On This Day - June 6th 1980
For the second time in a week, a computer error falsely warns US forces of an impending Soviet nuclear attack.
The Cold War began in the aftermath of World War II. It was marked by political tensions and military rivalry between the wrold's emerging super-powers, the United States and the USSR. It was so called the Cold War because of the fact that no direct fighting occurred between USA and the USSR. Instead, the 'war' took the form of diplomatic pressure, trade embargos, propaganda, espionage and proxy wars. In the many proxy wars that marked the Cold War era, countries were supported by either the US or USSR, but did not directly involve troops from the super powers. Proxy wars included the Bay of Pigs Invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Prague Spring, the Vietnam War, the Soviet-Afghan War and the subsequent boycotting of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games by many Western countries.
In 1980, the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union had been simmering for thirty years. On 3 June 1980, the US computer warning system predicted a 220-missile nuclear attack on the US. Shortly after the initial alarm, it was revised to an all-out attack of 2200 missiles. A computer error had created the illusion. Three days later, on 6 June 1980, the same computer error occurred again.