Chinese "weather" balloon floating over the US

[DesertRanger]

I doubt that there would be much technology on the balloon worth having. It's likely collecting images and other electronic data and relaying all of it to one of their satellites in real time. There probably isn't any recording equipment on board. More like an amplifier for the satellites. The thing should have been destroyed over the Pacific, the wreckage recovered by Navy divers, and we all go about our business. Like so many issues, this one is allowed to drag on and on...

[deerslayer]

Perhaps it really did accidentally end up over the US.  Or possibly a belligerent Chinese government is just thumbing its nose at an incompetent American one.  

My dad was on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in the early 60s.  He said they would do a bunch of launch and recovery and turn every electrical gadget on full blast and then run wide open toward the Russian coast a couple hundred miles out and then go ice cold stone silent.  They weren't even allowed to use an electric razor.  The Russians would freak out and send half the Soviet navy out to figure out where the American carrier went.  The Russians played the same game off the California coast.  The balloon thing strikes me as the grandchild of this geopolitical UNO the Navy used to play (and I'm sure still do), except China"s intentions may be a little different. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by deerslayer

[Alleycat72]

Would be a good platform for an emp emitter for a limited strike. Send a few over. Oops...sorry...it's just civilian. Next week....zapppp. LOL. 

I read too many apocalypse books. 

[gregintenn]

Or it could just be an errant weather balloon like the Chinese claimed.

One thing I don’t ever expect to hear is the truth.

Edited February 4, 2023 by gregintenn

[Alleycat72]

31 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Or it could just be an errant weather balloon like the Chinese claimed.

One thing I don’t ever expect to hear is the truth.

But I want to dress up like Mad Max only I'll be running a Studebaker instead of a Ford Intercepter. I wonder if Amazon has a BIG faraday cage?.........score!

https://www.adorama.com/edftl.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAofieBhDXARIsAHTTldqKPxwiLcPh06srDBASQ2jrvd_crRQcsIP8SA9Ph_GtGkUTvnqqVCgaAvCjEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&utm_source=inc-google-shop-p

[GlockSpock]

 

[Chucktshoes]

[Moped]

We shot it down, off the coast of South Carolina.

[DesertRanger]

4 hours ago, gregintenn said:

Or it could just be an errant weather balloon like the Chinese claimed.

One thing I don’t ever expect to hear is the truth.

That’s a good point. I could imagine the CCP coming up with the ultimate, improbable story- the truth. If so, they can have a laugh. I think it was intentional to gauge our reaction. Who knows what they took away from the incident. Either way, I feel better having 2nd amendment protections than not. I would hope the possibility of an American with a gun behind every tree would be a deterrent at some level.

[peejman]

1 hour ago, Moped said:

We shot it down, off the coast of South Carolina.

I don't think they shot it, I think they buzzed it supersonic and let the shock waves take it down. A friend lives in Myrtle Beach and said he heard 2 sonic booms. 

[Links2k]

50 minutes ago, peejman said:

I don't think they shot it, I think they buzzed it supersonic and let the shock waves take it down. A friend lives in Myrtle Beach and said he heard 2 sonic booms. 

You can clearly see the Aim-9 missile leaving the jet, then impact near the antennas. 

My beliefs concerning this incident are more in line with these two takes I found online. Also, DOD mentioned that they were able obscure or relocate assets in the balloon’s path. Intelligence gathering seems to be the most logical reason for allowing the balloon drift across the country after assessing it posed no imminent threat to the country. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Links2k

[OLDNEWBIE]

The way they shot it down, (large projectile over the ocean) did not allow for intact recoverable information.......By choice?

Surely a small round or two, or three while over unpopulated land much earlier in the game could have brought it down safely in my humble opinion. As usual I smell a rat.

[Snaveba]

I’m guessing there could have been a self-destruct. We were never going to get much in the way of parts. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Snaveba

[Alleycat72]

38 minutes ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

The way they shot it down, (large projectile over the ocean) did not allow for intact recoverable information.......By choice?

Surely a small round or two, or three while over unpopulated land much earlier in the game could have brought it down safely in my humble opinion. As usual I smell a rat.

Can you slow the guns down on an f22. 6000 rounds per minute. I'd be hard firing of 3 or 4.

[OLDNEWBIE]

32 minutes ago, Alleycat72 said:

Can you slow the guns down on an f22. 6000 rounds per minute. I'd be hard firing of 3 or 4.

Lord knows they had enough time to figure it out.

Multiple planes with few rounds loaded perhaps?

[gregintenn]

11 hours ago, deerslayer said:

Perhaps it really did accidentally end up over the US.  Or possibly a belligerent Chinese government is just thumbing its nose at an incompetent American one.  

