Flying machine (The War of the Worlds) far been depicted once on screen in Pendragon Pictures "H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds", where it makes an appearance after the battle with , which is later recounted from the perspective of the artilleryman. However, it appeared briefly in the live adaptation of "Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds", though the album itself does not make any reference to the flying machine. Many more of them appeared in the "New Generation" version of the stage show. Viewed edge on, the roughly boomerang-shaped war machines of George Pal's 1953 film, which bear no resemblance to
The War of the Worlds suggests the Martians have left behind. The novel also presents ideas related to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, both in specific ideas discussed by the narrator, and themes explored by the story. Wells also wrote an essay titled 'Intelligence on Mars', published in 1896 in the "Saturday Review", which sets out many of the ideas for the Martians and their planet that are used almost unchanged in "The War of the Worlds". In the essay he speculates about the nature of the Martian inhabitants and how their evolutionary progress might compare to humans. He also suggests that Mars, being