EXHIBIT 001 — NUCLEAR
The Night the World Almost Ended
Soviet Nuclear False Alarm — 1983
26 September 1983, 00:15 Moscow Time
One man. One decision. 23 minutes.
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EXHIBIT 002 — NUCLEAR
The Submarine That Chose Not to Fire
B-59 Nuclear Torpedo — Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
27 October 1962
One officer's refusal. The only dissenting vote required.
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EXHIBIT 003 — ASTRONOMICAL
The Asteroid That Passed at 17,200 Kilometers
2023 BU — January 2023
26 January 2023
17,200 kilometers. The Moon is 384,400 km away.
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EXHIBIT 004 — NUCLEAR
The Reactor That Should Have Exploded
Chernobyl Unit 4 — Second Explosion, 1986
26–27 April 1986
Three men with diving equipment and no expectation of survival.
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EXHIBIT 005 — BIOLOGICAL
The Pandemic That Ended in 1918
Spanish Flu — Armistice and the Second Wave
November 1918
The virus mutated toward lower lethality. It did not have to.
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EXHIBIT 006 — NUCLEAR
The Missile That Was Not Launched
Able Archer 83 — NATO Exercise, 1983
November 1983
Soviet forces placed on highest nuclear alert. Did not launch.
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EXHIBIT 007 — GEOLOGICAL
The Supervolcano That Didn't
Yellowstone Caldera — Ongoing
Ongoing — Last major eruption: 640,000 years ago
640,000 years and counting.
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EXHIBIT 008 — TECHNOLOGICAL
The Computer That Said No
Y2K — 31 December 1999
31 December 1999 / 1 January 2000
An estimated $300–600 billion spent on remediation. The cost of the near-miss.
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THE GIFT SHOP IS CLOSED. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLOSED.