Curious, how close to Nuclear War did we get in 1962, 1973, and 1983?

Question

They say we came closer in 73 than in 62 with Yom Kipper. What do you think?

Answer 1

62 and 83 were within minutes of a launch, 73 was only higher state of alert (DEFCON 3).

Oct. 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. In order to initiate such an attack, Soviet naval procedures stated that the captain and two other officers must concur. The other officer on duty agreed to the launch, but Arkhipov conviced the captain to wait for instructions from Moscow before proceeding.

Sept 26, 1983 Colonel Stanislav Petrov had 2-3 minutes to respond to 5 incoming nuclear warheads from the US according to his early warning system alarms. Against protocols, he did not push the button and did not notify his superiors, who would have most probably launched a counter-attack. The "rocket launches" were later found to be sun rays bouncing off of high altitude clouds.

Answer 2

In 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, we came within 7 and one-half minutes of launching a nuclear war. But, we didn't realize it until after the collapse of the Soviet Union and we obtained access to Soviet government documents.
Unknown to us, the senior Soviet military commander in Cuba had unilateral launch authority. That means he did not have to seek permission from Moscow Center to launch either the intermediate-range missiles at targets in the U.S. or the tactical "Frog" missiles at any U.S. troops attempting an amphibious landing. As for the Israelis, the Yom Kippur War was the one where the use of tactical nuclear weapons against invading Arab forces would have meant a cheap and quick victory for the government in Jerusalem and a nuclear holocaust for the rest of the world.
The actors and movie industry personnel who died from the effects of atomic testing were exposed as "down winders" during the making of "The Conqueror" in Utah, not Arizona. All of the prncipal actors, the director and the senior camera man later developed lymphatic cancer and died.

Answer 3

My bet would be 1962, because the nations smartened up after wards about the ramifications of nuclear fallout throughout the world, doesn't matter, where the bombs fall. Millions of people have and still die of cancer from lingering radiation left from the idiotic atomic tests of the USA, France and Russia in the 50's and early 60's. A lot of actors, who worked on movies in Arizona in the 50's died from nuke testing fall out.

Answer 4

On the doomsday clock we got 3 Min's to war. For more info go to Historychanel.com

Answer 5

too close. i would have to agree with those that say 1973 was closer

Answer 6

pretty close