Chinese Weather Balloons, and Should You Worry About Them?

Onebadhawk
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1. I'm glad I'm not into hot-air-ballooning hobby. Not sure I would want to go up in one any time soon.
2. I'm disappointed the Canadian branch of QAnon is not loosing its @#$% much about Chinese balloon fly over the Canadian territory. What's up with the "Queen of Canada" obsessing over immigration, but ignoring the blessed balloon, eh?
https://www.antihate.ca/queen_of_canada_romana_didulo_shoot_illegal_migrants
a
 
boatgeek said:
Just think about how big a rocket an amateur could launch into orbit by starting from a platform suspended from three of these balloons! 🤪🤪
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We should come up with a fun name like "ballocket" or something.
 
afadeev said:
1. I'm glad I'm not into hot-air-ballooning hobby. Not sure I would want to go up in one any time soon.
2. I'm disappointed the Canadian branch of QAnon is not loosing its @#$% much about Chinese balloon fly over the Canadian territory. What's up with the "Queen of Canada" obsessing over immigration, but ignoring the blessed balloon, eh?
https://www.antihate.ca/queen_of_canada_romana_didulo_shoot_illegal_migrants
a
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Have you ever seen a map showing the population density of Canada? Flying over almost anything between Vancouver and Ontario, about the only thing you're going to spy on is moose migration or snow pack.
 
bobby_hamill said:
I may be mistaken but on the large balloons we use in the US are similar to the Chinese balloon
in size and the US balloons have a parachute attached attached to the payload to recover payload
when balloon is "cut down ". There was a balloon like the Chinese one released from Palestine Texas that
landed in Halifax NC around 1979-1980 which is about 6 miles from my home. While chatting with balloon ground crew
they told me the clear balloon envelope was usually given to the land owner where the balloon landed at . He said the
envelope made good wrapping materials to wrap food in before freezing.

@ jbsommerfeldt

Gallon of milk was like $5 in 1978 One thing I liked was no sales tax.
If item was $4.99 you paid $4.99. I was TMP driver for my unit transporting personnel to
and from Anchorage International Airport.

I had to get use to the 4 hour time difference when calling my parents in NC

Crazy thing I ever saw was a LT and a NCO walking around
the Headquarters Building that housed personnel on 2nd and 3rd floors and 4 units on each end of 1st floor.
Now and then I would see the NCO stop bend down and pick "something " up. Upon asking my buddy what was the deal
he calmly replied they walk around the building 2 times a month to pull up sprouting pot plants !! at that time 1 oz of pot was
legal for personal use only and off base only. The users would throw the pot seeds out of the window after cleaning the weed and
the seeds would sprout up !!

I saw a couple of the Buzzbe Frisbe in alaska !!

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I remember people talking about Matanuska thunder fuk. I did not partake while on Active Duty. But, the "grass" detail was still in effect. I did that several times. Didnt know it was for pot!
Prior to going joining USAF I owned and used many a time a Buzzbe Frisbe! Literally a frisbee with a bowl in the middle and you toss it back and forth. Worked amazingly well. Ah the good old days, heehehee, agh, cough, cough . . . . . . ;)
 
Matt_The_RocketMan said:
Japanese scientists carefully studied what would become commonly known as the jet stream, realizing these currents of wind could enable balloons to reach United States shores in just a couple of days. The balloons remained afloat through an elaborate mechanism that triggered a fuse when the balloon dropped in altitude, releasing a sandbag and lightening the weight enough for it to rise back up. This process would repeat until all that remained was the bomb itself. By then, the balloons would be expected to reach the mainland; an estimated 1,000 out of 9,000 launched made the journey.

The massive balloons would then be launched, timed carefully to optimize the wind currents of the jet stream and reach the United States. Engineers hoped that the weapons’ impact would be compounded by forest fires, inflicting terror through both the initial explosion and an ensuing conflagration. That goal was stymied in part by the fact that they arrived during the rainy season, but had this goal been realized, these balloons may have been much more than an overlooked episode in a vast war.
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They have one at the Smithsonian, I think at the Udvar-Hazy Center near the airport. Saw it a few years back.
 
What gets me is they show the Balloon envelope which is basically a translucent film.
What I am waiting to see is the electronics / payload or even a crumpled solar panel
 
bobby_hamill said:
What gets me is they show the Balloon envelope which is basically a translucent film.
What I am waiting to see is the electronics / payload or even a crumpled solar panel
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We're not going to see any of that stuff. That's the good stuff that they aren't going to want to release, if for no other reason than to annoy the Chinese who want to know what we've found.
 
Update on the ships and boats recovering bits and pieces.

The Pathfinder is on its way back to Norfolk. Apparently, the debris field has been mapped as far as we need to.

It looks like the Navy is doing the diving out of small boats rather than having a larger boat that can support supplied air diving. Some of the boats are being launched from boat ramps on shore. It's not clear if they're coming back to shore every night or if they're working out of the Carter Hall's Batcave once they're in the water.

