This week we’re highlighting The Man Who Saved the World from director Peter Anthony. This documentary tells the incredible story of Stanislav Petrov, a man whom you may not know, but most likely saved your life, and single-handedly saved the world. Show your support and help show the world this incredible story by donating to their project. They are currently at $15,790 of a $60,000 goal with 29 days left. Hit the jump to read more and watch their Kickstarter video.
At the heart of “The Man Who Saved the World” stands Stanislav Petrov, the Russian Lt. Colonel, who sacrificed everything by disobeying the chain of nuclear launch commands; changing the fate of the world as we know it.
Few people know of him…yet conceivably hundreds of millions of people are alive because of him. Stanislav Petrov, a retired Soviet military officer, is credited with preventing the start of World War III and the nuclear devastation of much of the Earth.
On September 26, 1983 he was the commanding officer on duty at the Soviet nuclear early warning center, when the system falsely reported the launching of five nuclear missiles from the United States. In the harrowing moments that followed, Petrov overruled the system’s warning, personally declaring that it was a false alarm. This monumental decision prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its Western allies.
This false nuclear attack warning is cited by CIA analyst Peter Pry as “the single most dangerous incident of the early 1980s.”
