[zinochka]

I do'nt know if this is to old to really be news any more. But I remembered it because I just read in the paper Col. Petrov just recieved a medal and $1000 dollars for what he did NOT do 20 years ago! I think he should be honored, what about you? Thanks, Zina

[Rodney King]

So, he did his job correctly. It was his job to determine if the sensor reading was real or a malfunction. It's a nice story and all, but I think it's overblown.

[keithtoo]

It is becoming increasingly apparent that Charles Martell (a Frenchman!) saved the world.

[BenLurkin]

Russia and America both have the future of history before them.

We may not always act together in the years to come, but we will walk together until we come once again to the bridge (if ever that may be).

[constitution]

Thank you for the most interesting post.
Of course Petrov deserves all honors.
This is an illustration of why important decisions
should be in the hands of civilians

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[taxesareforever]

Sorry, but I do not believe that this man "saved" the world. He may have averted nuclear missile strikes in the U.S. but the rest of the world would have been spared. Nuclear missiles will never destroy the world. It is God's and He will destroy it in His time.

[Incorrigible]

Goldfinger
99 Red Balloons

You and I in a little toy shop
buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, "Something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by.

99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As 99 red balloons go by.

99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call out the troops now in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by.

99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Mann, wer haette das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In the dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here...
And here it is, a red balloon
I think of you and let it go.

 

[Fiddlstix]

HTML Help Threads for Newbies
(And Anyone Else Who Needs It)

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• Revised & Updated! -- THE LEXICON OF FREEREPUBLIC -- (FR dictionary, more help for newcomers!)

[buccaneer81]

Urban legend. Do you really believe that a Lt. Col. would be trusted with that responsibility? At least a two star General would be my guess.

[NewRomeTacitus]

A website devoted to this historical incident linked here.

[Straight Vermonter]

Lt. Col. Petrov reasoned that a computer error had occurred, since the United States was not likely to launch just one missile if it were attacking the Soviet Union — it would launch many.

Actually this was one of the more popular of the many nuclear scenarios in vogue during the cold war. A sub-orbital nuclear explosion producing a blinding EMP burst would be devastating to the attacked country's ability to respond in kind. This first missile launch would be quickly followed by the "main attack", much like the scenario mentioned in the article. Scary.

[RightWhale]

The story appeared here on FR a while back. There are similar stories from SAC. Maybe the only reason we're still here is we have some capability of judgement. As we automate our military, should we wonder if the robots will be so capable?

[Redcloak]

As I recall, what the Soviet sensors detected was sunlight reflecting off of lakes in North America. Surveillance satellites interpreted the bright flashes as missile plumes.

[Waco]

And 1962 is never mentioned.

[Khurkris]

I agree Zin. Thanks for posting this. Welcome.

[TopQuark]

During the Cold War at this time, the United States and the Soviet Union were bitter adversaries. These two world powers did not trust each other, and this distrust led to a dangerous consequence: They built thousands of nuclear weapons to be used against each other if a war should ever break out between them.

Nice moral equivalence in action.

You see, in 1940s, Hitler and the rest of Europe did not trust each other. It led to dangerous consequences: Hitler invaded. See, if the rest of the world were more trusting, the outcome would be different.

What scum writes such things for NASA?

[doug from upland]

It is a shame that the Soviets really didn't understand the American mind. Peace through strength was a policy to make our adversaries understand that a strike against us meant their own suicide. We had no interest in a first nuclear strike that would lead to our own destruction.