1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident
INCIDENT WHICH NEARLY PRECIPITATED NUCLEAR WARFARE
Soviet nuclear false alarm incident; 1983 missile false alarm; Petrov day
On 26 September 1983, during the Cold War, the nuclear early-warning radar of the Soviet Union reported the launch of one intercontinental ballistic missile with four more missiles behind it, from bases in the United States. These missile attack warnings were suspected to be false alarms by Stanislav Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces on duty at the command center of the early-warning system.