This Man is the Reason the World Didn't End | Tales From the Bottle

As billions went about their day in blissful ignorance, one man made sure it wasn't their last.
"Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (7 September 1939 - 19 May 2017) was a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces who played a key role in the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident. On 26 September 1983, three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to five more. Petrov judged the reports to be a false alarm, and his decision to disobey orders, against Soviet military protocol, is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in the Third World War and a large-scale nuclear war which could have wiped out half of the population of the countries involved. An investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned. Because of this incident, Petrov is often credited as having "saved the world"."
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[@Qxir]

D'oh - the picture used at 1:18 is Vasily Arkhipov - another Soviet credited with avoiding nuclear devastation during the Cuban missile crisis (but that's a story for another time). 7:59 - this is the picture of Stanislav I should have used throughout :) Second Channel: kzbin.info/door/t93hxFmjppL5nLRAX94UrA Merch: teespring.com/stores/qxir Patreon: www.patreon.com/qxir Twitter: twitter.com/QxirYT Discord: discord.gg/jZzvvwJ Twitch: www.twitch.tv/qxiryt/ Subreddit: www.reddit.com/r/Qxir/

[@le9038]

Hey

[@rwandanman1218]

Like if you are part of the 5 minutes gang

[@iraholden3606]

Nuclear winter is debunked BTW a nuclear war would not kill everyone, not even close

[@nikolajankovic1659]

@@iraholden3606 who told you this?

[@lordbluebaron2270]

Qxir I thought this dude was the guy in the sub that didn’t athorize the launch of the Soviet sub’s nukes

[@mikehawk5492]

"The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five." Carl Sagan

[@RMercer91]

Vic Boss! Is that you?

[@RMercer91]

After the end of World War II, the world was split into two - East and West. This marked the beginning of the era called the Cold War

[@mikehawk5492]

@@RMercer91 Vic boss as in the medic with the horn? no this is a picture of the real Big Boss from mgs3 o7

[@sandy-quimsrus]

@@RMercer91 except for Australia and New Zealand, surrounded by the East but considered the West.

[@LTPottenger]

Total bs though. All the bombs ever made don't have the energy of one second of what hits the earth from the sun.

[@grexz1]

"Consider the power of unseen forces in your life and enjoy your existential dread". Need this on a T-shirt!

[@urielmartinez2161]

I second this

[@pfadiva]

Take my money!

[@mbryson2899]

I don't wear T-shirts other than plain ones. This, however, I would purchase and wear.

[@akhil.bhardwaj]

*invest*

[@megglesy]

@Qixr we need this on your merch!

[@atomf9143]

This man literally saved the world. That’s probably the rarest title one can earn- having singlehandedly prevented billions of deaths from nukes and their fallout.

[@bex--]

And that number is only going to increase as more are born. Everyone going forward owes their life to him.

[@joewalker4199]

@@bex-- idk about you but not me i still wouldve existed no matter what

[@axmoylotl]

@@joewalker4199 apologies mr.walker

[@poxbox6729]

​@@joewalker4199"omg goyz Im so quirky and different Im totally gonna survivw a nuclear blast"

[@CG09_TMP]

​@@poxbox6729 joe walker didnt say That

[@maddox471]

The fact that on multiple occasions a persons gut feeling saved almost all life on this planet is genuinely scary and amazing

[@yasminghani5337]

I am pretty sure that waas an excuse for him to not kill the other people, even if it wasn't a false alarm why would he launch the missiles

[@alexcisneros2980]

Your gut is the instinctual triumphant evolutionary machine that your ancestors generations and eons upon eons ago survived with. If you don't trust it you're a madman.

[@gabrielc7861]

Don't forget that submarine that was about to fire a nuke

[@user-hk7ud8bq3g]

yeah he's walter white of course he had

[@mario27171]

1:27 That's not Stanislav Petrov, that's Vasily Arkhipov, another Soviet officer who saved the world. During the Cuban missle crisis, the United States Navy located a Soviet submarine in international waters near Cuba, and started droping signaling depth charges to force the submarine to come to the surface. Captain Valentin Savitsky thought that the war has started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo to destroy the american fleet, but Officer Vasily Arkhipov disagreed.

[@Stoner075C]

But that's another video, wink wink, nudge nudge, cough cough.

[@vinzettoducama7065]

Nice catch, mario! Still not quite as cool as Stan saving the world though.

[@Geova-zb3ri]

Classic qxir video

[@pfadiva]

@@vinzettoducama7065 Arkipov probably saved the world, too. Tensions were extremely high during the Cuban Missile Crisis and any attack on an American vessel by a Soviet sub (no matter the provocation) would have probably set off a war. The US, at that time, was unaware that there were nuclear missiles ALREADY in Cuba.

[@RightLadd]

@Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington the thing he didn’t mention was that Arkhipov was only on the sub by pure chance, that sub just happened to be one of the few carrying nuclear warheads AND he chose to be on the sub for literally no reason, he could’ve went on another sub and the two commanders would’ve fired the nukes wiping out the American fleet and starting WW3, the fact Arkhipov was on that sub was a miracle

[@le9038]

This is why you got to double check if it's actually a nuke or just a cloud that looks like one...

[@EpicMEF]

So what we need is nuke disguised as a cloud?

