come light stanislav petrov former soviet lieutenant colonel pass away may 19 year apartment small town fryazino northeast moscow probably never hear petrov action lack thereof good chance read today.if see 2014 film man save world star kevin costner might sort idea petrov movie base prevent nuclear crisis us ussr well avert potential world war iii back 1980s essentially nothing could part reason petrov never consider hero first people start tell tv report start call hero surprise never think one literally job say interview late life.the date september 26 1983 petrov duty bunker near moscow charge early warn radar system long midnight petrov notice single missile screen launch us head toward soviet union first saw alert message get chair subordinate confuse start shout order avoid panic know decision would lot consequences petrov recall 2010 interview siren go second time giant blood-red letter appear main screen say start say four missiles launch leave kremlin 30 minutes warheads initially fire decide whether retaliation nuclear weapons necessary petrov 15 minutes determine threat indeed real cozy armchair felt like red-hot fry pan legs go limp felt like even stand nervous take decision fortunately mankind petrov recall train us attack would all-out offensive oppose simply fire couple missiles petrov take account decline tell superior officer figure system malfunction must responsible alarm turn right soviet satellite actually pick sunlight reflect cloud mistake nuclear warheads although petrov decision keep information superiors severe infraction soviet military rules.the incident keep highly classify secret years even time death 1997 petrov wife raisa aware do make public colonel general yury votintsev petrov superintendent decide 1998 deed commend tell story bild german tabloid german political activist karl schumacher affect article travel russia find petrov invite back germany order give version save world nuclear war something real threat decades.in 2006 association world citizens present petrov award un headquarter new york read man avert nuclear war 2012 petrov also honor german media prize previously award nelson mandela dalai lama kofi annan.stanislav petrov 77 years old watch story stanislav petrov action unfold another russian turn dead actually save world video