|
CCCdnt -> The 1983 Nuclear Close Call (8/23/2008 12:15:18 AM)
|
According to this and other similar articles, in 1983, a computer and/or tracking system malfunction caused it to appear to the U.S.S.R. that the U.S. had launched about 5 ICBMs at the U.S.S.R. The person who detected this, Stanislav Petrov, thought that what he was seeing was a malfunction and did not report it. This was partially attributed to the fact that he knew that a U.S. first strike would likely have involved hundreds of missiles so as to knock out a U.S.S.R. counter strike, and, therefore, he did not see a first strike involving 5 missiles as making military sense.
This makes one wonder if a nuclear war/exchange could ever happen due to a computer glitch or malfunction. Granted, I know that computer technology, tracking systems, etc. are much more sophisticated and accurate compared to 20+years ago, but still, it makes one wonder.
It is interesting that this incident happened the same year that the made-for-TV movie about nuclear war and holocaust - The Day After - aired.
Here is a link to another article about this.
|
|
|
|