Topic: Possiblity of a total nuke war during the cold war

perseus · January 6th, 2008

The world was brought to the brink of nuclear war in 1983 when a number of events coincided, including the shooting down of the Korean Airline and the NATO exercise Able Archer that was interpreted by the KGB as cover for a real NATO attack and resulted in mobilisation of Soviet forces.

http://library.digiguide.com/lib/uk-...0/Documentary/

However the most frightening moment was surely on September 26, 1983 when a warning system outside Moscow was triggered by satellite surveillance, indicating that the U.S. had launched a missile attack on Russia. The commander in charge Colonel Stanislav Petrov instead of alerting command headquarters, which may have set in motion a retaliatory nuclear exchange, retained his composure for an agonising time as alarms blared, trusting his judgement that the warning was a false alarm. In fact it was triggered by the reflection of sunlight from cirrus cloud at sunset over the US missile silos. We may all owe our lives to this man who was sacked for not obeying protocol.

http://www.brightstarsound.com/

January 6th, 2008
perseus Centurion	The world was brought to the brink of nuclear war in 1983 when a number of events coincided, including the shooting down of the Korean Airline and the NATO exercise Able Archer that was interpreted by the KGB as cover for a real NATO attack and resulted in mobilisation of Soviet forces. http://library.digiguide.com/lib/uk-...0/Documentary/ However the most frightening moment was surely on September 26, 1983 when a warning system outside Moscow was triggered by satellite surveillance, indicating that the U.S. had launched a missile attack on Russia. The commander in charge Colonel Stanislav Petrov instead of alerting command headquarters, which may have set in motion a retaliatory nuclear exchange, retained his composure for an agonising time as alarms blared, trusting his judgement that the warning was a false alarm. In fact it was triggered by the reflection of sunlight from cirrus cloud at sunset over the US missile silos. We may all owe our lives to this man who was sacked for not obeying protocol. http://www.brightstarsound.com/ __________________ Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. Herman Goering Last edited by perseus; January 6th, 2008 at 15:06.