In the science fiction masterpiece Trisolaran, there is such a setting, due to the existence of the law of the dark forest, the earthlings have mastered the way of announcing the coordinates of the three-body galaxy, although the three-body civilization is several levels higher than the earth civilization in the advanced degree, but if the three-body civilization cannot destroy the facilities and mechanisms of the earth civilization to broadcast the coordinates of the three-body civilization to the universe in a few minutes, then the "sword bearer" of the earth civilization will press the broadcast button to broadcast the coordinates of the three-body civilization to the entire universe, and the earth civilization and the three-body civilization will be destroyed! And this artistic inspiration also comes from the mutual nuclear deterrence of the United States and the Soviet Union during the period of hegemony.
Since the end of World War II, the world has been on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe at least 10 times. Almost every time, it can be some unexpected mistake or human factor.
The autumn of 1983 was the most intense period of the Cold War since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1982, Oko, the latest space system for early detection of missile launches, consisted of satellites capable of determining the time of launch of a missile through the infrared radiation of the missile's engine, and it was this early warning monitoring system that gave the Soviet leadership 10 to 12 minutes to react when a nuclear bomb struck.
At 00:14 p.m. Moscow time on September 26, 1983, the Serpukhov-15 command post near Moscow received information from the system about several Militia missiles fired from the Malmstrem base. Half a minute later, four more missiles were received.
American missiles with nuclear warhead militias
And damn, three weeks ago, the Soviets mistakenly shot down a South Korean civilian Boeing 747 aircraft carrying 269 people, including Americans. Tensions are at their peak.
Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, who worked as an analyst, was on duty in place of a sick colleague.
Petrov Stanislav Yev grafovich in his apartment
Upon receipt of the news, Petrov must immediately report what happened to his superiors, followed by the Secretary-General, the Minister of Defence and other leaders of the country. However, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov did not.
Instead, he reported it to his superiors that it was a false alarm!
Why? How did he know if it was a false alarm?
First of all, Petrov did not trust the system 100% from the first day it was run, because he was an engineer himself and understood that computer systems were not perfect and that they could go wrong.
Second, and this is the main thing, Petrov's logical reasoning is: "The United States cannot start a nuclear war with five missiles." If the United States starts a war, it is logical to maximize its potential as part of the first strike, while firing hundreds of missiles to surprise the enemy.
Command post "Serpukhov-15"
However, Petrov is not entirely certain that he is right.
In order to determine if there is really a problem with the Oko system, you need to wait 10-15 minutes. After that, if these were real missiles, they would appear on Soviet radars— the second echelon of soviet early warning systems.
This was probably the longest 15 minutes of Petrov's life. Fortunately, after 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or half an hour, no missiles were found, and Petrov was relieved.
Petrov Stanislav Yev grafovich served
Afterwards, no one wanted to say "thank you" to Petrov because he had saved the world from nuclear war. From the perspective of his post work, he did violate the decisiveness and resoluteness of a "sword bearer", and if it was really a nuclear bomb that struck, and his analysis was slightly deviated, then the Soviet Union would be destroyed. Afterwards, he was investigated and accused of mistakenly registering the battle log.
A few months later, the command transferred Petrov to another unit and put pressure on him, and he even had to seek help from a psychiatrist due to a nervous breakdown. In 1984, he soon retired.
What the hell is going on?
It turned out that the "American missile" that came at that time was the glare of the sun reflected from the clouds at high altitude.
If Lieutenant Colonel Petrov had made a different decision at the time, World War III might have been triggered, and this misjudgment would have completely destroyed the entire world.
The committee investigating the incident consisted entirely of people who developed the "Oko" system. Of course, it is more advantageous for them to blame everything on the duty personnel than to admit that the early warning system is wrong.
The incident was not known until an article published in Top Secret magazine in 1991.
In 2004, the World Citizens Association awarded him the World Citizen Award, which included a figurine and $1,000, in recognition of his protection against a nuclear holocaust. In 2006, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Stanislav Yev grafovich Petrov received a special prize for a statue holding the earth. It is inscribed with the inscription: "To those who stop nuclear war." ”
Petrov won another German prize in 2012 and became the recipient of the Dresden Prize in 2013. In 2014, a Danish director based on the event to make a film called The Man Who Saved the World.
Stanislav Yevgravic died in 2017 at the age of 77.