Lieutenant Colonel Stanislaw Petrof, a 44-year-old officer from the military intelligence section of the Soviet Union’s intelligence services, arrives at his command post at the Early Warning Center, where he coordinates Russia’s aerospace defense. However, that was supposed to be his night off. He was called away at the last minute because his colleague who was supposed to be on duty had fallen ill… Shortly after midnight, at precisely 12:14 p.m., all the alarm systems go off; sirens sound, and the computer screens display: “Imminent nuclear missile attack.” A missile has been launched from one of the United States bases. A few moments later, the system indicates another attack. And then another. In less than five minutes, five nuclear missiles have been launched from American bases against the USSR. The flight time of an intercontinental ballistic missile from the United States is 20 minutes. The 120 officers and military engineers, their eyes fixed on him, await his decision. The future of the world depends on his decision, as he wrestles with himself over whether or not to push the “red button.” He reflects: the Americans do not yet possess a missile defense system and know that a nuclear attack on the USSR would mean the immediate annihilation of their own people. And although he distrusts them, he knows they are not suicidal. He says to himself: “Such an imbecile hasn’t even been born in the United States yet.” Knowing that if he’s wrong, an explosion 250 times greater than that of Hiroshima would unleash upon them within minutes, leaving them powerless to do anything, he manages to keep his cool, and has the courage to listen to his instincts and comply with the logical conclusion suggested by common sense. And he decides to report a malfunction in the system. Russia cannot allow the United States and the Russian people to learn what had happened. So, he is reprimanded for not complying with protocol and transferred to a lower-ranking position. Shortly thereafter, he is sent into early retirement. He lived the rest of his life in a modest two-room apartment on the outskirts of Moscow, surviving on a meager pension of $200 a month, in complete solitude and anonymity. Until 1998, when his commander-in-chief, Yury Votintsev, present that evening, revealed the incident—the so-called “autumnal equinox incident” coupled with a rare astronomical conjunction—in a memoir that accidentally reached Douglas Mattern, president of the international peace organization, “World Citizens’ Association.” On January 19, 2006, he was received at the UN. He said that it was his “happiest day in many years.”
