The Ulla originates from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, the 1978 progressive rock album adapting H. G. Wells's 1898 novel. In the story it is the mournful cry of the Martian fighting machines, performed as a haunting synthesized wail. The album became a long-running UK hit with arena tours and stage revivals that kept the sound familiar to new generations. Online, the isolated cry spread through soundboards and video edits, where its instantly recognizable alien dread makes it a shorthand for invasion, doom, and overwhelming power.