The glass egg, written by H. G. Wells in 1897, serves as a possible precursor to the War of the Worlds. The owner of a store buys the contents of a bankrupt antique store, and in the content finds a crystal ball. He does not think about the ball, until one day he realizes that it emits a shine. When you look at the ball, you get a fleeting view of a landscape. As time passes, the views become more defined and strange beings appear. The ball becomes a secret part of his life rather bored and unhappy until a customer tries to buy the ball. Now what? And those strange beings can also see our world through the ball? Remember, in 1897, life on Mars was a very real possibility.