1995: The Closest Call of Them All
The Black Brant Rocket Launch
On January 25th, 1995, the Norwegians launched a Black Brant rocket from the Andoya launchpad. The rocket was intended to study the Aurora Borealis.
Despite being a large four-stage rocket, Moscow had been notified about the launch. However, on Russian Early Warning Radars, the Black Brant had the same signature and trajectory as an American Trident, making it appear as though it was heading toward Moscow. While the civilian authorities in Russia had been informed about the launch, the military had not been told. Remember, it was 1995, just four years after the disintegration of the USSR, and Russia was in total disarray.
Incident Escalation
When the Black Brant dropped one of its stages and fired up another, the Russian Early Warning System (EWS) radar indicated what looked like a MIRV system: multiple warheads appeared to be on their way. It seemed that Russia was under attack.
Boris Yeltsin was awakened and given his nuclear briefcase, which was activated. All Russian submarines capable of launching ICBMs were put on alert and ordered to stand by for launch. This marked the only time in history that a nuclear briefcase was actually opened and activated operationally. Yeltsin hesitated long and hard about pressing the button.
A Narrow Escape
Within five minutes, it was identified that the rocket was not a Trident. The world had never been so close to a full nuclear exchange.
-RBM.