I don't see any boats that could lift stuff off the bottom other than the Carter Hall. It's a bit weird because the news reports have talked about a salvage ship separate from the Carter Hall arriving today. Maybe I'll take a look tomorrow and see if anything else shows up on MarineTraffic.

The bigger Coast Guard cutter appears to be gone, but there's a smaller one still in the area.
 
In the military: use every accident, ours or somebody else, for an exercise. That way no matter what the outcome, "it was research". This goes both ways. I cant tell you how many security "exercise" orders I typed. For TDY, Mobility, 12 month tour... There is some "gamesmanship" happening right before our eyes.
 
jbsommerfeldt said:
Go green, save a tree eat a beaver!
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Beaver meat, liver and feet are excellent sources of protein. The tail has less protein but is still a good source of this nutrient. Protein is needed to build and repair all parts of the body. Beaver liver is a great source of vitamin A and iron.
 
hobie1dog said:
Beaver meat, liver and feet are excellent sources of protein. The tail has less protein but is still a good source of this nutrient. Protein is needed to build and repair all parts of the body. Beaver liver is a great source of vitamin A and iron.
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Hmmff, interesting, did not know that, :)
Im pretty sure the gauntlet gloves I was issued in AK had real beaver or otter fur on the back. Nothing synth. The natural fur let you wipe the snot off your face. Dont you dare take them off for a klenex. Instant frostbite! Snot or moisture would not stick or freeze to the fur. Even dead the fur/oils held waterproof. Amazing animals.

Dont order AK GI issue gloves unless they have a return policy or you can inspect them. Online is selling GI looking, but fake fur! Junk dont buy.
 
Marc_G said:
From perusing the thread, I have to admit I'm surprised by how many participants seem to think the Chinese are itching to provoke a shooting war with us, or perform something devastating like loft an EMP bomb over here and detonate it, taking down our infrastructure.

I'm pretty sure that's the last thing they want. Doing so would isolate them (well, except for Russia and North Korea), and that's not in their interests.
China wants to grow economically. Every indicator points to this. This might include things such as pushing their territorial boundaries by building islands, pressing their claim on Taiwan, and other things that rile up their neighbors and the west. Sure.

But they hold something like $1Trillion in our debt and have the prospect of taking on more of it. (source) We can't service that debt or pay it back or increase it if we are at war with them.

The West (US + UK + EU) alone does something like $1.7T per year in trade with them (source), and that number snowballs if you include other countries that would side with us. Take away this trade, or even curtail it a little bit, and their economy grinds to a halt overnight.

Also look at the percentage of GDP spent on the military, comparing US with China (we are about double by this measure, source)

China plays a long game. This includes riling up it's opponents, setting them against each other, pushing boundaries, and generally towing a line that is focused on putting themselves at economic advantage while keeping their opponents (try to avoid the term enemies), confused and on the back foot.

A shooting war with the west would bankrupt the country and foment rebellion at home. Not happening. Comparisons with Pearl Harbor scenarios are bogus. Our economy and the Japanese economy of the time were nowhere near this intertwined.

Let's use that moldy old chestnut in our analysis: "Follow the money." It still holds true.
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Geez Marc, what do you think you are doing posting a calmly reasoned analysis (with sources linked no less!), while completely failing to add any inflammatory rhetoric, hair pulling, accusations against or ridiculing of others here, or other general nonsense? Where's the fun (not to mention chest pounding opportunities) in that?

ssixisixsix
 
stealth6 said:
Geez Marc, what do you think you are doing posting a calmly reasoned analysis (with sources linked no less!), while completely failing to add any inflammatory rhetoric, hair pulling, accusations against or ridiculing of others here, or other general nonsense? Where's the fun (not to mention chest pounding opportunities) in that?

ssixisixsix
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I don't know what came over me. I'm ashamed. 😁
 
Marc_G said:
I don't know what came over me. I'm ashamed. 😁
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No, no, no....you're still not getting it.
At LEAST try to blame it on either Hillary or Trump (your choice), and then tell me what a fool I am for not realizing it.
C'mon, try to keep up.

Perhaps post something like...."Finally the stupid people with no common sense and IQ of 85 are telling all the smart people how stupid we really are"

ssixsixsix
 
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stealth6 said:
No, no, no....you're still not getting it.
At LEAST try to blame it on either Hillary or Trump (your choice), and then tell me what a fool I am for not realizing it.
C'mon, try to keep up.

ssixsixsix
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Yeah! Finally the stupid people with no common sense and IQ of 85 are telling all the smart people how stupid we really are.

Edit: This applies to me to.
 
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kuririn said:
Also pickled pigs feet. In some cultures it is used for post natal recovery.
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Wait, I just noticed "post natal recovery". I thought you said POST MALONE recovery?!?1?

Edit: he is Canadian so I thing he would laugh at this. If not Im dead.
 
@ jbsommerfeldt

Don't forget which one you use to wipe your nose with and which one you wipe the sweat off
your face LOL The Ak canteen carriers were lined with rabbit fur to. And always have your misquote
netting that went over your helmet !!

The VB boots (Mickey Mouse) boots were nice but the Air Force lace up mukluks were killer :cool:
 

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