On Sept. 26, 1983, one man saved the planet. He attributed a heroic action (inaction) to “a feeling in the gut.” He was persecuted for maintaining peace and avoiding a nuclear holocaust. Who is this social pariah? Never before (probably) have nerves of steel and icy veins combined to prolong the existence of mankind.
The 44-year-old Soviet Union lieutenant colonel went to work in his facility located outside of Moscow at the height of the Cold War. His job was to oversee a group monitoring satellite signals. After signals came in that the U.S.A. fired five nukes their way, the room went silent. Petrov reported this to higher-ups but the decision eventually fell into his hands. Petrov realized that no sel-respecting country would start a nuclear war with only five warheads, so he did not press the red button. Yes a red button. A blinking, red button.
That absurdly intense moment caused some waves in their government. The Soviets never officially commended or reprimanded Petrov, but he was essentially forced into early retirement. This story flew to the top of Digg last week. It is amazing how a story so pivotal to the history of the world can be so widely unknown. It exemplifies the new dimension of knowledge the Internet gives us. In print, our articles that recount such significant events are usually limited to “This Day in History” pages. Today not only are articles of historical significance available in full text, permanently and free (for the most part).
Historical articles are also going to be looked at and surge in popularity at telling points in society’s time line. Could story have a little more weight to it because we live in a world where a president in two wars was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and Petrov was shunned from his military. Or maybe people just need a reminder of one of the craziest fucking moments in the history of mankind. Big ups to my friend, Owen for sending me a link to a documentary about the incident I will be checking out later. Here is another historical news item, the first ever hydrogen bomb detonation.
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This was very good. I took a look at about six minutes of the video, I’ll have to check out the rest later. Please post this to the Facebook page. Thanks!