My dad was on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in the early 60s.  He said they would do a bunch of launch and recovery and turn every electrical gadget on full blast and then run wide open toward the Russian coast a couple hundred miles out and then go ice cold stone silent.  They weren't even allowed to use an electric razor.  The Russians would freak out and send half the Soviet navy out to figure out where the American carrier went.  The Russians played the same game off the California coast.  The balloon thing strikes me as the grandchild of this geopolitical UNO the Navy used to play (and I'm sure still do), except China"s intentions may be a little different. 

When you think about it, the guys running the military were little boys not that long ago. LOL! 

[Erich]

5 hours ago, Links2k said:

My beliefs concerning this incident are more in line with these two takes I found online. Also, DOD mentioned that they were able obscure or relocate assets in the balloon’s path. Intelligence gathering seems to be the most logical reason for allowing the balloon drift across the country after assessing it posed no imminent threat to the country. 
 

All due respect. Spinning failures into successes is an obvious play to hide impotence resulting from failure to act in a timely manner. Its pointless to ask what possible intel was gleaned when they proved this was not the mission when they destroyed the evidence.   

They won this game of chicken. Shooting it down after the fact is simply trying to save face.

Its the equivalent of throwing up some new gun legislation to appease the massing screaming 'do something' because its the new media darling.

As @gregintenn said earlier, the truth will not be had here. Not that a reasonable person could not see what that is

 

 

[Links2k]

Radio transmission leading up to the downing of the Chinese spy balloon.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Links2k

[Grayfox54]

I not sure if it was spying at all. I think the whole thing was a test by China just to how we would react to it. We failed miserably. 

If it should happen again, I hope they shoot it down as soon as it crosses into U.S. waters off the west coast. But I won't bet on it. 

[btq96r]

I think it was more a test than actual spying.  Like others, I can't see the benefit from that balloon over what they can get through low orbit satellites and existing cyber efforts. 

What I think the actual test involved, was how territorial we would be in airspace that high, and if/where we would take it down.  I think China was looking for a parallel to what they could presumably get away with and keep a straight face when it comes to our surveillance efforts over territory they claim in and around Taiwan, and other points of interest for them in the South Pacific.  Remember, for China, there isn't much difference in what they control versus what they claim.  The stronger they've gotten, the more they've been pushing on the latter.

The OMG factor from the local and national news was entertaining (sorta), but the real impact I think will be in how this translates to what happens in the areas China has in mind for annexing 10-20-30 years down the line.  I don't think this is the last trial balloon (pun intended) we might see.

[Omega]

During WWII Japan used balloons to drop ordinance on the US.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/when-japanese-balloons-threatened-american-skies-during-world-war-ii/ar-AA175aCF

Back then, they figured out the way to deliver a package all the way to the US mainland without any electronics.  Now, the Chinese have not only figured out a low(ish) tech way to do the same thing and by using a legal loophole in international law (60k ceiling), they can deliver a first strike, possibly another biological attack, say Covid 23, and we have shown we won't do anything until after it releases it's payload, thereby destroying evidence it ever happened, giving them plausible deniability. 

[CMDRStormBorn]

Please forgive me if I sound as if I have my aluminum foil hat on.  I’ve taken a balloon or two down in my lifetime and that’s all I can say about that.  I am concerned about the residue cloud in the video as the balloon went down.  Low tech, in-direct delivery systems are cheap,  practical, and can be very effective.  Floating gases burn clean- unless they have “additives”.  It’s just a recurring thought as I rewatch the video over and over…

[deerslayer]

Whether we shot it down over MT or SC or the ocean or shot it down at all is irrelevant.  The only question that matters is why was it allowed near our country?  Our southern border is no longer a border.  I guess air sovereignty is next to go.  

[OLDNEWBIE]

3 hours ago, CMDRStormBorn said:

Please forgive me if I sound as if I have my aluminum foil hat on.  I’ve taken a balloon or two down in my lifetime and that’s all I can say about that.  I am concerned about the residue cloud in the video as the balloon went down.  Low tech, in-direct delivery systems are cheap,  practical, and can be very effective.  Floating gases burn clean- unless they have “additives”.  It’s just a recurring thought as I rewatch the video over and over…

I too thought the residue cloud was weird then thought maybe....

Helium (possibly a tad warmer than ambient) under slight balloon pressure quickly released might cause a cloud effect? It dissipated quickly. What was the trail of shiny debris that followed above the balloon for quite some time after the missile hit?

I'm no expert but I do have a collection of well worn tinfoil hats and this botched anti balloon mission was either by design or just par for the course for for our leadership these days. Who knows?

[Alleycat72]

1 hour ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

I too thought the residue cloud was weird then thought maybe....

Helium (possibly a tad warmer than ambient) under slight balloon pressure quickly released might cause a cloud effect? It dissipated quickly. What was the trail of shiny debris that followed above the balloon for quite some time after the missile hit?

I'm no expert but I do have a collection of well worn tinfoil hats and this botched anti balloon mission was either by design or just par for the course for for our leadership these days. Who knows?

It's -60° up there so and it did get hit with something that went boom.