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We are living in a time where the Marvel and Disney super heroes save the entire world on a day-to-day basis. They are often celebrated and adored in most of the world’s audience in one way or another. But we are so much sure that there are no such superheroes in real life. But could you believe there lived a hero and he was literally described by the phrase “The Man Who Saved the World”. Well, if you don’t know there is such a person and he is Stanislav Petrov. This man has literally saved the world with his decision-making power. Through this article let us look, why Stanislav Petrov is known as the man who saved the world.
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Stansilav Petrov – Basic Information
Before we go into the story of Stanislav Petrov – Know About The Man Who Saved the World, it is essential to know the basic details of the person who we are going to discuss.
Name: Stansilav Petrov
Occupation: Lieutenant colonel at Soviet Union Air Defense Force
Born: September 7, 1939
Place of Birth: Vladivostok, Russia
Died on: 19 May 2017
Spouse: Raisa Petrova
How Did He Save the World?
It was at the time when the world was frustrated with the cold war. Maybe we could say a cold war now but the circumstances of that time may unambiguously be waiting to burst out a third world war any time. Stanislav Petrov, the lieutenant colonel of Soviet Union Air defense was sitting at his room monitoring the defense activities while the missile recognising system shows launch on its computer screen. The mechanism was whenever a missile spot in its territory may show the warning and launch a retaliate missile for the same. The system showed that an American Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was being launched to come to the territory of the USSR. At the cold war time this type of system warning may arouse anyone’s blood pressure at the time. What a soldier is supposed to do when such a warning is seen is that he must handover the report to the higher authorities to send a retaliatory missile immediately as a defensive mechanism.
Time goes by, and the warning gets higher. One missile followed by the other and others were shown as warning and red alert at the system. What he did do was he neglected the warning and badged it as fake warning. It was a daring decision taken by the soldier as it is a grave misconduct from the part where a computer system is shown such a strong warning. He has reasons to believe as there were 29 levels of cross checking to be done in order to confirm it is a real time danger missile. But here he was unsure whether this level of cross checking has been done or not.
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His decision of reporting it as a fake alert, repudiated the USSR to launch the retaliate nuclear missiles which can be the first after the world war. That launch could have devastated a considerable percentage of the world and probably give rise to a third world war. Thus by the decision of overriding the alert system and warning of a computer, Stansilav Petrov saved the world with his own conviction.
Conclusion
A soldier is said to be a person who is bound to obey the protocols and orders with no excuses. A devastation from the said protocols and instructions may attract grave misconduct and punishment. But here the grave misconduct from the protocol has saved the life of many and the peace of the world. Let this story be an inspiration to each and everyone in the world. Sometimes our decision can determine the future of the world itself, no matter what position we are in. a soldier is bound to obey the orders whereas a student is bound to study the awareness. Study with Entri for competitive examinations and crack top jobs. Keep studying Keep winning