Mathias Rust's Daring Flight to Red Square

On May 28, 1987, in one of the more bizarre moments of the Cold War, an amateur West German pilot named Mathias Rust "evaded" Soviet defenses as he flew from Finland to Moscow and landed near Red Square. Rust said his purpose was to reduce tension between Cold War sides. Strangely enough, he did help end the Cold War — by lowering Soviet citizens' faith in the military.