Happy Petrov Day

[acheron]

Thirty years ago, there was not a nuclear war: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

On September 26, 1983, he was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile was being launched from the United States. Petrov judged the report to be a false alarm, and his decision is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war.

 

[FalseChristian]

Wow. That's scary.

 

[mistercrabby]

He recalls making the decision under enormous stress stating, "I had a funny feeling in my gut. I didn't want to make a mistake. I made a decision, and that was it."