BELL SYSTEM DISTANT EARLY WARNING NUCLEAR ATTACK WARNING SYSTEM FILM 47034

Released in 1961, SECONDS FOR SURVIVAL was produced by AT&T / The Bell System and presented around the country by representatives of the phone company. The film tells how the North American Air Defense Command links NORAD, Sage, SAC, the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning), BMEWS, White Alice System, picket ships, Texas Towers blimps and air ships and air patrols into a single giant warning system to protect Americans from Soviet attack. The film begins with an overview of civilian communication issues -- a woman calls the fire department to extinguish a fire at her house for instance -- before moving on to a discussion about how communications will be employed in the event of a war with an unnamed adversary (clearly -- the Soviet Union).
The film strongly reassures the viewer that technology can apparently provide peace of mind in the event of a disaster. Robust communications systems are being put in place, including buried phone lines and bypass systems that will preserve communications networks in the event of a disaster. The antiballistic missile Nike Zeus system is mentioned as a reliable ICBM interceptor.
The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the North Coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska, in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It was set up to detect incoming Soviet bombers during the Cold War, and provide early warning of any sea-and-land invasion.
The DEW Line was operational from 1957 to 1985 and it was the northernmost and most capable of three radar lines in Canada and Alaska; the joint Canadian-US Pinetree Line ran from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, and the Mid-Canada Line ran somewhat north of this. Between 1988 and 1993, most stations were deactivated. Those that remained were upgraded as part of the new North Warning System.
The White Alice Communications System (WACS, "White Alice" colloq.) was a United States Air Force telecommunication network with 80 radio stations constructed in Alaska during the Cold War. It used tropospheric scatter for over-the-horizon links and microwave relay for shorter line-of-sight links. Sites were characterized by large parabolic, tropospheric scatter antennas as well as smaller microwave dishes for point to point links.
The system connected remote Air Force sites in Alaska, such as Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W), Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line) and Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS), to command and control facilities and in some cases it was used for civilian phone calls. The system was advanced for its time, but became obsolete within 20 years following the advent of satellite communications.
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[@JDAbelRN]

These films were essential for nuclear preparedness, and gives a sobering yet realistic information to the Western Alliance. Raymond Massey perfect commentator for this film. He was a substantial, calm, and believable spokesman for this film, and was a great Western Pact patriot in times of general fear from nuclear war.

[@JayWalkerTexasRadio]

Raymond Massey is one of my favorite actors of the 30's through the 60's. From James Whale's 1932 suspense/comedy, The Old Dark House, to the first true masterpiece of science fiction cinema from 1936, H. G. Wells' Things to Come, and 1955's, East of Eden as Adam Trask, father of Cal, played by James Dean, Raymond Massey had a wide range of talent diversity that enhanced any role he played.

[@barryhopesgthope686]

My Dad worked for Ohio Bell Telephone. He was quite busy 4 April 1974 getting Xenia, Ohio back on line.

[@Road38910]

Love the way NORAD track Santa every Christmas. They must have some kind of special radar to do that I guess.

[@hwoods01]

Santas' sleigh is equipped with a transponder. FAA requirement.

[@jerlee620]

Imagine having to activate the NORAD defense of an incoming barrage of nukes on a rotary dial phone.

[@pedalingthru2719]

@@bobgomez9481 or the world is not flat.fools keep thinking it is round just like they think we landed on the moon.

[@rags417]

The SAGE system (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) was the very first large scale computer network system. By the time it was put in to operation it was already nearly obsolete as computers had advanced so quickly the existing hardware could be replaced in many cases with more advanced software. Very cool tech for its day though (late 1950s to early 1960s)

[@phthalogreenbean]

Very interesting!

[@unverifiedbiotic]

People take the relative peace of our times for granted, completely oblivious to the titanic effort that the SAGE system and all accompanying projects were both for each taxpaying citizen of the US and the men who designed and built it little more than a decade after the conclusion of WWII.

[@andrewc.2952]

Talk about absolutely terrifying. Even the name of "White Alice" just freaks me out.

[@williamfairfaxmasonprescot9334]

#PeriscopeFilms #OustandingDocumentaries #EducationalVideos
I subscribed because of the vintage videos posted! Thank!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Glad you enjoyed it and subscribed! Consider becoming a channel member th-cam.com/video/ODBW3pVahUE/w-d-xo.html

[@free2choose80]

The original copy of this film used to post here was extremely damaged.

[@rustjockey]

There's no swimming in the heavy water, no singing in the acid rain...
Red alert...
Red alert...

[@dahawk8574]

One can imagine Neil's first draft having the title *_BMEWS You Bemuse Me._*
Absalom, btw, rebelled against his father David and was killed in battle. So much for "Father of Peace".

[@JetDom767]

And then the BMEWS came out in 1962/3 at Fylingdales

[@blunite545]

Why the time code. Not necessary.

[@JayWalkerTexasRadio]

The time code was left in the video to discourage unlicensed use. Periscope Films does offer a "clean" version of a purchased license copy.

[@badcompany-w6s]

Is that a Pontiac police car?

[@barryhopesgthope686]

Those "Texas towers" were rather dangerous. We lost at least two.

[@andrewc.2952]

Wow, that's so sad to hear.

[@philiprenoud712]

Before