The man credited with preventing World War III has died.
Former Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov died at the age of 77 in May, but his death was only reported on Monday.
He was widely credited for preventing all-out nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the US because of a piece of outstanding quick-thinking during the Cold War.
He was on duty at a secret command centre outside Moscow on September 26, 1983, when Russian computers mistakenly detected incoming missiles from the US.
A radar screen showed that five Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles had been launched towards the Soviet Union.
Instead of following Red Army protocol to order a retaliatory strike, Petrov ignored the warning, saying later that he had a ‘gut instinct’ that it was a false alarm.
Then a 44-year-old lieutenant colonel, Petrov did not report the incident to his superiors, and the details about his calmness under extreme pressure didn’t emerge until years later.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment