The man who saved the world ( How an Obscure Russian Colonel Prevented Nuclear War in 1983 )

Worldnetdaily.com ^ | 12/21/2005 | Jim Rutz

[SirLinksalot]

The man who saved the world

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© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

You almost died in 1983.

Do you remember what you were doing on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, of that year? Not likely. But you came within a whisker of dying that day. Amazingly, the news about this didn't come out until 1998. And only since 2004 has the press actually begun to pick up on the story.

It was just after midnight, Sept. 26, and 120 staff were working the graveyard shift in Serpukhov-15, the secret USSR command bunker hidden in a forest 30 miles northeast of Moscow.

In the commander's chair was Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov, 44, looking down from his mezzanine desk to the gymnasium-sized main floor filled with military officers and technicians charged with monitoring any U.S. missiles and retaliating instantly

Petrov was highly aware that Cold War tensions were acute, as USSR fighters had shot down a Korean airliner on Sept. 1. But he was completely shocked when the warning siren began to wail and two lights on his desk console began flashing MISSILE ATTACK and START. "Start" was the instruction to launch, irreversibly, all 5,000 or so Soviet missiles and obliterate America.

If you remember the 1959 movie "On the Beach," starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner – enormously popular in the USSR – you know that ambient, post-holocaust radiation was expected to wipe out all mankind. But this was no movie, it was the real thing, and Petrov's protocols gave him zero minutes to notify his superiors and President Yuri Andropov, who then would have just 12 minutes to get out of bed, think fast, and order a counterattack.

A new, unproven Soviet satellite system had picked up a flash in Montana near a Minuteman II silo. Then another – five, all told.

Petrov recalls his legs were "like cotton," as they say in Russian. He stared at the huge electronic wall map of the United States in terror and disbelief. As his staff gawked upward at him from the floor, he had the thought, "Who would order an attack with only five missiles? That big an idiot has not been born yet, not even in the U.S."

The Soviet procedure manual was inflexible, and it demanded he notify his superiors of the attack immediately. But relying on his intuition, Petrov disobeyed. For almost five minutes, he stalled, holding his hotline phone in one hand and his intercom in the other, barking orders to his personnel to get back to their desks. (Reprimanded later for not taking notes during the crisis, he replied, "I don't have a third hand.")

Then he made the decision that saved the world. Summoning up his firmest voice, he called his Kremlin liaison and said it was a false alarm. But today he admits, "I wasn't 100 percent sure. Not even close to 100 percent."

So the world slept on.

Months later, it was determined that sunlight reflecting off clouds in Montana had caused a faulty satellite computer assembly to report a missile launch flash. But by that time, Petrov's excellent military career had been sidetracked. He wasn't fired, but he was transferred – and never got any medals or recognition. When his wife was found to have a brain tumor in 1993, he retired to take care of her. When she died, he borrowed money to give her a funeral.

Today, Petrov is 67 and lives in a typical dreary, dank flat south of Moscow. His monthly pension is under $200, and his health is not good.

Yet, the world is starting to take note of Petrov. A "world peace" group is bringing him to New York Jan. 14-24 to make some speeches and be filmed. Though I have few sympathies for one-world organizations, I now duly applaud them for doing something right. In fact, I hope to fly to New York to shake the colonel's hand and perhaps interview him for my forthcoming videoblog.

If it all works out, I'll probably present him with a nice Russian Bible and whatever cash I can scrape together. If you'd like to help out by chipping in, you can send a tax-deductible check to one of my ministries:

Open Church Ministries Portal, GA 30450

Mark it "For Col. Petrov."

The amount, of course, is up to you. The way I look at it myself is: "How much do I give to somebody who saved my life?"

In this Christmas season, we pause to honor Another who saved our lives. Being a hero cost Petrov his career. It cost the Lord Jesus a lot more. Both deserve our thanks, don't they?

[KC_Conspirator]

I am the only person who gets that.