[@senormooples2354]

@@EpicMEF I swear you're gonna doom us all

[@EpicMEF]

@@senormooples2354 😈

[@kellydalstok8900]

Likewise it is important to check if what you think is god isn’t actually just a cloud. Someone calling the Atheist Experience saw a “god-shaped” cloud, was convinced it was god, but couldn’t explain why she was so sure she knows what he/she/it looks like.

[@zephyrna6249]

Yeah Im in a bunker and I got like 5 seconds to make a decision but hol up lemme run out real quick and look at the sky.

[@PakBallandSami]

stanislav petrov is the most underappreciated man in history more people need to know about him

[@Pantheragem]

I was born in '74. This is something awful about the 80's that it's hard for people to relate to now. Every day, getting dropped off at school was somewhat terrifying. The feeling that nuclear war would break out before school was over, and you'd never see your parents again was a very real fear.

[@fastinradfordable]

Are you saying the 1980s was more disturbing and frightening than it is today?

[@Pantheragem]

@@fastinradfordable More? I don't know, but I'd say at least equally, for just different reasons.

[@DeWitherWarrior]

@@fastinradfordable how is it "more" scary than the 80s? Where do you live that you fear doomsday every day?

[@derealized797]

My father used to tell me about the scary things going on when he was a kid. A guy slamming his shoe on a desk yelling I'll bury you, the duck and cover videos. I was born in 80, so i didn't know how threatening the world was until the 90s.

[@ccchezer]

Interesting sometimes I go to school now and wonder if some edge lord is finally gonna have the balls to shoot us all and I’ll never see my family again

[@garfeldi8466]

You should make another video like this about Vasily Arkhipov; During the cuban missile crisis, a submarine in the mexican gulf believed ww3 had already began and were ready to fire a nuclear missile unto America. Except for Vasily, who refused his orders because he “had a funny feeling about it”

[@tigerkill420]

Thanks I was trying to remember what other Soviet saved the world

[@PuReAFROz]

He actually accidentally uses Arkhipovs picture at 7:51 lol

[@robertdickson2319]

Thank you Vasily! From thee heart of my bottom.

[@NotWhoYouThinkTheyAre]

yeah thats one of my favourite war stories

[@C8-H8]

I believe it was a nuclear torpedo not missile

[@triggerstudios3815]

The second i saw the title i knew it was either my boi arkipov or my side boi petrov

[@saw7191]

They are the real ones

[@kiwas11]

The comment I was looking for!

[@sampilcher7196]

Both such Chad’s

[@thenasadude6878]

Best boy gaffer and best boy grip

[@themumblebrapper]

I knew it was Petrov because of EmpLemon

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

I think he reasoning for not calling in the attack was that he said he believed the US would never use nukes as a first strike option and that it was suspicious that they only sent 5. However he believed if it was real he’d rather no report it as to not wake his wife or the population so they’d die peacefully in their sleep. A true human being

[@Mr.GigaChad]

Imagine how many other hidden situations like this have occurred that the general public will never know about.

[@MonTube2006]

Most events/affairs in geopolitics aren't actually occuring the way it's displayed to the public. So are their origins and their objectives. We're on the other side of the curtain my friend

[@YanDaOne_QC]

@@MonTube2006 No shit Sherlock

[@MonTube2006]

@@YanDaOne_QC 🤫

[@EternalTina]

I grew up in a "strategically important area" in northern Europe in the 70's and 80's. I still know by heart the shortest way to a bomb shelter from any point in my home town that I left 35 years ago. Scary times indeed...

[@angelguerrero7655]

Jesus Christ, that sounds intense. I can't imagine living every day expecting it to be the last day you get to live and see your family.

[@aapomaatta9211]

Finland?

[@freshrot420]

Better to have a bomb shelter and not need it than to not have a bomb shelter and need it!

[@Forestdude9000]

@@angelguerrero7655 Technically if you live in the U.S., Eastern Asia, or Europe, this is still your reality. We just don't focus on it as much. I am glad I was born after the Cold War though. I've learned about it from teachers and what not, and it doesn't sound fun.

[@angelguerrero7655]

@@Forestdude9000 very true. people have an illusion of safety that is truly just that: an illusion. If it's your day, it's your day. And yeah, hearing about what they went through is so horrible. If I were around at that point, my nerves probably would have been shredded tbh

[@loganswalk8621]

Holy sh*t this is one of those multi-verse divergent points one man one decision two completely different outcomes.

[@thesovietkevin7275]

two completely outcomes

[@loganswalk8621]

@@thesovietkevin7275 whoops.

[@BlueRGuy]

The other outcomes lead to the fallout universe

[@sugomaballs4349]

@@BlueRGuy war. war never changes

[@James-ng6nl]

Imagine all of humanity ended because windows 10 crashed

[@bellathebus95]

„The thread of nuclear war is not as great now as it was back then“ That did not age well…

[@manchovie3480]

Petrov deserves the Nobel prize. Thank God for him. He proves that disobeying orders is the right choice in some instances.

[@user-xu6vx7bh4b]

Unfortunately he died in his apartment in poverty.

[@Garrett316]

As a Marylander myself, I find the mispronunciation of my state humorous. Many you tubers from Ireland and Great Britain mispronounce Maryland, so I’m used to it.

[@notjimhalpert7782]

It’s always nice to hear it mispronounced because it’s always the same, Mary land, I just find that kinda humorous

[@Omnipotent_Vsemogushchiy]

No offense to you personally but as a Virginian (South VA, fuck NOVA.) Maryland pisses me off

[@stephenelder3162]

Gang

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Okay, pronounce Grundisburgh. It's in England, so there's no catch :) Or Frome.

[@Nezuko_with_a_gun]

It be like that sometimes but that's just maryland having a good name

[@kayakchrispy]

A missile was heading towards Russia, and then an utter and then an utter and then an utter... I love your accent .. your videos are great Thank you for making them

[@yancee38]

You were a missile?

[@lizc6393]

I just picture a bomb, and then a series of dairy cows in the style of Looney Toons... my head is a weird place.

[@kayakchrispy]

@@yancee38 I corrected the typo

[@ninety5tag170]

Fook sake lad... whatchatalkin aboot??

[@yancee38]

@@kayakchrispy ah, so you weren't missile

[@ElmoIzMeh]

Stanislav Petrov for many years has been my role model- he followed his gut on the most intense pressures of all. I remember i was making my 2nd or 3rd project about him in 5th grade when I returned to look for more info and found the 10m old news articles saying he had died. it was devastating, but im glad people finally get to hear about this man.

[@Joshrouss]

Honestly this man should be celebrated with his own day of the year, he literally saved the world

[@bentonrp]

Maybe, maybe not. How do we know the Soviets didn't have some verification method, post-detection? I know it's contrary to the idea of 1st strike capability, but in line with military protocol to verify. I personally think this story is overplayed just a little bit in this video. After all, neither country was eager to look like the fool that 'started' or 'almost started it all.'

[@BluetheRaccoon]

As a native from Maryland, I adored the way you pronounced my state. Say Mary-land all you want, friend ^_^

[@DawrinChawes]

facts i live in Maryland i love hearing "mary"land if you are European that's how you should say it

[@moocyfarus8549]

It sounds just so joyous when he says it that way.

[@Evildandalo]

Being from the Baltimore area, most people end up pronouncing it with an accent and it comes out as "Merland" anyways lol

[@porkjuices8365]

I always get asked if that's a real state when meeting new people online.

[@timnor4803]

It's just a suburb of D.C.... except Baltimere... and that's a diff video

[@wasteland5000]

Damn if Petrov trusted the machines more everyone would be dead, or we'd be living in a post nuclear wasteland instead of playing one on a PlayStation/Xbox/PC.

[@vivenomada]

"we'd be living", how optimistic of you...

[@banditkeef3864]

No we would be dead, elements that emit gamma radiation usually have a half life of thousands of years. No way humanity could survive underground that long. Sadly we would turn to ash or be burned by the radiation in the atmosphere, no immortal-goulification :(.

[@shanewebb3341]

@@banditkeef3864 Wierd because I thought i read somewhere that after 2 weeks it's not immediately lethal to enter the area of a nuclear strike. I think that you might be referring more towards a nuclear plant.

[@banditkeef3864]

@@shanewebb3341 a single nuclear strike maybe, but we are talking about almost all the nations of the world launching their nukes at once. And spread out across the world too. There is also a theory that the debris from the fallout would cloud the atmosphere and block out the sun for a couple decades so there is that to worry about.

[@shadewolf0075]

@@banditkeef3864 sorry but that is BS. Hiroshima and Nagasaki aren't barren ruins today. Chernobyl isn't still irradiated to the point where you need a hazard suit to explore it. Most irradiated zones post nuclear war would be nuclear power plants or nuclear waste disposal sights. Actual bomb sites would be clear within a few months and survivors would be able to move back in if they wanted. A nuke going off isn't the same as Chernobyl going critical

[@gui18bif]

Qxir, the 99 red baloons song is blowing up on everyone's reccomended now. I thi k you sparked the algorithm...

[@tsogid]

My favorite people used to be Scottish, because their accent was easier to pick up for me as a foreigner. I liked their accent, their culture, their history, there was something attractive in their character as a nation. Once I even knew an old man from Scotland, a man of outstanding mind and brilliance despite his elderly age. I believe he was in his late 70s when I met him. He's long gone by now, may he rest in peace, my old friend. Then, couple of days ago I stumbled upon this channel. Now my favorite people are Irish. Hello my new favorite Irish youtube friend! May you live a long and happy life and produce many more of those brilliant videos you make!

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

For those of us who lived through the Cold War, you just can't believe how scary it got from time to time, especially as a teenager (I was 18 when this incident happened. Actually, I was 18 that month! Obviously I didn't know about it until much later but there were other stories, mostly "tales" based on gossip probably because of the broken arrow incidents, I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️), when we knew enough to know we were in deep shit but not enough to truly understand what was going on. I can't remember if you've done something on the British government's "Protect and Survive" leaflet on what to do if there was a nuclear strike. It was ridiculous and frankly, was just laughed at. Seriously, it was brutally mocked, on TV, radio, by the public... It's behind Raymond Briggs' (of The Snowman fame) animated film based on his graphic novel When the Wind Blows. That, however, is fecking heartbreaking. Don't watch before bedtime. It's not graphic, it's weirdly sweet, but you'll probably have nightmares. I watched it once. That was enough. I did know this story, but it's something that needs retelling, so that if there is another guy in a bunker with a gut feeling, he'll have the strength of Petrov's convictions - or at least his _sang froid._ As he said, if he was wrong, nobody was going to be around to punish him... Petrov was one of the most important human beings in the history of mankind. He should have got a Nobel Peace Prize for going against standing orders. I'm so glad he was very well recognised during his lifetime, though. I hope he was able to go to his grave in peace.

[@mensafordummies6370]

I went through it too. Up until the 8th grade we kids in school were put thru 'nuke drills' once a week, where we would have to dive underneath our school desks and cover our heads with both hands. I decided early on that when I grew up I was going to build my house out of old school desks with my bare hands, because apparently old school desks and our hands had the capacity to protect us all from ANYTHING that might happen. The world around us might be blown away, but we and our school desks would survive. No word on what we were supposed to do after that, but hey, maybe old school desks have the ability to become spacecraft...after the planet gets disintegrated...

[@claythomas359]

It is interesting your take on the school nuke exercises. I went through them in the early 1960's in grade school. Back then the teaching was before the new type of teaching done today in the USA. Kids were taught to solve problems and take responsibility for themselves. Today everyone is taught to be dependent on others ( like the teachers and government) to solve all problems. It's a way of making a population subservient to others. We are being trained to like being slaves!

[@ElementofKindness]

Life was so much more real back then. Now all we got is fear mongering over the oogie boogie dreaded *_DELTA VARIANT_* 😱

[@danielflanard8274]

@@ElementofKindness Ever-looming dread of nuclear annihilation, those were the days.

[@cnukem]

Thanks for sharing! Very interesting

[@pajamapantsjack5874]

“And all it takes is the will of a single man”

[@Velka-.-]

I understood that reference

[@Mr.Boyo13]

Hey what’s up! Nice seeing you here enjoying a Qxir video 👍

[@masonhilliard5803]

This man can actually, legitimately say he saved the world. Never been a single person to be able to say that 😂

[@Scratchingforcash]

It’s sad, we are right back in 1983 as of today.

[@saveachip2620]

Imagine if he had reported it, any remnant of either side would have believed the other was at fault. Without ever knowing that it was actually a false flag.

[@Literallyryangosling777]

HELL YEAH FALLOUT IN RL

[@carlost856]

He did report it, he reported an instrument malfunction.

[@zhankazest]

@@carlost856 they probably mean reporting it as an actual threat

[@bentonrp]

Maybe, maybe not. How do we know the Soviets didn't have some verification method, post detection? I know it's contrary to the idea of 1st strike capability, but in line with military protocol to verify. I personally think this story is overplayed just a little bit in this video. After all, neither country was eager to look like the fool that 'started' or 'almost started it all.'

[@saveachip2620]

@@bentonrp You're thought process is based on assuming there would have been anything left after a nuclear war with Russia, Im betting on the idea that there wouldnt have. But yes perhaps there was a verification procedure in place, but what else would they use to verify it? If the machine is saying theres nukes coming what secondary verification would they have had besides maybe a commanding officer looking it over? If the guy wasnt so smart, and had instead brazenly assured command that what he was seeing was the real deal. Then what else was there to do? We're talking literal minutes to make a decision, very little time to dittle about to get it "verified"

[@alessandrodelo5347]

1:19, that picture is actually of Vasili Arkhipov, a different man who saved the world during the Cuban missile crisis. By convincing the submarine commander to calm down.

[@sophierobinson2738]

Isn't that the incident used in one of the X-Men movies?

[@ryanclemons1]

Not supposed to tell your higher ups what to do.

[@leoortiiiz]

@@ryanclemons1 And?

[@random_potato2549]

@@ryanclemons1 actually iirc HE was the higher-up. he was the highest commander of the fleet, he was also in the flagship submarine. he didn't tell them to calm down, he just didn't turn one of the 3 keys needed to launch the missile.

[@ryanclemons1]

@@random_potato2549 nvm then :)

[@msthalamus2172]

Assurances that the threat of nuclear war is not quite as present as it was back then has sadly aged very badly, very quickly.

[@LoremIpsum1970]

ROFL - the Cold War...such fond memories. As a youth in the 80s, when you have a siren at the end of your street and you then find out about the four-minute warning system...it does take time to get your head around.

[@kauge9050]

"The right man at the right place makes all the difference in the world"

[@shoom8115]

wake up Mr. Freeman, wake up and smell the ashes..

[@normalnon-spyperson]

“ “ -Gordon freeman

[@ProjectHazy]

This man is one of the greatest men to ever live.

