Just realized how close we came to a nuclear war in 1983 by pure LUCK

I was reading through some declassified files from the Soviet early warning system and found out about September 26, 1983. A Russian officer named Stanislav Petrov was on duty when their system showed 5 American missiles incoming. He decided it was a computer error and didn't report it up the chain. Turns out he was RIGHT, it was a false alarm from sunlight reflecting off clouds. If he had panicked and followed protocol, we could have had a full nuclear exchange within 30 minutes. How many other moments like this are still buried in the archives and we just don't know about?

3 comments

3 Comments

grays131mo ago

Technology working as intended, a true miracle.

wesleyb201mo ago

I found a similar story about a Soviet sub captain who almost launched during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

simonp761mo ago

Wow, that's wild! My buddy Mike actually told me a similar story about his uncle who served on a British sub during the 60s. He said they got a coded message that basically said "enemy forces detected, prepare for depth charge attack" but something felt off about the wording. The captain apparently ripped the message in half and said "that's not our protocol, that's a trap" and ordered them to dive deep and stay silent. Turned out a Soviet spy had jammed their normal signal and sent a fake one to try and start a fight. Mike's uncle swore the whole crew nearly had heart attacks because they were one button press away from launching torpedoes. Makes you realize how thin the line really was back then.