Chinese Weather Balloons, and Should You Worry About Them?

[Bowman]

Yeah, it is starting to look like the 3 weekend shootdowns could all have been "totally benign objects". However, no debris has been recovered from any of the objects.

Snippet:
"Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley Acknowledged the first Sidewinder missile that was fired on Sunday missed and insisted it “landed harmlessly” in the water. Each Sidewinder missile costs over $450,000."

White House: Three Objects the US Shot Down Could Have Been 'Totally Benign' - News From Antiwar.com

After days of hype, the White House acknowledged on Tuesday that the three unidentified objects shot down by the US military could have been “totally benign” balloons. “One thing we have to consider, and we believe the intelligence community is considering as an explanation, is that these could...

news.antiwar.com

Let's hope they recover that little gem for safety's sake if nothing else.
There are still safety areas marked on nav charts as "Military Training Area" on several parts of the great lakes due to "potential for un-exploded ordnance".
Those go back to WWII.

 

[Matt_The_RocketMan]

 

[jbsommerfeldt]

I guarantee somebody(s) in Madison WI and Minnesota know exactly what happened or didn't happen. And what we are hearing and what reality is are probably not the same.

I remember in the 80s, especially during down times while on mobility for wargames, this is what scared us. The electronic age was new. Fax machines were two units called telefacsimile one received one sent. For electronic correspondence we had to use a typewriter with an OCR (optical character recognition) ball, email was not a thing yet. But when we started getting Personal Computers (PCs) in the office and realized we could transmit real time information around the planet in seconds, we all thought "civilians cant have this, its gonna cause panic, disinformation and people are going to make rash decisions. This is gonna get out of hand and someday will start a war".

 

[Dotini]

The shot down UFOs may be benign, but no legitimate company or organization has claimed them. No debris at all from any of them. Confusion prevails in government.

Confusion abounds on UFO origins

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense & National Security Defense & National Security The Big Story More questions than answers on UFOs It&#8217…

thehill.com

 

[CalebJ]

The shot down UFOs may be benign, but no legitimate company or organization has claimed them. No debris at all from any of them. Confusion prevails in government.

Confusion abounds on UFO origins

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense & National Security Defense & National Security The Big Story More questions than answers on UFOs It&#8217…

thehill.com

"No debris at all from any of them"?

That is neither suggested or directly stated in the linked article. Did you just make it up on the spot?

 

[Steve Shannon]

The shot down UFOs may be benign, but no legitimate company or organization has claimed them. No debris at all from any of them. Confusion prevails in government.

Confusion abounds on UFO origins

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense & National Security Defense & National Security The Big Story More questions than answers on UFOs It&#8217…

thehill.com

I'm guessing you have never searched for a high power rocket that fell without chute from 40,000 feet into a desolate wilderness, a frozen ocean, or a lake larger than Croatia. Fortunately, I haven't either, but I've lost some that fell from a lot lower onto easily hiked land.
While, in general, confusion might reign in government, the inability to find shreds of something that fluttered down from eight miles high isn't evidence of anything other than the difficulty of the task.

 

[Peartree]

I think it's funny that everyone was shouting that the first one should have been shot down over the middle of nowhere instead of after it got past the coast. Then when the next ones are show down over the middle of nowhere, seem surprised that it's really hard to find something small once it's lost in the middle of nowhere. This is especially funny coming from a group of people who, as noted above, have routinely lost rockets in the middle of an open field even when they watched them land.

 

[boatgeek]

The shot down UFOs may be benign, but no legitimate company or organization has claimed them. No debris at all from any of them. Confusion prevails in government.

Confusion abounds on UFO origins

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense & National Security Defense & National Security The Big Story More questions than answers on UFOs It&#8217…

thehill.com

The article says "crews are working hard to recover the debris." In what world does that mean that there's no debris at all? The article says that Congresscritters don't especially like the innocent/commercial object explanation since nobody has come forward.

If confusion prevails, it's because some people (ahem) are willfully misinterpreting the information before them.

This is my own personal theory and not backed by evidence. I could definitely believe someone not wanting to come forward if they thought that they might be charged $500K for the Sidewinder and the F-22's time in shooting it.

 

[jbsommerfeldt]

I'm guessing you have never searched for a high power rocket that fell without chute from 40,000 feet into a desolate wilderness, a frozen ocean, or a lake larger than Croatia. Fortunately, I haven't either, but I've lost some that fell from a lot lower onto easily hiked land.
While, in general, confusion might reign in government, the inability to find shreds of something that fluttered down from eight miles high isn't evidence of anything other than the difficulty of the task.

Thata 4Sure. First time I went to AirFest in Argonia KS me and the 3 cheese amigos were told its impossible to lose a rocket there. All flat, no trees, no valleys..... We lost Todds rocket. And it was under chute. Between chute, 40 or more feet of shock cord, the two body tubes and nose cone all tethered together. Saw it in air. I dont remember what kit it was but minimum 3" x 6'. $1000+ gone. Got back to WI went immediately to Tims and got a Rocket Hunter! Something that should be easily found usually isnt.

However, in this balloon case, maybe these ones didnt have anything. Who knows.

