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The Man Who Saved The World Dies At 77

submitted by newtboy

6 years 7 months ago

Ex-Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov reported a possible 1983 US missile launch as a false alarm, saving the planet from an accidental nuclear war.
His instruments told him 5 missiles were inbound, and procedure said to notify the Kremlin who would immediately return fire. Petrov knew that a pre-emptive strike would never be done with only 5 missiles, and determined it must be a false alert. Fortunately for us all, he was correct, and it turned out to be reflecting sunlight and not launch plumes being detected.
While seen as a hero in the West, Moscow actually reprimanded him for improper log book keeping and forced him into early retirement.