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A nuclear weapons command exercise by NATO in November 1983 prompted fear in the leadership of the Soviet Union that the maneuvers were a cover for a nuclear surprise attack by the United States, triggering a series of unparalleled Soviet military re­sponses, according to a top-secret U.S. intelligence review that has just been declassified. “In 1983, we may have inadvertently placed our relations with the Soviet Union on a hair trigger,” the review concluded.

"So the conspiracy theorists, the Birchers thought that the Russians, the Soviets, shot it down 'cause the guy was right and he was hot on the trail of the global conspiracy and the New World Order and -- (interruption) Larry McDonald was his name, that's exactly right."

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with a flashback. From the moment I heard about today's shooting down of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine, I remember that 1983 shooting down of a Korean airliner over Soviet airspace (Korean Air Lines Flight 007). Back then, the Soviets, still in a Cold War mindset refused to even admit responsibility for the deliberate murder of 269 passengers including, U.S. Congressman Lawrence McDonald of Georgia who was aboard. Here's how President Reagan reacted: REAGAN: What can we think of a regime that so broadly trumpets its vision of peace and global disarmament and yet...

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(CNN) -- The idea that Soviet fighter jets would shoot down a Boeing 747 airliner seems shockingly unbelievable. Two-hundred sixty-nine innocent people died in a largely forgotten Cold War attack that took place exactly 30 years ago this weekend. On a sultry August night in 1983 at New York's JFK airport, Alice Ephraimson-Abt, a brilliant, 23-year-old, blue-eyed blonde, was about to board Korean Air Lines Flight 007 for Seoul, South Korea, halfway around the world. For one last time, she held her father, New Jersey businessman Hans Ephraimson-Abt, before saying goodbye. "There were hugs and I-love-yous," her father, now 91,...

Over the last week-and-a-half I’ve gotten an overwhelming number of inquiries relating to the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Why me? Because of my report back in 2006 of Kennedy’s confidential offer to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov. That offer was evident in a fascinating May 14, 1983 memo written by KGB head Victor Chebrikov to Andropov, simply titled, “Regarding Senator Kennedy’s request to the General Secretary of the Communist Party Y. V. Andropov.” I published the document in its entirety in my book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. When Senator Kennedy passed away, I got...

In the midst of public outcry over the decision by Scottish authorities to free Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, convicted in 1991 for his involvement in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the anniversary of an older case of state-sponsored terrorism, the shooting down by KAL 007 by Soviet jet fighters in 1983, is almost forgotten by the media and public. When a bomb planted by Libyan terrorists tore Pan Am flight 103 from the sky on December 21, 1988, 270 people — 259 of them on the plane and 11 more on the ground — were killed....

It has been 25 years since Korean Airlines Flight 007, carrying 269 passengers and crew, including Congressman Larry McDonald of Georgia, was fired on by a Soviet fighter jet off the coast of Siberia. At the time, McDonald was chairman of the John Birch Society (a subsidiary of which publishes THE NEW AMERICAN). Although several speakers eulogized McDonald at a Washington, D.C., memorial service 10 days following the September 1, 1983 attack, the words most remembered by both this magazine’s editor, Gary Benoit, and this writer were delivered by the late Senator Jesse Helms, who passed away on July 4....

SORTING fact from fiction about Kim Jong-il is a difficult task -- even for intelligence services. On one hand, the North Korean propaganda machine portrays him as the "greatest statesman of the 20th century". Loyal communists are told his birth was "foretold by a swallow, and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow over the mountain and a new star in the heavens". On the other hand, South Korea provides a stream of bizarre anecdotes painting a picture of one of history's most deranged leaders. Certainly the South has more credibility. Kim Jong-il, or "Dear Leader", is officially head...

History Channel 7pm CST,"Secrets of The Black Box". 1983 shootdown of Korean #007 over Sakhalin Island. This program is reported to have new material.

Jack Cashill, James Sanders and so many other dedicated Americans have worked tirelessly to expose the cover up of the downing of TWA Flight 800, which was blown out of the sky on July 17, 1996. But what about KAL Flight 007, which was forced to land on Sept. 1, 1983? KAL Flight 007 was allegedly shot down by the Ruskies with all 269 civilians perishing, including Congressman Larry McDonald. I have done extensive research on this "incident" and there can be no other conclusion than it's an ugly cover-up, just like TWA Flight 800. According to introductory comments in...

Air Alarm Xangxong Vietnam Airlines' flight VN525, a Boeing 777-200, landed at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow yesterday morning. For almost two hours, while the plane was in Russian airspace, military dispatchers considered it in violation. Civilian dispatchers, in spite of the plane's lack of permission, guided it in to Domodedovo. The incident is especially piquant due to the fact that the airliner followed not far behind Vladimir Putin's plane. The General Staff and the Ministry of Transport will hash out the incident today. Xangxong Vietnam Boeings fly twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between Hanoi and Domodedovo. However, the...

At 3:30 in the morning of August 31st, 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 landed at Merrill Field in Anchorage, Alaska. An hour and a half later it took off from Runway 32 bound for Seoul's Kimpo airport. Aboard were 240 passengers, a cabin crew of 20, a three-man flight crew and six other KAL crew members deadheading back to Seoul. Shortly after take-off, Flight 007 was cleared directly to the Bethel VOR beacon and then on to the Romeo 20 route. However, the aircraft started diverging from its intended course and passed 12 NM North of the Bethel beacon....