The documentary "The Man Who Saved the World" (2014) by Danish director Peter Anthony tells the story about Russian officer Stanislav Petrov, who during the Cold War reported an alert warning triggered by a supposive incoming missile strike from the United States, as a system malfunction to the duty officer in the Soviet army's headquarters. Thereby, did he save the world from a nuclear war, that surely would have destroyed our civilization as we know it.
Thirty years ago, on 26 September 1983, the world was saved from potential nuclear disaster.
In the early hours of the morning, the Soviet Union's early-warning systems detected an incoming missile strike from the United States. Computer readouts suggested several missiles had been launched. The protocol for the Soviet military would have been to retaliate with a nuclear attack of its own.
But duty officer Stanislav Petrov - whose job it was to register apparent enemy missile launches - decided not to report them to his superiors, and instead dismissed them as a false alarm.
This was a breach of his instructions, a dereliction of duty. The safe thing to do would have been to pass the responsibility on, to refer up.
But his decision may have saved the world.
Watch the trailer:
I found out about this documentary and this heroic man yesterday, and plan to watch the documentary during the week. I must admit, it feels somewhat odd that I haven't heard about him before, since he did the world such a service.
Image credit: Poster via The Clinton Street Theater.