
35 years go: the clever decision that prevented a nuclear war - bpesquet
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/shatter021099b.htm
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yesenadam
"...one of the Soviet satellites sent a signal to the bunker that a nuclear
missile attack was underway. The warning system's computer...concluded that a
missile had been launched from...the United States.

The responsibility fell to Petrov, then a 44-year-old lieutenant colonel, to
make a decision: Was it for real? Petrov was...overseeing a staff that
monitored incoming signals from the satellites. He reported to superiors at
warning-system headquarters; they, in turn, reported to the general staff,
which would consult with Soviet leader Yuri Andropov... Petrov's role was to
evaluate the incoming data. At first, the satellite reported that one missile
had been launched then another, and another. Soon...five Minuteman
intercontinental ballistic missiles had been launched, it reported.

Despite the electronic evidence, Petrov decided and advised the others that
the satellite alert was a false alarm, a call that may have averted a nuclear
holocaust. But he was relentlessly interrogated afterward, was never rewarded
for his decision and today is a long-forgotten pensioner living in a town
outside Moscow."

