Epic Incidents of History - The 1979 NORAD Nuclear Near Miss

Explore a gripping historical incident in this conference talk that delves into the 1979 NORAD nuclear near miss. Examine the events of November 9, 1979, when a simple data input error triggered a chain of alerts signaling an imminent nuclear attack on the United States. Discover how military personnel investigated and evaluated the legitimacy of these signals, and learn about the tense moments as preparations for a counter-offensive were made. Analyze the factors that led to this potentially catastrophic situation and extract valuable lessons for modern distributed computer system operators and maintainers. Gain insights into the complexities of early warning systems, the importance of data integrity, and the critical role of human decision-making in high-stakes scenarios.