Chinese Spy Balloon Flying Over the U.S.

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murphey said:
Aurora photo missions.
U2s … altho those were USSR.
All the satellites.

Really? Why worry about a balloon.
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What does the ballon contain chemically, biologically, radioactively, or parts thereof?

I’m more concerned about the “low” altitude. That’s less than 6 miles from overhead when flying over you or me.

Really, am I the only one going overboard on my reaction? Is something wrong with me or are most of us naive? I’ll give you all the benefit of the doubt and I’m just being paranoid.

“Let’s launch a trial balloon as a social exercise and see how anesthetized those air conditioned Americans have gotten.”

-Cold war kiddo…
 
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So much histrionics. Obviously we can shoot it down, come on that’s not in question. With 800 billion a year in military spending, we can shoot down a ballon. They clearly decided not to, indicating they think it’s more valuable for some reason not to.

My guess is that it’s quite useful to have a known transmitter of intelligence data. Record all the signals coming from the thing and give the NSA a ton of data to test their encryption breaking capabilities on. Especially as you know its position and for example, if it is taking photos, you roughly know what the answer should look like.
 
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I think China already knows more than enough...put a couple holes in the balloon and let it settle to the ground.

US citizens are threatened with deadly force if they get too close to military installations, but if you fly over with a Chinese balloon I guess it is ok.
 
China has now admitted it’s theirs. Claims it’s for meteorological purposes
 
Sounds like a great reason to recover the balloon and redeploy it in a tropical storm somewhere...
 
wanttaja said:
International law has established that nations don't own the orbital space above their countries. So satellites can overfly without violating national sovereignty.
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Eisenhower deliberately dragged his feet when it came to launching a satellite - he wanted to wait for the International Geophysics Year to reduce the likelihood of Soviet objections. Then they launched Sputnik. Problem solved.

benyflyguy said:
I wonder how they know it’s from China???
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Everything comes from China now days. :-(
 
The Chinese are copying what the Japanese did in 1945 when they launched bomb-laden balloons from Japan and bombed the US mainland. Minus the bomb, I hope.
 
NoHeat said:
China has now admitted it’s theirs. Claims it’s for meteorological purposes
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Yeah, just like the Russian trawlers festooned with antennas and the Chinese junks similarly equipped.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/ssv-other.htm
https://apnews.com/article/space-la...hnology-asia-e8b45f49d3d29851210983d0a399ccba

It's a Chinese test of the current US administration's resolve. We failed. The lesson the CCP learned is we will not defend our own shores and airspace. That does not bode well for the Taiwanese.
 
For those with flightradar…HBAL617 has been traveling from OK to Huntsville at this timestamp ar 63,000 ft. Of course it does have ADSB.
 
Domenick said:
Yeah, just like the Russian trawlers festooned with antennas and the Chinese junks similarly equipped.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/ssv-other.htm
https://apnews.com/article/space-la...hnology-asia-e8b45f49d3d29851210983d0a399ccba

It's a Chinese test of the current US administration's resolve. We failed. The lesson the CCP learned is we will not defend our own shores and airspace. That does not bode well for the Taiwanese.
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From what I've read this has happened many times before, during a number of administrations.
 
Half Fast said:
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Growing up, my dad always played the German version of this song, which completely destroyed the English version for me. I think it's mostly because the accents and rhythm of the German just can't be replicated in English.

It's rather ironic that so much "progress" has been made, and yet we've pretty much just gone in a big circle. History repeats itself, I guess.
 
SkyChaser said:
Growing up, my dad always played the German version of this song, which completely destroyed the English version for me. I think it's mostly because the accents and rhythm of the German just can't be replicated in English.

It's rather ironic that so much "progress" has been made, and yet we've pretty much just gone in a big circle. History repeats itself, I guess.
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Also "luft" =/= "red", which was always baffling to me.
 
The new Chinese statue of Peoples' Liberty

97F95483-F27D-4321-A06D-C94C3E4F882F.jpg
 
Also, thanks @Half Fast , for sending me down a rabbit trail of German pop/rock from the 70s and 80s. Every time I finish a song, I remember another one I haven't heard in a long time... :p
 
I did some high altitude ballooning a few years ago. Fun hobby. Once above 60k they just kinda float up depending on ballast. There are good prediction models out there. My first launch landed within a few miles of prediction
Was consulting for local high school program that got started one year. Prediction was for a pretty fast ascent pop and come down to retrieve in rural area. Payload calculations were underestimated so she got up around 80k and floated over NYC. Ended up popping and came down right outside of Belmont park track.
 
Fly up and put a b-b in it. The gas will leak slowly and it will drift gently down to earth.
Actually, even the smallest hole would probably cause a catastrophic rupture.
I wonder if the Chinese are ticked because it's hovering over Montana. I sure would be, if I spent all that time and money on this thing.
Or are they hoping we WILL shoot it down and the baby nuke inside it detonates.
I wonder if the Chinese are ticked because it's hovering over Montana.......
 
Dave Theisen said:
They are just trying to figure out how Season 5 of Yellowstone ends. :)
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John holds his coffee mug, looks off in the distance and talks about the old days, Beth is a scheming, angry, tramp, Rip is a goodhearted thug, Monica is a whiner, Thomas is looking to make a buck while appearing to be all about the tribe, and Moe is just a through-and-through badass.
 
AKiss20 said:
So much histrionics. Obviously we can shoot it down, come on that’s not in question. With 800 billion a year in military spending, we can shoot down a ballon.
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I'm not so sure. I'd assume the envelope is radar-transparent; the solar arrays and main body probably will give a good return. IR signature is going to be low. It's operating above the published service ceilings of both the F-16 and F/A-18, and is just at the limit of the F-15's. Gun kill will be complicated by the high closure rate and the sloppiness of the controls at that altitude. Any missiles that miss will come down over US soil (eventually over the more-populated East coast), any excess bullets the same.

There's also the terrible publicity if they initially *fail* to shoot it down; it'll be Mathias Rust and the Russian air defense system all over again. Reminds me of the story about the time a US carrier had a drone sent over to give the anti-aircraft gun crews some practice. They kept missing, the drone kept coming back, leading a charmed life. Then a message went out on the 1MC..."Land the thing on the deck and we'll beat it to death with swabs!"

Shepherd said:
I wonder if the Chinese are ticked because it's hovering over Montana. I sure would be, if I spent all that time and money on this thing.
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Of course they're ticked. They've arrested the balloon's wife and children and put them in a labor camp in Mongolia, where they're fed nothing but industrial-grade hydrogen....

Ron Wanttaja
 
Don’t shoot it down if you don’t know what will be released when it comes apart.
 
Send up another balloon after it, throw out grappling hooks, and drag it back down.
 
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