Chinese Weather Balloons, and Should You Worry About Them?

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Matt_The_RocketMan

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The object flew over Alaska's Aleutian Islands and through Canada before appearing over the city of Billings in Montana on Wednesday, according to officials.
Montana is home to some of the US's nuclear missile silos.
The US decided not to shoot down the balloon because of the danger posed by falling debris, and the limited use of any intelligence the device could gather, a US defence official said.
However, the government prepared fighter jets in case the object had to be shot down.
The Chinese statement said the balloon had been blown off-course by unexpected winds.
"Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.
"The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure."
The statement referred to the incident as an "unexpected situation" and said Beijing would continue to communicate with the US side.
 
The object flew over Alaska's Aleutian Islands and through Canada before appearing over the city of Billings in Montana on Wednesday, according to officials.
Montana is home to some of the US's nuclear missile silos.
The US decided not to shoot down the balloon because of the danger posed by falling debris, and the limited use of any intelligence the device could gather, a US defence official said.
However, the government prepared fighter jets in case the object had to be shot down.
The Chinese statement said the balloon had been blown off-course by unexpected winds.
"Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.
"The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure."
The statement referred to the incident as an "unexpected situation" and said Beijing would continue to communicate with the US side.
Yes. We should worry and I am not buying the Chinese excuse that this is no spying. If this was an experiment. They should have announced it.
 
Yes. We should worry and I am not buying the Chinese excuse that this is no spying. If this was an experiment. They should have announced it.
So how much disclosed, “weather balloons” have we sent a spying in their back yard? 🤔 A lot of information needs to be gathered before making assumptions, but my spider senses tell me that a Conflict with China is unavoidable if things like this keep happening… where and when that will be is beyond my knowledge
 
So how much disclosed, “weather balloons” have we sent a spying in their back yard? 🤔 A lot of information needs to be gathered before making assumptions, but my spider senses tell me that a Conflict with China is unavoidable if things like this keep happening… where and when that will be is beyond my knowledge
We rarely use weather balloons. We use items that they can’t shoot down.
 
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Afraid to shoot it down because of falling debris? It’s coming down sometime so why not do so while it’s over a largely unpopulated area?
How many bullets (or missiles) does it take to bring down a balloon like this and where do they go after they pass through at full speed? Balloons like this probably don’t pop, but they also don’t offer any kind of resistance to high energy projectiles.
Biden wanted it shot down initially (or just rack your 12 gauge and let loose in the air); folks in the know in the DoD said “Hold on! Let’s think about this!”
 
I'm not going to worry, but I don't buy the stories on either side too. A weather balloon and damaging debris which would fall in a remote area seems a lot like "move on, nothing to see here folks."
 
If my neighbor’s balloon was unintentionally hanging in my yard, I’d say: “I’m going to take it down now ok? Do you want it back?”
 
We need to establish a "Balloon Force". Just need a lawn chair, lots of balloons and a shotgun or rifle.
Look Up David Blaine GIF by YouTube
 
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