A defective computer chip nearly started World War III

At two-thirty in the morning on June 3, 1980, the computers at the National Military Command Center issued an urgent warning: the Soviet Union had just launched a nuclear attack on the United States. The first reading informed national-security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, that 220 missiles had been launched from Soviet submarines. The second reading confirmed 2200. It seemed like the end of days was here. But then, just before Brzezinski was about to recommend an American counterattack, General William Odom called to inform him that it was a false alarm. A defective computer chip (that cost 46 cents) had bungled up a communications device at the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) headquarters and created an false warning.