The Man Who Saved Millions Of Lives

Today's world as we know it, is like it is because of Stanislav Petrov. Stanislav Petrov is a retired Russian Strategic Rocket Forces lieutenant colonel who, on September 26, 1983, potentially avoided a nuclear attack on the USA.

Assuming the reports from the satellites were in error, Stanislav Petrov deliberately certified what otherwise appeared to be an impending nuclear attack as a false alarm, and some question exists as to whether he then reported what appeared to be a US attack. The computer reports were later confirmed to have been in error. Petrov's actions were kept secret until 1998.