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Just saw this on BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41314948

The man was a genuine hero; willing to disobey standing orders in the Soviet Union in order to prevent a technical glitch from starting World War 3.

Didn't seem to fit with the "geek media" memorial thread, but also deserves a moment of thanks from everyone IMHO.

May he rest in peace.

Not that that's the only time a technical mistake has been close to starting a nuclear war. Wasn't there also an incident where contact to some US warning system was lost, leading generals to believe it had been taken out in preparation for a full attack? They were already preparing to send the orders when someone suggested that a nearby aircraft maybe should swing by and look if the place is a crater or not.

RIP.

His name should be carved into the history books. It's a shame 99% of the world will never know who he was or what he did.

Indeed. A true hero of our time with more integrity than a solid marble house.

 MinscS2 wrote:
RIP.

His name should be carved into the history books. It's a shame 99% of the world will never know who he was or what he did.

And everybody who works with nuclear weapons should be forced learn about him.

He truly does deserve our thanks and respect. Had he called differently that day, almost literally none of us would still be here this day.

It's kinda sad that this man's name might be lost to the ages (I honestly thought he had already passed decades ago). I'm gonna see if Extra Credit will do a story about him.

I knew of him but didn't remember the name.

What was critical is not that he dismissed ghost images, this happens more often that we might like to admit. What was critical was that he dismissed ghost images during the peak alert during Able Archer, a set of NATO exercises shortly after the moron-in-chief of the US Ronald Reagan cracked numerous jokes that the Soviets took seriously.

During Able Archer the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov stayed near his phone in order to minimise response time. Had the alert gone through Andropov may well have ordered an immediate counter-launch.

Another person stopped this. A Soviet mole in NATO headquarters known as codename Ruby. When Ruby was caught the Belgian authorities refused to imprison or extradite him, because his spying on NATO proved to the Soviets that no assault preparations were underway.

Later a report to British intelligence unveiled the Soviet response to Able Archer and surrounding events that alarmed Thatcher and forced a change in rhetoric, and position, in Washington subsequently.

Ronnie Reagan cracked no more jokes about nuking Russia.