Stanislav Petrov, a Russian military officer who averted a nuclear catastrophe and a likely World War III between the Soviet Union and the United States nearly 35 years ago died at the age of 77 on May 19, 2017. For all the fame he received in his later years, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov was a man of great humility and did not view his actions as particularly heroic. Nonetheless, his actions did save the world on one fateful night in 1983.

On Sunday, September 25, 1983, the future of the world was entirely in the hands of officer Stanislav Petrov from the town of Friazino near Moscow. The 44-year-old Lieutenant Colonel just reported for night-shift duty to the “Serpuhov-15” command center of the Soviet missile defense system. Near midnight, the command post received notification of an attack from the United States. Automatic satellite control systems that were deployed a year prior clearly indicated that the U.S. launched five ballistic Minuteman missiles, each carrying ten nuclear warheads. At that time, the Cold War was at its peak. Some three weeks before the incident, the Soviet Union shot down a South Korean Boeing 747.

According to his instructions, Officer Petrov was to notify immediately U.S.S.R. leaders, who would give directives for a nuclear counterstrike. The Lieutenant Colonel, however, decided to analyze the situation – the launches were made from the same location and there were only a few ICBMs. Relying on common sense – five rockets was not enough for a first attack in a nuclear war – Officer Petrov ignored the threat and told his subordinates that it was a computer malfunction. Officer Petrov went against his orders and announced that the alarm was false.

The ensuing investigation indeed revealed that the sensors on the missile defense satellite picked up sunlight that was reflected by cirrus clouds. Although the scientists had to modify the sensors, Stanislav Petrov was not rewarded for having saved the world. Remembering the incident some two decades later, the retired officer noted, “At first everyone was telling me that my service to the country will definitely be honored. Later, however, the government appointed a commission to investigate the incident, and it found many shortcomings in what I did.” While military authorities demanded complete adherence to the protocol, had the Russian commander carried out his orders, a total nuclear war might have begun.

A German activist by the name of Karl Schumacher publicized Lieutenant Colonel Petrov’s actions for Western audiences some twenty years ago. In 2006, the Association of World Citizens handed him an award that reads “To the man who averted nuclear war” at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. In 2012, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov also received the German Media Prize that had earlier been presented to Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, and Kofi Annan. In 2013, the Russian officer was honored with the Dresden Peace Prize.

In 2014, film producers from Denmark made an artistic documentary titled The Man Who Saves the World that recounts Lieutenant Colonel Petrov’s story.