Stanislav Petrov
The Incident
It is, unpalatably, as simple as that.
Thirty four years ago, on 26 September 1983, at a
time when diplomatic relations between the US and the Soviet Union were very
edgy and overwrought with deep paranoia; and both sides had fortified
themselves with nuclear WMDs; a man born forty four years earlier on 7
September 1939 near Vladivostock in the Soviet Union was just at the right
place and the right time to make a nuclear war happen.
Or not. Because today we live in a world where that
war never happened.
On that day, the Soviet Union’s ballistic missile
detection system beeped up to five times; the system’s indication that missiles
had been fired from the US. Stanislav Petrov was the one tasked with presiding
over the system’s 200 computers and his report and recommendation to his
superiors could trigger the Soviet Union’s standard compulsory response of
swift retaliation before the enemy’s missiles hit their territory and
incapacitated their ability to retaliate. Stanislav kept his cool and in the
face of time ticking, he used his knowledge and logic and reasoned his way to
his decision that the Soviet Union’s ballistic missile detection system had
malfunctioned and that somehow the beeps were an error. In effect, he concluded
that there was no missile that had been fired.
He was right. Turned out the detection system got
confused by the sun’s rays off some cloud cover over North Dakota in the US.
The Aftermath
He was neither rewarded nor punished for his
decision; he was reassigned to a less sensitive role instead, where some months
later he retired to take care of his wife who had been diagnosed with cancer.
You see, his decision was an embarrassment to senior officials and scientists;
they were not pleased by the incident which showed them up.
He lived out his life in relative obscurity until
1998 when the story came out in the published memoirs of the then Commander of
the detection system unit. The West considered him a hero and he was invited
several times to the West to tell his story. He was even dubbed ‘The Man Who
Saved The World’, a movie of which came out in 2015.
In his homeland things were different and when he
died in May 2017 his death was not published until September 2017. It is said
in the end he lived in a plain apartment somewhere north east of Moscow and
that he lived an austere life, subsisting ‘on potatoes and tea brewed from
herbs he picked in the park’.Ω
Discern
I got to know about this man when I was reading his
obituary in the 30 September 2017 issue of The Economist and his story struck a
chord within me. The first observation I made is ‘only in
his home town...is the prophet without honour’Ψ. Very true but...we
are not on Earth to garner honours and accolades.
We live in a non-post-apocalyptic world today
because of people like Stanislav Petrov. And we live in a world today that you
may have contributed a lot to. We are probably using your ideas; we are safer,
stronger and healthier because of you and your achievements. We use Bill Gates’
software every day. We use Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘discoveries’ every day. We use
Sir Isaac Newton’s ‘laws’ all the time.
Thank you for your efforts and by all means do not
stop. The world may or may not appreciate. Do not be bitter. Do not be proud.
Do not be depressed. Do not think highly of yourself. Because none of this is
ultimately important.
You are.
Whatever your achievements and your yearning for
worldly recognition and high places on gold pedestals, reconcile yourself to
the most important thing in your life; your life. Do not let it end here on
this miserable Earth; you are meaningless if your life ends at your death,
despite your accomplishments on Earth.
It is, unpalatably, as simple as that.
Ω Stanislav
Petrov Obituary, The Economist, 30 September 2017 Issue
Ψ The Book of Mark, Chapter 6, Verse 4, The Holy Bible, New International Version
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