Man Who Saved the World From Nuclear Annihilation Dies at 77

[grumbler]

I find the headline a pinch sensationalistic.

How so?

You don't think they would have launched had he followed procedure?

Or you think civilization would have survived?

False alarms occurred all the time in those days, which is why both sides used multiple sensors to detect attacks.  Why do you think that the Soviets would have launched a thermonuclear war had he passed on the word that the satellites had detected five bogies but that there was no radar return from any of them?

Why, in fact, should we believe that this wasn't a fairly common occurrence?

[CountDeMoney]

In the long run things work best when people follow orders.

Luckily we don't have to worry about that sort of thing silliness anymore, what with the Russians adopting the "launch on warning" protocol since they've allowed their high earth orbit warning systems to degrade and all.

Edit:  you fucking Miami bot.

[Admiral Yi]

You don't think they would have launched had he followed procedure?

I don't, for the reasons mentioned in your article.

[DGuller]

You don't think they would have launched had he followed procedure?

I don't, for the reasons mentioned in your article.

The hardest part to believe is that the people above would not have gone through the same thought process.  Why first strike with five missiles?  If the US double-bluffed the Soviet and really did launch five real missiles, the Soviet Union would still have the capability to strike back with much more than five missiles.

[Admiral Yi]

I thought the fact that the satellite system was known to be hinky was the most damning.