In the 1980s, the threat of nuclear weapons being launched at someone was still very probable. The effect of one of these missiles would be catastrophic. Reagan tried to implement the Strategic Defense Initiative but it never went very far. In the project, they proposed many designs, with the most well known one being Brilliant Pebbles. When the nuclear missile is in transit, the little probe would go to the missile and shoot a projectile at it to disarm the missile. This video shows how the missile would be taken down by Brilliant Pebbles probe.