[@haeuptlingaberja4927]

Ah, the wicked madness of Mutually Assured Destruction and the zeitgeist of the 1980s. Fun times. First off, MAD isn't just the "thinking" behind our Cold War insanity--it's pretty much how all of our politics and our economic policies operate ever since we turned our backs on the egalitarian and democratic principles of the Atlantic Charter the minute WWII was won. (And wouldn't that make a fine Qxir episode, lad?) Second, for a bit firsthand perspective, two years after the Petrov Incident, I was conducting a bit of me own research into the Cold War insanity I had grown up in, born as I was just two months before the infamous Bay of Pigs operation. My thoroughly mad plan for delving into this societal madness was to conduct all of my "research" solely through hitchhiking and the experiences this occasioned. I even had a well-worn copy of Douglas Adams' epic Hitchhiker's Guide in me well-worn, slovenly rucksack. Whilst my travels took me, extremely erratically, across the length and breadth of Europe in that surreal summer of 1985, when I had to constantly pretend I wasn't a fookin' American as Springsteen's stupid "Born in the USA" was screaming out of every loudspeaker like the Western muezzin's fookin' call to prayer, the two most contrary and illuminating experiences were in East Germany and Ireland. In East Germany, which wasn't exactly famous for welcoming dirty hippies who were fresh off some rest & relaxation in Amsterdam and who also spoke quite passable German, I saw some deeply weird sh*t. First impression was the border guards at Lobenstein, in the south, near Hof, who hadn't apparently encountered many of my ilk thumbing up the Autobahn into Stasi-land and decided their best option was to make me sit directly under the machine gun tower at roadside, where no one wanted to stop, while they checked in with their superiors. Not sure what motivated me to do this, exactly, but the higher up the food chain the case of my perverse invasion of the "German Democratic Republik" went, the more I started to hide my ability to speak their frumious language. This only seemed to further frustrate the increasingly higher ranked martinets who interviewed me in windowless concrete rooms, but it soon proved a brilliant strategy, as these Soviet-Prussian types spoke openly, in my hearing, confident that I wouldn't be able to understand them. The security forces decided that instead of detaining me, which would possibly have brought the bloody US State Department into their lives, they would just march me back to the gun tower, still confident that no one would be so brave and stupid as to actually pick me up there. And this did work, for almost 4 hours, until dusk, when, just at the guards' shift change, a very drunk Bavarian hippie pulled over and asked me if I were camping there or if I might fancy a ride. One of the guards going off-shift walked over to harass the drunken sod, but he was so off-put by the sheer stench of the fellow that he just said, "F*ck it, mate. Your funeral," and waved up to the tower to let us through before he walked off to the cabbage and potatoes of his waiting Frau. No sooner had we cleared the Lobenstein border station and detention facilities than the reason for my new savior's rash rescue became apparent. In addition to smuggling copious amounts of alcohol in his bloodstream across the border between the two Germanys, my new friend had a great, huge ball of very good Lebanese hash that he hadn't been able to enjoy for at least half an hour because he had smoked his last rolling paper and only had a cleverly disguised 4-foot bong (plumbing apparatus), which he couldn't operate without assistance while driving. That was my job as the newest swab on the deck. Some vague hours later we eventually arrived in West Berlin, where I stayed for a week with some friends of the reckless Bavarian. And this is where the bulk of my "research" took place. I would take the tram into East Berlin every morning to the district where very cheap copies of books printed on dissolving paper were sold to broke students from the west side of town. I'd loiter in one of these shops for an hour, buy a few crumbling books for a few Pfennigs, and then I'd go off in search of some lunch at the emptiest and most forlorn cafe I could find. Sometimes I was almost certain that I wasn't even being followed. These eateries were amazing. Usually in buildings rebuilt from bombed out facades miraculously left standing, and which facades usually didn't even have the many bullet holes filled in, 40 fookin' years after the war, these "restaurants" only featured one crappy dish for lunch and a desultory gathering of bombed out East Germans who were easily the most uniformly depressed humans I had ever met. Contrast this with the Irish I was hanging out with in the pubs of County Cork just two weeks later. Mind you, this was in the midst of the Great Hysteria of the Grottoes. Similar, sort of, to infiltrating Stasi-land with my innocuous day-passes, I would rent/hire a bicycle in Cork or Kinsale (or wherever I woke up that morning) and I'd ride inland in search of the herds of lunatic women in housecoats clambering up the muddy hillsides to touch a 3-foot, painted plaster statue of the Virgin Mary that some local Mary O' Flaherty had surely seen weeping just the week before. The highlight of this curious ritual came when one of these mad old cows would invariably come tumbling down those muddy hillsides on her backside, much to merriment or religious ecstacy of the crowd below, depending on where you stood in it. It was back safely in the pub at night for the post game recap of the day's follies that I felt the starkest differences and similarities with my East German adventures. The crushing fatalism of the grey East Berliners was a very strange cousin to the equally cynical but far more riotous fatalism of the determinedly drunken and sporadically effusive Irishmen in those pubs who would laugh themselves red at the foolishness of the tumbling cows while simultaneously allowing for the wee possibility of miracles and strange goings-on, for hadn't Declan's man seen something queer in the fields on his way home from this very pub not a fortnight past? The only reliable conclusion I could draw from this intense summer of research was that it all came down to choosing the variety of insanity that suited you best, wherever the random lottery of birth had situated you. I still haven't published these results because, well, it's obvious enough, ain't it?

[@Sp0on777]

You weave a beautiful yarn, friend

[@ajburdett882]

Now I'm not a religous man, nor am I a superstitious man.... but the fact the whole world was saved on the bases that one man "had a feeling" something wasn't right, that really does make me wonder if there are greater forces at play

[@cdeye7032]

Universe waited for the shift of this exact person to pull a “wake up, fuckos, you’re playing a dangerous game”

[@Anatakk]

Well that and i remember right one of the leaders of Russia was in the US to discuss stuff so..

