I Wish I Didn't Know That REAL-LIFE TALES OF CLOSE CALLS, SCREW UPS, AND NUCLEAR NEAR MISSES.

https://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/close-calls#.WonHDmzFKUm

1      Not Your Average Bear

2      A BLACK BEAR ONCE CLIMBED THE FENCE AT A MINNESOTA MILITARY BASE, TRIGGERING AN ALARM THAT ORDERED NUCLEAR-ARMED FIGHTERS INTO THE AIR.

On October 25, 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a guard at a military base in Duluth, Minnesota, saw an intruder climbing the fence. Thinking it was a Soviet saboteur, he shot at the figure, triggering a sabotage alarm that set off warnings at all nearby military bases. At one—Volk Field in Wisconsin—the alarm was wired incorrectly, ordering nuclear-armed fighters to takeoff rather than sounding a warning.

With US forces at a high level of alert—DEFCON 3—pilots knew there were no practice drills.

While Duluth immediately called to explain that the intruder was actually a black bear, the planes were already on the runway, preparing for takeoff. A staff member at the Volk command center had to race to the planes by truck (the base had no control tower), flashing his lights to signal the pilots to abort the mission. 

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