September 10, 2026 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, during the height of the Cold War, the United States worked tirelessly to stay ahead of the Soviet Union in the global arms race. Safeguards were put in place to prevent the accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons, including special systems known as Permissive Action Links, or PAL codes.
But for almost two decades, the launch code for America’s nuclear arsenal was just eight zeroes: 00000000. Simon Whistler, host of Today I Found Out and The Brain Food Show, explains why the most important code of the Cold War was so simple to crack.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people,
coming to you from the city where the West begins,
Fort Worth, Texas. PAL codes, or Codes for Permissive Action Links,
are complex multi-digit combinations of It varied for each nuclear
(00:30):
weapon system, which prevent the unauthorized use of nuclear weapons.
But this wasn't always so. Here to tell the story
is Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel.
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
During the height of the Cold War, the US military
put such an emphasis on rapid response to an attack
on American soil that to minimize any foreseeable delay in
launching a nuclear missile, for nearly two decades they intentionally
set the launch codes at every silo in the United
States to a string of eight zeros. We guess the
(01:08):
first thing we need to address is how this came
to be in the first place. Well, in 1962, JFK
signed the National Action Security Memorandum 160, which was supposed
to ensure that every nuclear weapon in the US was
fitted with a permissive action link, PAL, basically a small
device that ensured that the missile could be launched with
only the right code and with the right authority. There
(01:32):
was particularly a concern that the nuclear missiles the United
States had stationed in other countries some of which had
somewhat unstable leaderships, could potentially be seized by those governments
and launched. With the PAL system, this became much less
of a problem. Beyond foreign seizure, there was also the
problem that many US commanders had the ability to launch
(01:53):
nukes under their control at any time. Just one commanding
officer who wasn't quite right in the head and World
War III begins. As US General Horace M. Wade stated
about General Thomas Power, I used to worry about General Power.
I used to worry that General Power was not stable.
I used to worry about the fact that he had
(02:14):
control over so many weapons and weapon systems and could,
under certain conditions, launch the force. Back in the days
before we had real positive control, SAC had the power
to do a lot of things, and it was in
his hands, and he knew it. To give you an
idea of how secure the PAL system was at this time,
(02:36):
bypassing one was described once as being about as complex
as performing a tonsillectomy while entering the patient from the
wrong end. This system was supposed to be essentially hot
wire proof, making sure only people with the correct codes
could activate the nuclear weapons and launch the missiles. However,
(02:56):
though the devices were supposed to be fitted on every
nuclear missile after JFK issued his memorandum, the military continually
dragged its heels on the matter. In fact, it was
noted that a full 20 years after JFK had ordered
PALS to be fitted to every nuclear device, half of
the missiles in Europe were still protected by simple mechanical locks.
(03:19):
Most that did have the new system in place weren't
even activated until 1977. Those in the US that had
been fitted with the devices, such as the one in
the Minuteman silos, were installed under the close scrutiny of
Robert McNamara, JFK's Secretary of Defense.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And the conventional wisdom is don't make the same mistake twice.
