Twilight Time

Overview

Celebrated by former US president Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world,” Ball emerged as a pivotal voice during the chaotic Cold War era. This Australian scholar and security expert challenged the assumptions surrounding nuclear warfare, influencing U.S. defense strategies and contributing to the easing of international tensions in the 1970s. His probing investigation of the contentious Pine Gap military base in the 1980s drew ire from ASIO, which monitored him closely. Following the Berlin Wall's collapse, Ball lent his expertise on signals intelligence in Burma and Thailand, while his work in East Timor revealed secrets the government wished to keep concealed.