At what point or year in world history did we come the closest to nuclear war?

Answer 1

Toss-up between 3 or 4 incidents, the most notable being the Cuban Missile Crisis, however there were 3 other "known" incidents where it came down to minutes whether a nuclear launch would be authorized. Check this out:

On October 27, 1962, a Soviet submarine officer named Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov reportedly refused to comply with the launch of a nuclear warhead while apparently under attack by a U.S. warship near Cuba.

November 9 ,1979, when the US made emergency retaliation preparations after NORAD saw on-screen indications that a full-scale Soviet attack had been launched. Early warning radar systems confirmed no such launch had taken place. A computer system test had caused the display errors and caused the absolute panic at NORAD

September 26th, 1983 - Colonel Stanislav Petrov disobeys protocols and fails to launch Soviet Missiles after his early warning system indicated 5 missiles launched by the US at the Soviet Union.

January 25, 1995 - A peaceful scientific rocket is launched off the coast of Norway. To the east, in Russia, radar operators mistake the launch for a nuclear attack by the West. A deadly process -- nearly on auto-pilot -- is triggered. Within minutes President Yeltsin has been alerted of the attack. For the first time in history, the Russian nuclear briefcase is activated.

Answer 2

the popular answers given are cuba......and the false incoming reports from Norad.....and a few others...........

the real truth will never be told.......we were within the launch sequence codes being sent....

at a time when Ronald Reagan was president..........we had the closest call we can ever imagine..................

the truth....maybe we are not ready for it


now....people see this as history...but we are still close.....very close....

....any terrorist action in our country that takes more than 100,000 american lives.......will guarentee a nuclear launch....American people will demand it................and this is what the terrorists goal is....the casualties have to occur within a 10 day span.....

Politicians will be willing to slam down hard on the countries they dont like......

It will be the nuclear winter we have all expected for some time....

nuclear war is not "if" anymore......its now "when"


It is quite apparent that the USA is now in a potential death spiral. The golden years are long gone. The damage done to our country by class polarization, dependance on welfare and subsidies, political corruption so endemic that we have no sense of American identity. We need a total moratorium on all immigration for 5 years, and a different system of taxation, clarification of who is our friend and who is not. The decay of America has been accelerated by groups so stupid that they deflect attention from the true issues. It is not even remotely possible to expect America to recover to its past golden years, without a significant cost. I have posted several replies to other similiar questions and the questions usually hinted at the type of answer desired and the truth is not flexible . Unfortunately most of the questions on such a critical issue....are asked by children..We live in a world of the "haves" and the "have nots".........the only thing keeping peace now is the presence of weapons and power. The shift has started in the power balance......India and China have both displaced the USA in key areas.......unless we are willing to undergo a type of "isolation", the USA can not recover without removing and neutralizing the upper 2 % of wealthy Americans and corporations. Changing our sense of fair and unfair.....as it applies to Christian values.....not as it applies to money and greed. The lessons of the past have not been remembered, we are making the same mistakes again....only this time we dont have the resources to recover. The true spirit of America will live on, even if America the country falls apart. We need to stand up and be proud to be American and not give a damn what other countries think. We need to start taking care of our own.........we owe it to America

Answer 3

That would be October 1962. The ship I was on was in the Mediterranean at the time, we were in Cannes, France. When JFK announced the blockade of Cuba the 6th fleet went to sea steaming at condition 3, wartime cruising. We had half the guns manned 24/7.

Answer 4

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.

Answer 5

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Answer 6

The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Answer 7

Definately during the Fall of 1962. The entire United States Navy put to sea and the Air Force had everything on 15 minutes alert.

Answer 8

I believe the year was 1961. The naval blockade of Russian ships bringing in missiles and missile launchers to install in Cuba and aimed at the US.

The two leaders stood eye to eye and toe to toe, figuratively speaking. John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev were the players of this huge drama, and neither wanted to give in. Nikita was the first to blink, and it was the blink heard around the world.

Do you think Vladimir Putin wants revenge for the dishonor Nikita brought on the Russian people, because of that incident?

Answer 9

Gotta agree with the majority here - Cuban Missle Crisis. Probably the closest we ever were to war with Russia.

Answer 10

Well, I had a nuclear war in my pants 10 days ago after I wanked off.