Learn from your mistakes. And we all do. Maybe we
make the same mistake three times, but hopefully not four
or five. There'll be no learning period.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
However, the Strategic Air Command greatly resented McNamara's presence, and
almost as soon as he left, the code to launch
the missiles, or 50 of them, was set to eight zeros. Oh,
and in case you actually did forget the code, it
was handily written down on a checklist handed out to soldiers.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
As Dr.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Bruce G. Blab, who was once a Minuteman launch officer stated,
our launch checklist in fact instructed us, the firing crew,
to double check the locking panel in our underground launch
bunker to ensure that no digits other than zero had
been inadvertently dialed into the panel. This ensured that there
was no need to wait for presidential confirmation that would
(04:38):
have just wasted valuable Russian nuking time. To be fair,
there was also the possibility that command centers or communication
lines could be wiped out, so having a bunch of
nuclear missiles sitting around, unlaunchable because nobody had the code,
was seen as a greater risk by the military brass
than a few soldiers simply deciding to launch the missiles
(04:59):
without proper authorization.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Dr.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Blair, whose resume to date is far too long to
write out here, is the one who broke this 8-0
news to the world in his 2004 article, Keeping Presidents
in the Nuclear Dark. He also outlined the significant disconnect
between the nation's elected leaders and the military when it
came to nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Dr. Blair
(05:23):
had previously made waves in 1977 when he wrote another
article entitled The Terrorist Threat to World Nuclear Programs. He
had first attempted to communicate the serious security problems at
the nuclear silos to congressmen starting around 1973. When that
information fell on mostly deaf ears, he decided to outline
it for the public in this 1977 article where he
(05:46):
described how just four people acting in tandem could easily
activate a nuclear launch in the silos he had worked in. Further,
amongst other things, the PAL system McNamara had touted was
barely in operation and thus launches could be authorized by
anyone without presidential authority. He also noted how virtually anyone
who asked for permission to tour the launch facility was
(06:07):
granted it with little to no background checks performed. It
is perhaps not coincidence that the PAL systems were all
activated and the codes changed the same year this article
was published. So, to recap, for around 20 years the
Strategic Air Command went out of their way to make
launching a nuclear missile as easy and quick as possible.
(06:27):
To be fair, they had their reasons, such as the
fact that the soldiers in the silos, in the case
of a real nuclear war, may have needed to be
able to launch the missiles without being able to contact
anyone on the outside. That said, their actions were in
direct violation of the orders of the Commander in Chief. Further,
not activating this safeguard and lack of security ensured that
(06:49):
someone with very little planning, someone with three friends who
had a mind to, could have started World War III.
We don't even think that could pass for a bad
conspiracy theory film plot, but history is so often stranger
than fiction.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to
frequent contributor Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out
YouTube channel and its sister, the Brain Food Show podcast.
I recommend both of them, heartily. The story of the
remedy for the nuclear launch code, here on Our American Stories.
(07:29):
Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to
subscribe to our YouTube channel. to our american stories on
apple podcasts the iheart radio app spotify or wherever you
get our podcasts any story you missed or want to
hear again can be found there daily again please subscribe
to the our american stories podcast on apple podcasts the
(07:51):
iheart radio app or anywhere you get your podcasts it
helps us keep these great american stories coming
This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people,
coming to you from the city where the West begins,
Fort Worth, Texas. PAL codes, or Codes for Permissive Action Links,
are complex multi-digit combinations of It varied for each nuclear
(00:30):
weapon system, which prevent the unauthorized use of nuclear weapons.
But this wasn't always so. Here to tell the story
is Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel.
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
During the height of the Cold War, the US military
put such an emphasis on rapid response to an attack
on American soil that to minimize any foreseeable delay in
launching a nuclear missile, for nearly two decades they intentionally
set the launch codes at every silo in the United
States to a string of eight zeros. We guess the
(01:08):
first thing we need to address is how this came
to be in the first place. Well, in 1962, JFK
signed the National Action Security Memorandum 160, which was supposed
to ensure that every nuclear weapon in the US was
fitted with a permissive action link, PAL, basically a small
device that ensured that the missile could be launched with
only the right code and with the right authority. There
(01:32):
was particularly a concern that the nuclear missiles the United
States had stationed in other countries some of which had
somewhat unstable leaderships, could potentially be seized by those governments
and launched. With the PAL system, this became much less
of a problem. Beyond foreign seizure, there was also the
problem that many US commanders had the ability to launch
(01:53):
nukes under their control at any time. Just one commanding
officer who wasn't quite right in the head and World
War III begins. As US General Horace M. Wade stated
about General Thomas Power, I used to worry about General Power.
I used to worry that General Power was not stable.
