Russian President alerted of a nuclear missile heading toward Russian soil, but makes call to stand down
6-25-1995
On June 25, 1995, the U.S. launched a scientific missile from Norway to study the Northern Lights. The U.S. sent Russia a notification of the launch, but it never made it up the chain of command. Russian early warning systems detected the launch and identified it as a nuclear attack. President Boris Yeltsin defied protocol, believing it couldn’t be a nuclear attack from the U.S.