The man who saved the world

In September, 1983  Stanislav Petrov, a Russian Military officer was sitting at his command center of the Soviet Air Defense Satellite monitoring system. He was suddenly startled as in front of him the alarming signals on the Computer grabbed his immediate attention. It  was several blips on the screen showing 5 Missiles on their way from their arch rival Superpower Unites States of America already on their path to hit the erstwhile USSR (Union of Soviet Republics as Soviet Union was known at that time).

Any person in his place would have immediately alerted the higher authorities. But not this man, who is widely credited for saving the world from a Nuclear war, probably a holocaust of unimaginable proportions. If he defied his conscience and informed his superiors, the Soviet Union would have got mad and responded in kind, resulting in MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). Thankfully, common sense prevailed on the head of a calm and cool Stanislav Petrov as he resisted from doing so.

There was several reason for him to have trusted his computer - for there was palpable tension in the air, as this incident happened only a few days after a Civilian South Korean Airliner was shot down over Russian Airspace, resulting in the death of more than 200 innocent civilians, which included an American Congressman. (Soviet Union claimed that Airliner was on a spying mission, deviated from its path, hid from the Radar and didn't heed to warnings. US and NATO didn't think so).

Yet he knew by heart of heart that Americans are not suicidal to attack its then Superpower rival without expecting any retaliation. Secondly, even if USA does so, it will fire hundreds to ensure total annihilation of USSR rather than fire just five. Thirdly, he knew that the Russian Inter Continental Ballistic Missile tracking system was far from being accurate and foolproof.

And it was exactly as he thought. It took him 23 minutes to figure out that what he just saw was no more than a computer malfunction. But what if it wasn't a glitch and the missiles were real ? For it would have taken exactly 23 minuted then for the Nuclear tipped missiles from US to have reached the heart of Russia. Stanislav Petrov could have gone down the history as the man who dilly dallied and responsible for destroying the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Petrov recently died at the age of 77, his son announced his death today. His extraordinary story was kept secret under wraps by the Soviets, typically of secretive Communist Regimes, lest it will expose the ugly underbelly of a nation rapidly slipping from its Superpower status. The news trickled out soon after the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991.

This episode has been depicted by the great narrator Kevin Kostner (famous for doing so in JFK) in a documentary aptly titled "The Man Who Saved the World". It received several international awards. 

Yet Stanislav Petrov, the man who kept his cool under such adverse circumstances and later won award from his government for "Services to Fatherland", coolly faded into oblivion. He preferred to stay away from the media glare, until his death. RIP, The Man Who Saved The World. Without him, neither World nor We would not have seen the Internet, Facebook, iWhatever devices and much more.