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In 1983 Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov judged that a satellite warning of incoming US missiles was a false alarm and reported it as one. He was right, and his decision may have prevented a nuclear counter-strike.

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On the night of 26 September 1983, Petrov was the duty officer at Serpukhov-15, a bunker near Moscow that monitored the Soviet Oko early-warning satellites. The system reported one American missile launch, then four more. He was expected to pass such a warning up the chain so that leaders could decide on a counter-strike. Petrov reasoned that a real American attack would begin with far more than five missiles, and ground radar showed nothing, so he reported a system fault. The cause turned out to be sunlight reflecting off high clouds, which the satellites mistook for launches. He received no reward from the Soviet military at the time, and the story became public only in 1998; later he received international peace awards.

Türkçe oku
Sovyet subayı Stanislav Petrov, 1983'te uydu sisteminin ABD'den füze fırlatıldığını bildiren uyarısının yanlış alarm olduğuna karar verdi ve üstlerine de öyle bildirdi. Haklı çıktı; kararı olası bir nükleer misillemenin önüne geçmiş olabilir.

26 Eylül 1983 gecesi Petrov, Moskova yakınlarında Sovyetlerin Oko erken uyarı uydularını izleyen Serpuhov-15 sığınağında nöbetçi subaydı. Sistem önce bir, ardından dört Amerikan füzesinin daha fırlatıldığını bildirdi. Petrov'dan beklenen, uyarıyı hemen yukarıya iletmesiydi; karşı saldırıya liderler karar verecekti. Oysa Petrov gerçek bir Amerikan saldırısının beş füzeyle değil çok daha fazlasıyla başlayacağını düşündü, yer radarları da hiçbir şey göstermiyordu; bu yüzden durumu sistem arızası olarak bildirdi. Sonradan anlaşıldı ki uydular, yüksek bulutlardan yansıyan güneş ışığını füze fırlatması sanmıştı. Petrov o dönem Sovyet ordusundan hiçbir ödül almadı; olay ancak 1998'de kamuoyuna duyuldu ve sonraki yıllarda uluslararası barış ödüllerine layık görüldü.

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Background reading: Stanislav Petrov
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