While we're on the subject of scary, let's talk about a mistake that prolonged the Cold War, led to what was almost total nuclear destruction, embarrassed our nation, and otherwise sucked for the good guys.
On May 1, 1960, a CIA pilot by the name of Francis Gary Powers was shot down flying over Sverdlovsk Oblast in what was then the Soviet Union.
At the time, Stalin's favorite clown — Nikita Khrushchev — had assumed leadership of the nation. He was not the most respected of leaders, but was pursuing a more progressive relationship with America. In fact, the leaders had agreed to a summit, where President Eisenhower would go to Russia and meet with Khrushchev.
The problem is, Khrushchev was having difficulty with the more hard-line members of the Politburu. Until May 1, 1960, Khrushchev was able to stand his ground and continue to explore better relations with the West. But then a Soviet spotter base noticed an unauthorized airborne object flying very, very high over Sverdlovsk Oblast. Against pretty high odds, the S-75 Dvina missile fired at Powers' U-2 hit, bringing the craft down.
The U.S. government at first denied the overflight, but when the Soviets were able to produce Powers, the denials were no longer viable.
Khrushchev no longer stood a chance as a peacemaker, but as a fiery anti-West politician, he could hold onto his power. So he seized on the Powers incident to remake himself into a hawk, later famously engaging in the Cuban Missile Crisis with President Kennedy and nearly bringing the world to nuclear war.
The U-2 was supposed to be undetectable. Instead, it probably extended the Cold War by at least a decade.
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