Last month marked the 75th anniversary of the incineration of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the early hours of September 26, 1983, Alexander Petrov must have had these events firmly in mind. Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Union’s Air Defense Forces, was in charge of the situation room when the alarm sounded. The overhead monitor showed one … two … three … four … five nuclear-armed missiles entering Soviet airspace. In such an event, Petrov’s orders were to alert his superiors and initiate a massive counterstrike against the United States. The rest of this must-read story can be found here. The last sentence of the article is chilling. The brief video is unforgettable.
Petrov, under tremendous pressure, and with time of the essence, had to make a decision which affected the lives of millions of people. Think of James Bond inside Fort Knox, handcuffed to a nuclear device, fighting off Oddjob, timer ticking down … and multiply by 100.
September 26th is Stanislav Petrov Day. A good time to remember that we are all in the same boat together.
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Copyright © 2020 - Any opinions are those of James Aldendifer and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. The information contained in this report does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. The above situation is a hypothetical example for illustration purpose only and does not represent an actual investment. Expressions of opinion as of this date are subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions, or forecasts provided herein will prove to be correct.
