"Unable to unite the world by conquest...Alexander's method...I would trick it: Frighten it towards salvation with history's greatest practical joke."
—Adrian Veidt explaining the purpose of the "alien" squid monster and the disaster it caused.
The 11/2 Psychic Shockwave (commonly referred to as 11/2), is an man-made catastrophe that occurred on November 2, 1985, in New York City, in which former costumed adventurer and billionaire industrialist Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) secretly teleported a gigantic, genetically engineered, psychic, squid monster in the middle of Manhattan, resulting in the deaths of millions and horrific images of the creature being telepathically projected into the minds of people across the globe. This was all done to create the illusion that an alien creature from another dimension had invaded our world and posed a serious threat to all the Earth's nations. The "alien" squid monster was itself the final act of a complex and decades-long conspiracy devised by Veidt to prevent the inevitable nuclear apocalypse, unite humanity against a common enemy, and achieve permanent world peace.
Background
"Someone has to save the world..."
The origins of the alien invasion hoax lay in the disastrous Crimebusters fiasco of 1966, after Edward Blake (the Comedian) pointed out to Veidt and the rest of his colleagues the absurdity of continuing superheroics when the ever increasing possibility of humanity destroying itself with nuclear war looms over them, predicting Veidt will one day be "the smartest man on the cinder". Determined to avert extinction—and to deny Blake the pleasure of being right—Veidt began meticulously plotting to stage a cataclysmic event, one that could terrify the world into forgetting its petty international squabbles.[1][2]
Veidt started by perfecting the technologies for teleportation and genetic engineering, most of which Doctor Manhattan was unintentionally responsible for creating. In 1970, he purchased a remote island, where he began to stash a collective of scientists, writers, musicians, and artists (under the false pretenses that they were making a science fiction film), whom he tasked with creating “a monstrous new life form” that could finally scare the entire world into submission and be united against a common (albeit manufactured) enemy. Meanwhile, he cleverly stoked humanity’s fears of an alien invasion by screening retro science-fiction movies at his repertory movie theater, Utopia right across the street from the Institute for Extraspatial Studies, and by planting subliminal messages inside ads for his company’s products.
Veidt’s monster was outfitted with a powerfully augmented brain cloned from that of Robert Deschaines, a medium who’d died of stroke at a young age, and whose decapitated head was stolen from a mortuary. Veidt acquired Deschaines’ brain and had his geneticists transform it into a “psychic resonator”, capable of broadcasting grotesque images and sounds. Most of these images were created by Max Shea, writer of the pirate comic Tales of the Black Freighter and the critically acclaimed Fogdancing who concocted grisly images, like baby squids chewing their way out of their mother’s womb. The squid unleashed this awful mental payload on impact, flooding the minds of everyone in the vicinity.
Events of Watchmen: Eddie Blake's discovery and murder
When Blake stumbled upon by chance Veidt’s secret island during one of his covert operations for the U.S. government, Veidt assassinated him soon after returning to New York City in order to keep the alien invasion hoax conspiracy from being exposed, resulting in Rorschach's investigation and the events surrounding it.[3] To ensure the secrecy of his involvement with Blake's Death, he faked his own assassination attempt on his life and had Rorschach framed for the murder of Edgar Jacobi. He also blew up the ship that was ferrying his monster’s creators back to the mainland.
Veidt's plan was immediately successful in pulling the world back from the brink of war. As the world witnessed the devastation in New York City, the United States and Soviet Union declared it would cease all Cold War hostilities until the new external threat could be assessed and dealt with. Veidt was triumphant, and the utopia he dreamed of would soon finally become a reality.
The former members of the Crimebusters, having uncovered Veidt’s plot in Karnak, are shocked by its severity and cost of innocent life, but agree that it is necessary to keep the truth of the monster a secret to continue to prevent the nuclear holocaust that so nearly endangered humanity before. Rorschach, however, moved by his sentimentality of absolute justice, refused to compromise and attempted to return to civilization and spread the word of Veidt’s doings. He was confronted by Doctor Manhattan, who told him that he cannot allow the truth to get out. Manhattan attempted to reason with Rorschach a final time, but he insisted that there is only one way to ensure his silence, and so Manhattan killed him.
Event
Just before midnight on November 2, 1985, an enormous tentacled monster appeared suddenly in the heart of New York City. Most of its body materialized inside the Institute for Extraspatial Studies, a research hub for possible extra-dimensional energy sources. The creature’s massive tentacles exploded upon impact, killing it instantly and destroying large portions of the city. Those who weren’t crushed to death by crumbling buildings or falling cephalopod chunks mysteriously collapsed, blood pouring from their ears and eyes due to the massive psychic shockwave generated from within the brain of the squid.[2][4] The Squid dissolved into a watery substance before it could be properly studied. Millions of people died beneath the squid that night.
Aftermath and Effects
International Response
Glimpses of Adrian Veidt's new utopia.
The monster's appearance and devastation in New York City terrified the governments of the world - believing the monster to be an alien from another dimension or planet, and viewed it as a sign of a possible future invasion from outer space. Most notably the United States and the Soviet Union decided to work together against the new threat, thus ending the Cold War, thereby removing the threat of mankind’s destruction by nuclear war.[4]
Cultural Impact
As the world rebuilt itself, fashions and mentalities adapted to the new era with new interest towards space, which was mirrored in fashion and commercial trends, still fueled anew by Veidt Enterprises, which continued with propaganda to perpetuate all this: One popular show was The Outer Limits, and the Cold War-themed candies "Mmeltdowns" were renamed "Sunbursts". The perfume "Nostalgia" was renamed "Millennium," mirroring a new era of hope. The Gunga Diner was replaced by Burgers 'N' Borscht. The cinema "Utopia" is renamed "New Utopia"; one of the theater's first movies was Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice (about an upcoming holocaust and peoples' reactions to it). Also, graffitis with mottos such as "Watch the skies" (in place of the popular slogan "Who Watches the Watchmen?") and "Quantum Jump" could be seen in the streets.[4]
Health Effects
Hundreds of thousands of survivors suffered from anxiety and trauma due to being within the radius of the psychic shockwave blast emitted from the monster's brain. Others that survived the attack were driven insane and the impact that the attack had would ultimately cause people worldwide to have nightmares for several years.[4]
DC Timeline
Snyder Timeline
HBO Timeline
Trivia
- The way the aftermath of 11/2 caused a regression in technology and the abandonment of computers and digital communication technology is reminiscent to how in real life the Chernobyl explosion in 1986 caused the mass abandonment of nuclear energies.