Confession time: I can´t think of anything to write about this week. I don´t really have anything for you that even comes close to being cutting-edge.
So what does one do when there´s no crisis that demands the kind of response only a college newspaper columnist can provide? Easy: you tell a story and hope it´s at least topical. However, this story isn´t even topical. Dang. It is a good story though and not a lot of people have heard it. That´s a shame because it´s the kind of story that should be taught in schools. It is a story about how the world almost ended 23 years ago.
No kidding.
On Sept. 26, 1983, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov of the Soviet Army was a watch officer at a satellite surveillance facility outside of Moscow. His job was to monitor the satellites that would warn of a surprise nuclear assault from the United States. At a little past 12:30 a.m. Moscow-time, his board lit up. Petrov´s instruments were telling him that the United States had just launched a nuclear missile against the Soviet Union.
This made no sense to Petrov, as we, at the time, probably would have sent over more than one missile. He dismissed the warning as a false alarm. Just a few moments later though, another warning was sent. This time Petrov´s instruments were telling him that an additional four missiles were being launched.
Something that should be pointed out before we go any further is that Colonel Petrov pretty much had his finger on the button at that point. If he got on the phone to Moscow and said U.S. missiles were on their way, the Soviets would have thrown everything they had back at us without question. Petrov was the person the Soviet leadership would go to for verification that they were under attack. His words would literally determine humanity´s fate.
Another thing to consider is just how bad things were between the United States and the USSR. A mere three weeks prior to this, the Soviets had accidentally shot down a South Korean airliner, killing 269 people, including Americans. The Russians were actually expecting war at this point. In short: if Petrov were to say “it´s on,’ it would indeed “be on.’
Imagine for a moment being in that position. All the data Petrov had in front of him told him that the United States had launched a nuclear first strike against his country. The missiles were already flying. Everyone´s worst fears had just come to life. This was it. What do you do?
Petrov had less time to figure out what was going on than the time it took to read the last two paragraphs. Faced with what could very well be the end of everything, his gut was screaming that none of what he was seeing made any sense. He had no way to verify what his instruments were telling him. Petrov, in an act of unbelievable courage and composure, did nothing. With no real way to be sure, he decided that it was still a false alarm. He was right. It turns out there was a software glitch in his control panel.
By taking a moment to critically think about the situation, Colonel Petrov literally saved the world. If he had simply done his duty and passed on the information, we would not be here right now and nobody would be here for quite some time. Instead he listened to his instincts and used his own moral compass. The Soviets did not take such a generous view of his actions, though. He was transferred to a less-sensitive post and found his career at an end. He now lives on a pension and his actions have only recently come to light.
This is the point where I would usually plug in some pithy moral, but that should really be self-evident, shouldn´t it? If we can take a moment to think about what´s in front of us, even if it´s the worst thing in the world, smart and good things can happen. Granted, we might not literally have the fate of the world in our hands, but it´s a good rule to live by.