The Man Who Prevented a Nuclear War: Stanislav Petrov — Transcript

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1. 0:00In the early hours of September 26,
2. 0:021983, inside a Soviet early warning
3. 0:05command center, [music] a siren suddenly
4. 0:07went off. The system was reporting
5. 0:09something unthinkable, [music]
6. 0:11an incoming nuclear strike from the
7. 0:13United States.
8. 0:14According to the protocol, this was not
9. 0:16a moment for doubt.
10. 0:17>> [music]
11. 0:17>> It was a moment for action.
12. 0:20The alert had to be reported immediately
13. 0:22so that a counter strike could be
14. 0:24[music] launched. And the responsibility
15. 0:26for making the call rested on one
16. 0:28officer on duty, Stanislav [music]
17. 0:30Petrov.
18. 0:31He looked at the screen. The system
19. 0:33showed five missiles.
20. 0:36Everything around him said the same
21. 0:37thing, the alarm, the protocol, his
22. 0:39training, act. [music]
23. 0:41But something didn't add up.
24. 0:44If this were a real nuclear attack,
25. 0:46wouldn't just be five missiles? Petrov
26. 0:49hesitated, not because he had proof, but
27. 0:52because he had doubt.
28. 0:54And in that moment, he made a decision
29. 0:55that went against everything he had been
30. 0:57trained to do. He chose not to report
31. 1:00it. Instead, he waited. Minutes passed,
32. 1:04no explosions, no impact. The alarm had
33. 1:08been a false signal triggered by a
34. 1:10satellite misreading sunlight reflecting
35. 1:12off [music] clouds. But Petrov couldn't
36. 1:14have known that. All he knew was this,
37. 1:17the system said act, his judgment said
38. 1:20wait.
39. 1:21Because systems can detect signals, but
40. 1:23they cannot [music] understand them.
41. 1:25And sometimes that difference decides
42. 1:28whether the world reacts or survives.