My annual thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov who on this day, thirty seven years ago, probably saved our planet.

Petrov was the officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning station when the system reported that a missile, followed by another one and then up to five more, were being launched from the United States.

Petrov decided it was a false alarm and did not call up the Kremlin. It was the height of the Cold War & a message from Petrov would have probably triggered massive Soviet retaliation and nuclear armageddon.
There is a documentary on his life, & #39;The Man Who Saved The World.& #39;