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eridani

(51,907 posts)
38. Close calls on the Russian end as well
Fri Oct 30, 2015, 07:12 AM
Oct 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident

On 26 September 1983, the nuclear early warning system of the Soviet Union twice reported the launch of American Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles from bases in the United States. These missile attack warnings were correctly identified as a false alarm by Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack based on erroneous data on the United States and its NATO allies, which would have likely resulted in nuclear war and the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had malfunctioned.

And in 1995--
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/01/25/how-nuclear-near-miss-95-would-be-disaster-today

20 years ago today — the launch of a lone scientific rocket from a small island off the northwest coast of Norway set off Russia’s nuclear attack early warning system.

As the rocket took off, it initially passed above the horizon of the curved earth into the field of view of Russian radar. After the motor shut down, the rocket then coasted to higher altitudes — into the middle of the major attack corridor between the US intercontinental ballistic missile fields at Grand Forks, N.D., and Moscow. Unknown to the scientists who launched it, one of the rocket’s stages finished its powered flight at an altitude and speed comparable to that expected from a Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile. This combination of events exactly fit the template of an attack scenario under which nuclear weapons are intentionally exploded at high altitudes so as to blind early warning radars before a major bombardment of Russian nuclear forces.

The most immediate explanation for what went wrong that day appears to be serious shortfalls in the Russians’ detection apparatus. But the underlying root cause stems from Russian paranoia. Fears created and bolstered by the relentless, obsessive — and ongoing — American nuclear force modernization program. This initiative was, and remains today, heavily focused on increasing the killing power of each deployed US nuclear warhead, producing and reaffirming concerns by Russian military analysts and leaders that the United States might truly be preparing to fight and win a nuclear war against Russia.

What happened after these initially ambiguous events has been a source of extensive speculation in the West. Fortunately, political tensions between Russia and the United States and Europe at the time of the incident were very low, but it is known that the alarm caused Russia’s then leader, Boris Yeltsin, to be called and kept closely informed by the Russian military leadership while the rocket was tracked until it reached and passed its maximum altitude of 1,400 kilometers.

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Crazy as minks in heat. nt bemildred Oct 2015 #1
Unspeakably Crazy Octafish Oct 2015 #3
Yep. And we still have them today too. nt bemildred Oct 2015 #4
Absolutely. Some of them even talk war while wearing civilian duds. Octafish Oct 2015 #9
Thank you for this background info. We all know that there is $$$ to be made erronis Oct 2015 #18
War is a profit center for Wall Street Octafish Oct 2015 #33
Horrible... gilpo Oct 2015 #21
Thank you for the important history! Octafish Oct 2015 #31
I only wish i got to know him better gilpo Oct 2015 #32
Looking at that photo again, you have to know that JFK was controlled by the brass erronis Oct 2015 #34
Kennedy stood up to them and made clear who was boss. Octafish Oct 2015 #39
Hopefully they'll name the person who issued the order. pa28 Oct 2015 #2
Me, too. I'd like to know who went around the President's back or whether it was an 'accident.' Octafish Oct 2015 #5
The personal facts of the major ow wanted them to launch jwirr Oct 2015 #8
That is a great idea, jwirr. Octafish Oct 2015 #12
Unfortunately at 74 years and limited knowledge of a computer jwirr Oct 2015 #14
From the Bulletin comments: an Airman who served there linked to this site re Okinawa MACE base... Octafish Oct 2015 #15
And we knew it was dangerous because that clock kept jwirr Oct 2015 #19
interesting comments on this article. mopinko Oct 2015 #6
Very interesting comments. Octafish Oct 2015 #10
wow! G_j Oct 2015 #7
DCI Dulles and JCS chair Lemnitzer counseled JFK launch all-out attack on USSR in 1961. Octafish Oct 2015 #11
infinitely scarier than any Halloween story.. nt G_j Oct 2015 #13
I have read Ike's MIC statement many times and each time jwirr Oct 2015 #16
"At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win" MisterP Oct 2015 #25
Wasn't there another incident involving a Soviet submarine commander, during the same crisis? LongTomH Oct 2015 #17
''Vasili Arkhipov saved the world.'' Octafish Oct 2015 #20
Thanks Octafish. It's terrifying to think how close we've come to nuclear destruction!!! LongTomH Oct 2015 #26
Holy Mother of Fuck! Xipe Totec Oct 2015 #22
It IS horrifying. One mistake with nuclear weapons can lead to the end of human life on Earth. Octafish Oct 2015 #28
I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed,... Xipe Totec Oct 2015 #29
50 million killed, tops. Depending on the breeze. Octafish Oct 2015 #37
This concept of a 'survivable nuclear war' has been part of Pentagon and Republican doctrine..... LongTomH Oct 2015 #30
"That doesn't bother some people" A HERETIC I AM Oct 2015 #44
And in the Atlantic, a Soviet political officer prevented a sub commander from firing jpak Oct 2015 #23
Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered intrusion missions trying to instigate Soviet response... Octafish Oct 2015 #35
"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER" (1974) Omaha Steve Oct 2015 #24
Thank you, Omaha Steve! Great historic dramatization. Octafish Oct 2015 #40
I do love "13 Days" too Omaha Steve Oct 2015 #43
Either we abolish war, or it will most assuredly . . FairWinds Oct 2015 #27
Peace and Prosperity for ALL sounds so...so...foreign to ears in 2015. Octafish Oct 2015 #41
Simply nightmarish. Generic Other Oct 2015 #36
Every medal, each with a few oak leaf clusters. Octafish Nov 2015 #47
Close calls on the Russian end as well eridani Oct 2015 #38
Oh well. Secret Government plans to survive. The rest of us, not so much. Octafish Oct 2015 #45
Singer James Blunt claims he Stopped America From Starting World War III in 1999 MowCowWhoHow III Oct 2015 #42
That is an amazing history. Octafish Oct 2015 #46
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