The Man Who Saved The World- Stanislav Petrov (Unsung Heroes Part-9)

How many superheroes do you know who have saved the world? I bet they are fictional characters from the movie. As they are the only heroes we know who risked their lives to save millions of lives.

But there are certain people, the real people that we don’t know of, who saved the world, and believe me their stories are far better than the fictional ones. There is one such story of Stanislav Petrov. His one decision may have saved the world from the end.

This is the story of a man who saved the world from World War 3 and nuclear attacks.

Story of Stanislav Petrov

Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov was born on September 7, 1939 in Vladivostok city in Russia. He came from a military background. His father Yevgraf was in the Soviet Airforce and also flew aircraft during World War 2. His mother was a nurse.

After completing graduation he joined Soviet Air Defence Force in 1972 and became a lieutenant colonel. Petrov was married to Raisa and had a son, Dmitri, and a daughter, Yelena.

During the early 1980s, there was a severely strained situation between the United States and the Soviet Union. The use of a nuclear weapon was on the verge. Every superpower was into improvising defense technologies and spying on each other. And surprise attacks could happen anytime.

On 26th September 1983, Stanislav Petrov was a few hours into his shift as a duty officer at Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow which was the command center aka Oko of the Soviet early-warning satellites above the United States.

Fifteen minutes after midnight the alarm went off, and the system reported the launch of one Intercontinental ballistic missile from an American Base toward the Soviet Union. By the time he and his colleagues were able to understand anything, the system reported 4 more missiles behind it one after the another, comprising a total of 5 missiles.

“A minute later the siren went off again. The second missile was launched. Then the third, the fourth, and the fifth. Computers changed their alerts from ‘launch’ to ‘missile strike’,” he says to BBC.

The alarm sounded during one of the tensest periods in the Cold War. The system was displaying a red ‘LAUNCH’ on the screen. Stanislav Petrov had to report this to his superiors immediately.

Petrov remained calm and thought for a while that If the United States have to start a nuclear war, why had they just launched only 5 missiles? It seemed an illogical start. Also, the launch system was in the initial phase and can’t be trusted solely.

The time was passing, and he had only a few nerve-racking minutes to take any action. And then, Stanislav Petrov made a dicey decision and concluded this was a false alarm. He assumed the early-warning system is malfunctioning and reporting the false launch of missiles from the United States.

He was at a pivotal point in the decision-making chain but chooses not to report this incoming strike. However, his decision to disobey orders was against Soviet military protocol.

Petrov then reported this false alarm to his superior.

“When people start a war, they don’t start it with only five missiles”– Petrov said

He also said- “I didn’t want to make a mistake, I made a decision, and that was it”

But later it was found that the alarm was indeed a false alarm, no such missiles had been launched from an American base. It was really a computer malfunction, which happened because of a mistook a sun’s reflection off clouds for a missile.

Had he reported this to his superior and had they launched a counter-attack or assault against the United States and NATO allies, it would have been horrific. It was Petrov who prevented this nuclear war, especially at the time when the Soviets had 35,804 and the United States had 23,305 warheads in 1983.

If that war happened, it would have been World War 3 that would have wiped out half of the population of the countries involved. And it’s likely hundreds of millions more would have died once the conflict disrupted global temperatures and severely hampered agriculture.

But luckily Stanislav Petro didn’t let this happen, his one decision saved hundreds of millions, if not billions of innocent lives.

“I had a funny feeling in my gut”, Stanislav told to Washington Post.

What Happened to Stanislav Petrov After The Incident?

As he disobeyed the law he underwent intense questioning by his superiors. A few days later Mr. Petrov received an official reprimand for what happened that night. He was in the suspicious circle.

He was allegedly praised for his decision. But he received no reward and not any punishment for his service. The bug was cleared from the missile detection system.

In 1984, Petrov left the military and took early retirement. Some argue he was forced to take retirement and end his service in the military.

He then got a job at the research institute that had developed the Soviet Union’s early warning system. But he retired soon to take care of his wife who was diagnosed with cancer.

Nobody knew about the incident until 1998 upon the publication of Votintsev’s memoirs. Then only people started to praise his act of heroism. Though he always admitted that he was not a hero, he was not sure about his decision too. He did what he believed.

Petrov died at the age of 77 on May 19, 2017, in Fryazino, Moscow. His death was not widely reported by the media.

The Man Who Saved The World

After his story became public, he received several international recognitions from different associations around the world including World Citizen Award from the San-Fransico-based association.

The incident is now known as the ‘1983 Soviet Union false alarm incident’.

In October 2014, a documentary film ‘The Man Who Saved The World’ based on the incident was premiered, directed by Peter Anthony of Denmark.

Now just think, What if somebody else had been on shift? The alarm would have been raised.

But luckily it was Stanislav Petrov. His decision made all the difference. His patience and logical views in between the nerve-racking times and enormous responsibility were indeed appreciable.

He will always be remembered for his decision. He was the man who was at the right place at the right time.

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Sources-

• Stanislav Petrov: The man who may have saved the world- BBC
• Stanislav Petrov, Soviet Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War, Is Dead at 77- NYtimes
• 36 years ago today, one man saved us from a world-ending nuclear war Vox

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