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For the first time, retired US Air Force officers have published [PDF] an account of an incident on May 23, 1967 when a solar storm nearly fooled American high command into thinking that a Soviet nuclear attack was on the way.
On that day, the US military nuclear command went into panic mode when signals from all three of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) sites in the far northern hemisphere (one apiece at Alaska, Thule in Greenland, and a base in the UK's county of Yorkshire) shut down simultaneously.
These BMEWS stations were positioned over the most likely routes for Soviet ICBMs to come visiting the Land of the Free, and some thought the USSR had worked out a jamming technology that would blind the US ahead of an attack. When the BMEWS went down, this secondary bomber force was put on alert and flash warnings were sent to other nuclear facilities warning them that this might be the big one. But luckily a message from a series of forecasts made it through to central command telling them that it might not be the Soviets causing the issues.
"This is a grave situation," said Delores Knipp, a space physicist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and coauthor of the paper. "But here's where the story turns: things were going horribly wrong, and then something goes commendably right."
Since the 1940s, the US military planners had had evidence of how solar radiation could affect communications systems here on earth. In the mid-1960s the Air Force's Air Weather Service (AWS) had been doing regular solar forecasts to spot this kind of radiation. On May 18, 1967 the AWS spotted an unusually large group of sunspots with intense magnetic fields in one region of the sun. Shortly afterwards this area erupted, causing one of the largest solar storms ever recorded flying towards earth.
"I specifically recall responding with excitement, 'Yes, half the sun has blown away,' and then related the event details in a calmer, more quantitative way," said retired Colonel Arnold Snyder, a solar forecaster at NORAD's Solar Forecast Center, who was on duty that day.
The loss of the BMEWS was flashed both to the military and to government heads. Knipp says that contemporary documents indicate that President Johnson would have received the news. Given the heightened state of alert at the time – Vietnam's summer offensives weren't going well and forces were massing in the Middle East for the Six Day War that broke out days later – the news could have scared some folks into pushing the button.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 10 2016, @10:33PM
We are beginning to understand how many times we as children stood on the brink of annihilation. Makes me believe in luck. Berlin, Cuban Missile Crisis, Broken Arrow, and now Solar Storm. And what about the Wild Geese Incident? And people these days are afraid of ISIS?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 10 2016, @10:59PM
Ah, but we didn't.
No one wants to die in a nuclear event, so for as much suspicion there was of the USSR, they were at least rational so there is a near equal amount of caution before starting WW III. Besides, by the early 80s, it was fairly apparent the USSR was a paper tiger. Most annalist anticipated collapse. It was just a matter of when.
ISIS on the other hand is chaotic. While not a direct threat to the west, they can certainly cause a big, expensive mess, which everyone would rather avoid.
Their days too are number. It just a question as to whether they go out with a whimper or a bang.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday August 10 2016, @11:08PM
Bunk. Total bunk.
We faced a global nuclear conflagration. Today it's kids with fireworks in pressure cookers or a couple hundred rounds ammo. There is absolutely no comparison whatsoever. It's like comparing the moon to a grain of sand.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday August 10 2016, @11:20PM
There is a valid comparison on the hysteria that anyone in the US is a potential victim (ANYone rather than EVERYone), therefore justifying allowing all means necessary for the Military-Industrial Complex to defeat this Terrible Terrible Threat. Bonus: Everyone needs to be individually ready, rather than rely on organized military groups.
I just wish ISIS would try to beat us to Mars, instead of not noticing the typo when they set their sights on Europa.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 10 2016, @11:27PM
You also face near total annihilation from an asteroid strike. Are you wetting your pants right now or putting your faith in people to monitor these events and make the right choice?
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Thursday August 11 2016, @12:59AM
How about: neither of your narrow-minded choices.
Until we can get past the politics of actually funding an adequate detection system, and the means to deal with one if detected, I'm not worried about the threat of an asteroid/comet.
I have much more things to worry about(that I can actually affect change) than something that probably won't happen in my lifetime. If it DOES happen, then I guess I'll worry about if I'm still limber enough to kiss my own ass goodbye. :-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11 2016, @02:29PM
hum. it's entirely possible we are in more danger now than then.
are YOU aware of the state of the security systems used at the various former USSR missile bases...?
taking into account the general level of corruption in Russia, I would guess it's not that good.
(Score: 3, Informative) by fritsd on Wednesday August 10 2016, @11:21PM
Also: people like Stanislav Petrov [wikipedia.org].
There is hope for us :-)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 11 2016, @12:58AM
We stand on the brink of annihilation today, and always. 7 billion people on the planet, and rising... that's a slow, grinding march towards societal collapse, not as dramatic as the two major superpowers taking themselves out of the equation allowing non-allied countries to flourish in the aftermath... more pervasive, certain and equally spread among all the peoples of the earth.
And, if, 100 years from now we declare the threats of global warming, over population, mass extinction, and asteroid impact forever banished, it will likely be due to some new form of energy release that itself threatens the habitability of the planet due to overuse.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11 2016, @01:30AM
https://overpopulationisamyth.com/ [overpopulationisamyth.com]
"Overpopulation is a myth. This myth has caused human rights abuses around the world, forced population control, denied medicines to the poor, and targeted attacks on ethnic minorities and women."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11 2016, @07:15AM
That's religious nonsense. You don't want to click.
If you do, click here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Research_Institute [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11 2016, @01:27PM