of Spider County".
The machines also fired a green ray (referred to as a "skeleton beam") from their wingtips, generating a distinctive sound and exposing the interior of its target (in the case of humans, their skeletons became briefly visible) before disintegrating it. This latter weapon seems to have been substituted for the chemical weapon black smoke described in the novel. The sound effect (created by striking a high tension cable with a hammer) was reused in Star Trek: The Original Series, accompanying the launch of photon torpedos. Another prominent sound effect made by the machines is a chattering, synthesized echo, perhaps representing some kind of alien sonar, that has best been described as the sound of electronic rattlesnakes.
And here I thought someone recorded a starter motor and played around with the levels... someone will have to explain to me how an orchestral score morphed into the heat ray sound someday!