[@ajburdett882]

@@ImmortalDaevonI know the logic behind why it happened and yes Qxir explained why he made that decision why he effectively knew something was off. It's nice to wonder though dude. I'm not sitting here saying there is a greater force, I'm just wondering what could be. You don't always have to over explain stuff and have a logical answer for everything, sometimes it's nice to wonder if there is something that we can't explain. It's like the whole "free will is a myth" idea where we are all on set paths and our lives and all our actions are destined to happen exactly in a particular way. I don't believe in this but it's nice to think about it and wonder how something like that could be possible. Don't be narrow-minded and try to explain everything

[@trezapoioiuy]

Put it differently, five clouds almost destroyed humanity. If there are great forces, they like coin flipping on us.

[@KomradeCPU]

I like to think that he must have been such a decent person, with a family and a belief, that it was unfathomable for him to consider that other man would do something so vile from nowhere, even considering the circumstances. Also, he was reasonable with the readings, so there's also that.

[@ihavecripplingdepression2572]

Sometimes the Soviet soldiers talk about this incident in MGS5

[@MoldycheeseJr]

What a cool little Easter egg

[@JohnFortniteKennedy_]

Oh i never notice that

[@harlech2]

I remember living thru the nuclear `80's as a young adult. The paranoia was real. I had all sorts of plans in my teenage head about where to go and what to take. You had so many things that happened in the early 80's. Iran Hostage Crisis, Able Archer `83, KAL 007 shootdown (which was about 3 weeks earlier) and the hits just kept rolling on. It is a miracle we are still all here. I also remember 99 Red Balloons. @Qxir you really need to do a video on Able Archer `83.

[@ToddRodSkimmins]

“..the threat of nuclear war is not quite as present as is was back then..” 5 months later… 😬😬

[@KILOPOWER]

I've heard this story couple of times, but it's always fun to hear how different people make different takes of exact same topic. If you wanna hear more thorough video on the matter, I will recommend EmpLemon's masterpiece of a video "there may Never Ever be another man as powerful as Stanislav Petrov".

[@Rigby545]

I love EmpLemon

[@-xirx-]

Same

[@napalmpudding]

I love the Never Ever series. So far it's been stuff I knew about but his exploration of the topic is always worth the watch

[@ProfessionalGasLighting]

Beautifully written comment. Easy to read, had a point, no extras.

[@raviebattersby7962]

Yeah Emps Never Ever series is great

[@Tester-sh1mn]

Sounds like Qxir recounted Half Life with that quote at the end there: “A tale of the planetary annihilation that almost came to pass and the man who made sure it didn’t.” Really doesn’t help that Stanislav looks like he’s gonna tell me that “The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.”

[@Espartanica]

Could apply to Halo too

[@KateKat]

I knew this story already, but it's such a wonderful one knowing one random person saved the entire world.

[@ozymandiasramesses1773]

Can we appreciate that the U.S. Nuclear arsenal launch codes were 8 zeros for 20 years.

[@collectibletaco7797]

Wait seriously? That somehow sounds genius and horribly stupid at the same time

[@bigboy6704]

I once asked my dad (born in 1971) what he thought about the North Korea situation we're in. he said he wasn't worried in the slightest. when I asked why, he told me that it just brought him back to the 80s

[@CarolineBearoline]

Half the reason I'm here is your adorable (mis)pronunciations! Super excited to hear YOU tell me an already familiar tale, in the way only YOU can ❤️

[@jimmyrustler8983]

Cruising in Qxirs comment section too? You thirsty mess, Caroline. 🤣

[@aidansherry17]

when you type 'YOU' I can't help but read it in Soulja Boys voice

[@CarolineBearoline]

@@aidansherry17 crap, that song is gonna haunt me for at least the rest of today 🤪 YOU crank that Soulja Boy!

[@CarolineBearoline]

@@jimmyrustler8983 hey bud ❤️

[@jimmyrustler8983]

@@CarolineBearoline How about Scaldya Boy, and it's a kid with 3rd degree burns?

[@damienrusso9183]

This channel fuels me weekly with crippling anxiety and existential dread. Subscribed :))

[@user-xu6vx7bh4b]

This guy deserved noble price for peace. He died in apartment whitout praise that he deserved in poverty.

[@vustvaleo8068]

this is why education is important, it even saved lives.

[@manuelacosta9463]

It's amazing yet still unsurprising how simple intuition and common sense can mean the difference between life and death. That was the true razor's edge, too close.

[@jacobclayton4828]

Stanislav Petrovich and Vassily Arkhipov are two Russian men whose names should never be forgotten. I am ashamed that I didn’t know of either until a couple of years ago.

[@SaintPlayGames]

That man is a Hero, saved the World before I was born. Thanks to him I can live my life

[@thescotslair]

Ive always been entranced by this guys story. It just blows my mind that he died with little coverage. Rest in peace and thanks.

[@JonathanLit]

Literally the most important human that ever lived. Brings a tear to my eye.

[@TheBeteljuice]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please... The author of this video mispronounced nuclear. He then acknowledged it and started using it correctly. In my 56 years I have never seen anything like it.