[rawhide]

This guy deserves the 'Nobel Peace Prize'.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[AuH2ORepublican]

Muffley:

But, how is it possible for this thing to be triggered automatically, and at the same time impossible to untrigger?

Strangelove:

Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the fear to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision making process which rules out human meddling, the doomsday machine is terrifying. It's simple to understand. And completely credible, and convincing.

http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0055.html

[montomike]

I firmly believe that artificial intelligence will end the reign of man on earth.

Either that or the Holy Trinity will come unannounced to earth and there will be hell to pay!

[USF]

God works in strange ways PING.

[SirLinksalot]

<<<<
The source is suspect
>>>>

We'd all be interested in knowing the reasons why...

[indcons]

World Nut Daily....enough said.

Their motto: We exist to make the Weekly World News look credible

[indcons]

Thanks for that info.....I just don't trust WND :)

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Do you remember what you were doing on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, of that year? Not likely. But you came within a whisker of dying that day. Amazingly, the news about this didn't come out until 1998. And only since 2004 has the press actually begun to pick up on the story. "

I remember. I was changing shifts at Oscar 1 outside of Rapid City South Dakota.

[agere_contra]

Do you remember what you were doing on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, of that year?

Actually I do. I was launching five silvery weather ballons filled with hydrogen from a truck in Montana, and exploding them in midair. It was loads of fun. Why do you ask?

[frithguild]

Who would order an attack with only five missiles? That big an idiot has not been born yet, not even in the U.S.

Born, just not in office

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"I remember. I was changing shifts at Oscar 1 outside of Rapid City South Dakota."

I take it "Oscar 1" was a Minuteman LCC.

Anything unusual happen on that watch?

[js1138]

but the theory that mind formed from mindless matter is headed for the trashbin...and good riddance.

Yes, the moon once impersonated several thousand Russian missiles.

This is why you need bright people in charge.

[SirLinksalot]

<<<<
World Nut Daily....enough said.

Their motto: We exist to make the Weekly World News look credible
>>>>

Actually you have to be selective and discerning regarding ALL news sources, not simply over-generalize and then call everything they report or opine wacko.

This piece of information seems to have some credibility. Here is what the ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIA, Wikipedia says :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Ñòàíèñëàâ Åâãðàôîâè÷ Ïåòðîâ) (born c. 1939) is a retired Russian Army colonel who, on September 26, 1983, averted a potential nuclear war by refusing to accept that the United States had launched missiles against the USSR, despite the indications given by his computerized early warning systems. The Soviet computer reports were later shown to have been in error, and Petrov is credited with preventing World War III and the devastation of much of the Earth by nuclear weapons. Because of military secrecy and international policy, Petrov's actions were kept secret until 1998.

This incident is one of dozens of high-risk decisions that were made by strategic nuclear forces over the years of the Cold War, often at the last minute, by administrative personnel far from the chain of command. It only became known much later due to military secrecy. The US certainly experienced similar events, and the USSR may have experienced others that remain unknown to this day

[shuckmaster]

If you read it in WorldNetDaily, it's got to be true! /s

[indcons]

Thanks, I appreciate the info. FReeper Brilliant confirmed the account after I made the posting too.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Anything unusual happen on that watch?"

Oscar 1 was an LCC and nothing happened. I was at Ellsworth from 80-84 and aside from EWO exercises, nothing spectacular happened to speak about.

[SirLinksalot]

<<<<
If you read it in WorldNetDaily, it's got to be true!
>>>>

Every single piece of news, be it from Worldnetdaily or the NY Times or your standard Conservative Magazines has to be read with with DISCERNMENT.

Over-generalizing and then dismissing something simply because you don't like the source is close-minded IMHO.

This article seems to have good historical data to back it up.

[SirLinksalot]

Here is another (how shall I put it ) more MAINSTREAM account of the man -- Colonel Stanislav Petrov ( his picture is also shown ). This from the Christian Science Monitor :

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0506/p07s01-woeu.html