What would you do?
Imagine that it is September 26, 1983. It is at the height of the Cold War, just weeks after the Soviet Military erroneously shot down Korean Airliner 007 killing all 269 passengers and crew on board, including a sitting member in US Congress.
The world is tense awaiting President Reagan's next move.
Now further imagine you're name is Stanislav Petrov and you are a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces. On this night you are called in to cover the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system. This is the system that would warn if there ever was a nuclear missile attack by the United States and in the event of an attack a counter-attach would ensue.
Its just after midnight on September 26, 1983 and the unthinkable happens... suddenly the computers alarms go off signaling that there are missiles heading right toward your country. What would you do?
Well, this did happen and what the real Lt Petrov did that night saved us from a nuclear war.
When the alarm sounded the monitors indicated that there were a total of 5 missiles in the air heading towards the Soviet Union. Lt. Petrov felt that the system was new and in his view couldn't be completely trusted so he ordered the computer to be reset and watched and waited for his intuitive hunch to be confirmed.
While waiting ANOTHER alarm sounded.
This being the second alarm Lt. Petrov had to inform his superiors of the incidents and with no hard evidence supporting his decision he also informed them that he thought it was a false alarm. After hanging up from his superiors he sat watching the monitors as the circumstances unfolded.
In the end, Lt. Petrov suspicions were correct, the computers detection system was malfunctioning. The false alarm was created by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds.
Could you imagine if Lt. Petrov was not on duty that night? What if you were there in his place - would you have the strength of character to stand your ground and make the choice he did?
Okay, so we will probably never be in the same exact situation that Lt. Petrov found himself in and though our life situations may never equal the magnitude of his that fateful night in 1983 there are some insights we can glean from his story.
We can each walk away with a greater understanding of what it means to stand our ground and trust our intuition, no matter the apparent evidence to the contrary... it may just be like those high-altitude clouds that night in September 1983, creating false evidence.
It takes an enormous amount of courage to sit in the darkness of uncertainty but you have one life to live - live it from your truth and listen to your own intuition.
If you would like to find out more information on Lt. Stanislav Petrov a documentary titled "The Man Who Saved The World" was just released in January, here's the trailer:
The world is tense awaiting President Reagan's next move.
Now further imagine you're name is Stanislav Petrov and you are a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces. On this night you are called in to cover the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system. This is the system that would warn if there ever was a nuclear missile attack by the United States and in the event of an attack a counter-attach would ensue.
Its just after midnight on September 26, 1983 and the unthinkable happens... suddenly the computers alarms go off signaling that there are missiles heading right toward your country. What would you do?
Well, this did happen and what the real Lt Petrov did that night saved us from a nuclear war.
When the alarm sounded the monitors indicated that there were a total of 5 missiles in the air heading towards the Soviet Union. Lt. Petrov felt that the system was new and in his view couldn't be completely trusted so he ordered the computer to be reset and watched and waited for his intuitive hunch to be confirmed.
While waiting ANOTHER alarm sounded.
This being the second alarm Lt. Petrov had to inform his superiors of the incidents and with no hard evidence supporting his decision he also informed them that he thought it was a false alarm. After hanging up from his superiors he sat watching the monitors as the circumstances unfolded.
“I reported it was a false alarm, despite what the screens were showing. I just believed in my judgment and experience.”
- LT. Stanislav Petrov
In the end, Lt. Petrov suspicions were correct, the computers detection system was malfunctioning. The false alarm was created by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds.
Could you imagine if Lt. Petrov was not on duty that night? What if you were there in his place - would you have the strength of character to stand your ground and make the choice he did?
Okay, so we will probably never be in the same exact situation that Lt. Petrov found himself in and though our life situations may never equal the magnitude of his that fateful night in 1983 there are some insights we can glean from his story.
We can each walk away with a greater understanding of what it means to stand our ground and trust our intuition, no matter the apparent evidence to the contrary... it may just be like those high-altitude clouds that night in September 1983, creating false evidence.
It takes an enormous amount of courage to sit in the darkness of uncertainty but you have one life to live - live it from your truth and listen to your own intuition.
If you would like to find out more information on Lt. Stanislav Petrov a documentary titled "The Man Who Saved The World" was just released in January, here's the trailer:
Wow, reading this could not have been more perfectly timed. Yes, our repercussions are far less severe when we don't follow our intuition, but man.... it can still sting like a mother!
ReplyDeleteThat is a simple but HUGE lesson.
As always, thanks for the inspiration :)