I used to worry about the fact that he had
(02:14):
control over so many weapons and weapon systems and could,
under certain conditions, launch the force. Back in the days
before we had real positive control, SAC had the power
to do a lot of things, and it was in
his hands, and he knew it. To give you an
idea of how secure the PAL system was at this time,
(02:36):
bypassing one was described once as being about as complex
as performing a tonsillectomy while entering the patient from the
wrong end. This system was supposed to be essentially hot
wire proof, making sure only people with the correct codes
could activate the nuclear weapons and launch the missiles. However,
(02:56):
though the devices were supposed to be fitted on every
nuclear missile after JFK issued his memorandum, the military continually
dragged its heels on the matter. In fact, it was
noted that a full 20 years after JFK had ordered
PALS to be fitted to every nuclear device, half of
the missiles in Europe were still protected by simple mechanical locks.
(03:19):
Most that did have the new system in place weren't
even activated until 1977. Those in the US that had
been fitted with the devices, such as the one in
the Minuteman silos, were installed under the close scrutiny of
Robert McNamara, JFK's Secretary of Defense.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And the conventional wisdom is don't make the same mistake twice.
Learn from your mistakes. And we all do. Maybe we
make the same mistake three times, but hopefully not four
or five. There'll be no learning period.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
However, the Strategic Air Command greatly resented McNamara's presence, and
almost as soon as he left, the code to launch
the missiles, or 50 of them, was set to eight zeros. Oh,
and in case you actually did forget the code, it
was handily written down on a checklist handed out to soldiers.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
As Dr.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Bruce G. Blab, who was once a Minuteman launch officer stated,
our launch checklist in fact instructed us, the firing crew,
to double check the locking panel in our underground launch
bunker to ensure that no digits other than zero had
been inadvertently dialed into the panel. This ensured that there
was no need to wait for presidential confirmation that would
(04:38):
have just wasted valuable Russian nuking time. To be fair,
there was also the possibility that command centers or communication
lines could be wiped out, so having a bunch of
nuclear missiles sitting around, unlaunchable because nobody had the code,
was seen as a greater risk by the military brass
than a few soldiers simply deciding to launch the missiles
(04:59):
without proper authorization.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Dr.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Blair, whose resume to date is far too long to
write out here, is the one who broke this 8-0
news to the world in his 2004 article, Keeping Presidents
in the Nuclear Dark. He also outlined the significant disconnect
between the nation's elected leaders and the military when it
came to nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Dr. Blair
(05:23):
had previously made waves in 1977 when he wrote another
article entitled The Terrorist Threat to World Nuclear Programs. He
had first attempted to communicate the serious security problems at
the nuclear silos to congressmen starting around 1973. When that
information fell on mostly deaf ears, he decided to outline
it for the public in this 1977 article where he
(05:46):
described how just four people acting in tandem could easily
activate a nuclear launch in the silos he had worked in. Further,
amongst other things, the PAL system McNamara had touted was
barely in operation and thus launches could be authorized by
anyone without presidential authority. He also noted how virtually anyone
who asked for permission to tour the launch facility was
(06:07):
granted it with little to no background checks performed. It
is perhaps not coincidence that the PAL systems were all
activated and the codes changed the same year this article
was published. So, to recap, for around 20 years the
Strategic Air Command went out of their way to make
launching a nuclear missile as easy and quick as possible.
(06:27):
To be fair, they had their reasons, such as the
fact that the soldiers in the silos, in the case
of a real nuclear war, may have needed to be
able to launch the missiles without being able to contact
anyone on the outside. That said, their actions were in
direct violation of the orders of the Commander in Chief. Further,
not activating this safeguard and lack of security ensured that
(06:49):
someone with very little planning, someone with three friends who
had a mind to, could have started World War III.
We don't even think that could pass for a bad
conspiracy theory film plot, but history is so often stranger
than fiction.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to
frequent contributor Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out
YouTube channel and its sister, the Brain Food Show podcast.
I recommend both of them, heartily. The story of the
remedy for the nuclear launch code, here on Our American Stories.
(07:29):
Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to
subscribe to our YouTube channel. to our american stories on
apple podcasts the iheart radio app spotify or wherever you
get our podcasts any story you missed or want to
hear again can be found there daily again please subscribe
to the our american stories podcast on apple podcasts the
(07:51):
iheart radio app or anywhere you get your podcasts it
helps us keep these great american stories coming
Host
Lee Habeeb
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