[@zukazealanee]

The moniker of "hero" is thrown around a lot. But this man, he was truly a hero.

[@gamingmetnoel1900]

One of my favourite stories about the cold war, together with the person who stopped the launching of a nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Lovely video! Keep up the good work!

[@matthewmccoy7437]

i remember learning about this in history class in highschool. everyone in my class agreed had it been literally anyone else with that decision to make, none of us would exist right now.

[@musikk83]

Thank you very much Stanislav Petrov.

[@yup162]

Just wanted to say that the illustration in the video is really good. Not the other videos don't have good illustration, but that this one has some really good attention to detail. Chef's kiss 👌

[@frednobel303]

Perfect KZbinr to tell this story. The story is so good, and Qxir's style matches it so well.

[@Nicsmithsa]

Such an amazing story, crazy how one man is the sole reason we are all alive today

[@bentonrp]

Maybe, maybe not. How do we know the Soviets didn't have some verification method, post-detection? I know it's contrary to the idea of 1st strike capability, but in line with military protocol to verify. I personally think this story is overplayed just a little bit in this video. After all, neither country was eager to look like the fool that 'started' or 'almost started it all.'

[@Nicsmithsa]

@@bentonrp ok mate

[@steve5825]

Your cartoon skills are vastly underrated. I’m also glad it was the Russians who had the false alarm and not the Yanks for some strange reason.

[@jesusperez2694]

I got out of rehab and I'm catching up on these videos good work man.

[@theunwelcome]

this isn't the first video on Mr. Petrov I've seen, but it may be the most sarcastic of the bunch which of course is why I watch this channel

[@jeremiahwilliams8623]

You put out content that has no reason being as good as it is. I love you

[@dayletaylor1313]

You are wise beyond your years. Please keep up the great work. You make my day brighter with your videos on others stupidity.

[@nicoreichlmeir1863]

Things that didnt age well: "The threat of nuclear war is not quite as present as it was back then" - Qxir 8:11

[@daftpunkking909]

Yeah. Happier times with just covid...

[@skylined5534]

To be fair Putin won't launch an attack like that ever because he knows everyone else is virtually duty-bound to counter strike Russia.

[@bentonrp]

You people are such idiots; U.S. isn't going to nuke any major power any time soon, and Russia never threatened to launch nukes in a first strike. Russia only reminded: "if they nuke us, we nuke them", in a statement. In other words, business as it's always been. ...Daftpunkking, you're really gonna give them a pass for shutting down the whole world over nothing, when they started that nothing in their own illegal labs to begin with... over this? My, you allow yourself to get played. Look at all the world-scale problems, and please realize that it's always the same very few handful of individuals causing all these problems, and then telling you to believe such problems... on the news.

[@nicoreichlmeir1863]

@@bentonrp 🤡

[@bentonrp]

@@nicoreichlmeir1863 Oh, okay, I'm the clown. You believed a year ago that the world was gonna end if humanity didn't put a paper towel over their faces. Now you believe the same Red Scare End of the World nonsense from the 1950's all over again. ...I'm the clown...

[@TheGreatCooLite]

1:27 Actually this picture is a picture of Vassily Arkhipov, not Stanilav Petrov. Arkhipov was an officer in the 60s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In this story, the systems also malfunctioned, and he was also the sole person who believed that the US hadn't launched nukes, Both men deserve credit for saving the world.

[@stevencastellanos8063]

8:01 is the real one. I wondered why they looked so different

[@HiddenButcher]

This has actually happened multiple times, first in 1980 when an American early warning system malfunctioned and reported 200 incoming nuclear missiles. However, it was only found out when the National Security Advisor delayed the call to President Carter.

[@Werdnasemajjamesandrew]

Thank you Stanislov for using discretion and your education. Wow!

[@User0000000000000004]

Ha! That's absolutely true! Coming from an IT background myself, I can tell you without a doubt, when a server boots up too fast, you KNOW something is broken. "Windows ain't supposed to work that fast. Uh oh."

[@PoyimaMedia]

I know the 99 luftballons song thanks to Goldfinger cover of it. That song sounds really aggressive when it's sang in German at the rithm of SkaPunk

[@22Tesla]

First time I've ever heard of this instance of one man saving the world from nuclear devastation. I'm more familiar with Vasily Arkhipov and his refusal to allow nukes to be launched, but still always good to hear stories of men who's instincts were correct and kept us all living the lives we are now.

[@mattwuk]

I was 12 years old at the time and almost certain I'd see a mushroom cloud any day. Thanks Stan.

[@k.b.tidwell]

Ah, yes, good times, good times. I was born January of 1970.

[@brandycarter9829]

Gotta love this channel. Adorable, self-deprecating Irish host with unmistakable yet fully decipherable accent, check. Sometimes serious subject matter made sarcastic & humorous, check. Quotes good enough for me to actually pause the video to write them down, check. “ Consider the power of unseen forces and enjoy your existential dread.” Well played, my friend.

[@forkfelon]

I was sheding a tear and said : "Good job guy"

[@biggyboi8521]

Ever since hearing this story so many times I've always thought we are in the better timeline cus without him saving us this moment wouldn't exist

[@NoGufff]

Thank you, Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov.

[@bowieinc]

That was a VERY well put together video.

[@Kannot2023]

This guy really deserves Nobel peace prize

[@timothylongblacksmithing6743]

Agreed

[@Floridaboi-Woody]

A truly great man that had a bigger effect on this world than many many other men that are commonly known and lauded.

[@comeoutofthedark8910]

An important bit of history and nicely told. Thank you!

[@starrfadeable]

I know im late to the party, but I just found this channel, and its top notch!! Love your story telling skilks. It's extremely interesting.

[@ivansmith7316]

I hadn't heard this story before, but it's uplifting to hear about nonetheless

[@battlesevengames9479]

Haven’t seen the vid yet, predicting it’s about the guy who didn’t fire the nuclear submarine missile during the Cuban missile crisis. Edit: nope

[@Chief-CO]

Wrong but what?

[@kathyhavelka7612]

@@Chief-CO during the Cuban missile crisis, a submarine thought nuclear war had began. They couldn’t surface to communicate with Russia because of an American Blockade. 2/3 people in charge agreed to fire the missile - the third guy refused to do so

[@battlesevengames9479]

I think the guys name was Vasili arkipov

[@4450krank]

That was also the first thing that came to my mind.

[@angelguerrero7655]

@@kathyhavelka7612 damn man, that is wild. And to think the ENTIRE PLANET has been saved MULTIPLE TIMES by ppl who just had a feeling it wasn't right.

[@aleksandarrudic3694]

As far as I know, Stanislav Petrov was actually reprimanded for his (in)action, and rightfully so - It wasn't his job to judge if the alert was real or false, just to report the alert up the chain of command. If he did what he was supposed to, it would not have triggered an immediate full retaliatory strike, it's not how a nation's strategic nuclear force works. His report would likely contain exact timing and location of each launch, initial trajectory, speed, elevation, etc. Then the report would be cross-checked with other early warning stations (both US and USSR had several of them for redundancy). If they matched the initial report (which they would not), then the satellites and the ground-based radars would be pointed in the reported direction in order to detect the actual warheads and estimate the approximate target and the time of impact. Only then, if multiple independent redundant systems confirmed it's actual launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles (and not, say, a commercial satellite launch) from a known or possible enemy location (at that time both sides knew exact location of each-other's land-based assets, and the approximate location of the submarines), heading towards a set of high-value targets (and not, say, to a test site in the middle of the Pacific), only then the conclusive report would be handed to the top of the military and the President to make a decision to initiate a counterstrike. And in a given scenario with only 5 missiles (so we are talking about maximum 25 warheads (if all of them were MIRV-ed) compared to more than a hundred known targets around Moscow alone), if it was real, the top command would likely decide to absorb the strike and gain some time to evaluate all escalatory, de-escalatory, strategic, and political options and implications (rather than to blow up the world on a first hint of trouble).

[@albinhaformiga1070]

8:12 that hasn’t aged very nicely

[@xorloz9637]

4:27 a nutter, a nutter, a nutter, and a nutter.

[@fionngallagher7813]

🫵

[@solsol1624]

I've seen a documentary about this before. We all owe this man a great debt.

[@neritansevdari8977]

You failed to mention that he rebooted the computers many times that day, as the system kept telling him of the impeding fantom missile lunches. Man like him, with a common sense of humanity, that understood the consequences of a nuclear war, kept the world safe. And bear in mind that these are the stories we know, but many are still classified. RIP Stanislav Petrov, a true hero of humanity. PS To add to the actions of Stanislav, this was the same year as NATO's exercise Able Archer 83 and Korean Air shot down.

[@Y.-0]

I’ve been trying to figure out the name of that balloon song forever! Thank you lord Qxir

[@Oddman1980]

"The threat of nuclear war is not quite as present as it was back then" Why do I have the feeling this has aged badly?

[@kirtil5177]

Not at all. Mutually assured destruction still exists, and you should remember that nukes irradiate the surroundings, not convenient if you want to capture said irradiated land and infrastructure

[@Pandamania52]

He's the guy from the Submarine where that Submarine would've fired nuclear Missiles if it wasn't for him not authorizing the Launches.

[@musiccrocodile8606]

No, he's not the guy from the submarine, I think a video was already made about it, but that was somebody else. There were about 5 people on the submarine, but the 6th didn't agree to launch.

[@tigerkill420]

I think that's a different guy

[@Pandamania52]

The guy's name from the Submarine is Vasili Arkhipov. Which the picture Qxir showed was Vasili Arkhipov.

[@collectibletaco7797]

@@Pandamania52 Yeah Qxir showed the wrong portrait

[@MissLaBoeuf]

I love love love everything about your videos ❤️ your voice, your way of telling the story, your art, your jokes... I am in love!

[@Sevenigma777]

One thing that always scare me is if you take a look at technology like computers and video games and how much more powerful those things are today from just a decade or two ago imagine the difference that nuclear weapons must have from them in the 1950s till now.

[@SailorGreenTea]

5:17, interesting.

[@Digger818]

Technically if it was the middle of the night for him, we in America were not sleeping. He saved the world while the rest of his people slept.

[@offontangent]

The expression of emotions on faces of your drawings really improved over time

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

A great explanation of a great story