 

[Marc_G]

The shot down UFOs may be benign, but no legitimate company or organization has claimed them. No debris at all from any of them. Confusion prevails in government.

Confusion abounds on UFO origins

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense & National Security Defense & National Security The Big Story More questions than answers on UFOs It&#8217…

thehill.com

Alternate answer for no debris:



(start about a minute into the video)

 

[Dotini]

Alternate answer for no debris:



(start about a minute into the video)

Yes, this particular story is loads of fun. But at the end of the day, debris will be found and it's going to be balloons and/or drones. But going forward, there will be many more detections of anomalous phenomena, a hefty proportion of which will not be explained. And the basic problems and questions will go on and on. IMHO.

 

[Steve Shannon]

I think it's funny that everyone was shouting that the first one should have been shot down over the middle of nowhere instead of after it got past the coast. Then when the next ones are show down over the middle of nowhere, seem surprised that it's really hard to find something small once it's lost in the middle of nowhere. This is especially funny coming from a group of people who, as noted above, have routinely lost rockets in the middle of an open field even when they watched them land.

If they landed in a corn field it would really be difficult!

 

[CalebJ]

Yes, this particular story is loads of fun. But at the end of the day, debris will be found and it's going to be balloons and/or drones. But going forward, there will be many more detections of anomalous phenomena, a hefty proportion of which will not be explained. And the basic problems and questions will go on and on. IMHO.

Instead of changing the subject...

Can we circle back to the previous post where you willfully misinterpreted articles and spread nonsense?

 

[Bravo52]

So, as with most "conspiracy theories" the details come into focus after some time. Going back through the post, it was funny how the original hand-wringing didn't bare fruit (as they say). A couple of questions come to mind... the DoD and "intel service" has been tracking since lift-off and failed to inform the CnC (maybe they did and he forgot). Why? What was Milley up to? Why didn't the WH know when it first entered into US territory? Why did Gen Van Herck mislead reporters with his statements? Or, did he? Maybe he didn't know...(that's scary). Seems the last three were not China Spy Balloons but probably actual research balloons and a party prank...(). Maybe Tucker was right!

 

[K'Tesh]

 

[Marc_G]

Not sure if this came up in the thread yet

Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF | Aviation Week Network

Although the club is not pointing fingers, there are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts community.

aviationweek.com

 

[Steve Shannon]

Not sure if this came up in the thread yet

Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF | Aviation Week Network

Although the club is not pointing fingers, there are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts community.

aviationweek.com

If you go to aprs.fi, you can watch the reported progress of one of the balloons mentioned at the end of the article.

https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a/W5KUB-112&timerange=3600&tail=3600

 

[jderimig]

If you go to aprs.fi, you can watch the reported progress of one of the balloons mentioned at the end of the article.

https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a/W5KUB-112&timerange=3600&tail=3600

Might be embarrasing to the military if that balloon was transmitting aprs packets when NORAD scrambled jets.

 

[Marc_G]

Chinese spy balloon salvage complete:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/politics/china-spy-balloon-recovery/index.html

 

[Cape Byron]

The secret is out.

 

[Dotini]

The search has ended for the debris of 3 (possibly party) balloons shot down over Alaska, Canada and Lake Huron. The Chinese spy balloon debris is being analyzed, and appears to confirm that it is indeed a spy balloon.

US ends search for objects shot down over Alaska, Lake Huron

The U.S. and Canada “conducted systematic searches of each area using a variety of capabilities" but and did not find debris.

www.militarytimes.com

 

[GuyNoir]

Amateur balloonist group from Illinois says small balloon last reported over Alaska 'missing in action' | CNN Politics

An Illinois-based club of amateur balloonists says one of its small balloons is "missing in action" after last reporting its location over Alaska on Saturday, the same day the US military shot down an unidentified object in the same region.

www.cnn.com

 

[K'Tesh]

You think things are bad now...



It was worse in Vietnam...

 

[afadeev]

A few facts about the "balloon popper" AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile:

 

[Marc_G]

U2 pilot took selfie with spy balloon...

Pentagon releases selfie taken by US pilot showing the Chinese spy balloon in air

The US Defense Department has released a selfie taken in the cockpit of a U-2 spy plane, as an airman flew above the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down by the US military earlier this month.

www.cnn.com

 

[Marc_G]

I can see the American Express commercial now:

One Chinese spy balloon: 3 billion Yuan
One U2 spy plane: $120M
One smart phone:$800

One selfie of a U2 pilot with the spy balloon taken from 70,000 feet: PRICELESS

 

[H_Rocket]

No commentary - just a cool picture of the balloon from above from a U2.

 

[Zeta]

We need to establish a "Balloon Force". Just need a lawn chair, lots of balloons and a shotgun or rifle.

can't wait to see the logo for this branch of the military

 

[Marc_G]

The latest updates:

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www.cnn.com

 

[Blast it Tom!]

The latest updates:

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www.cnn.com

Interesting. As far as anything I've seen, there was no propulsive or other means to make it loiter. I wonder how they accomplished that?
(disclaimer: I haven't been laser-focused on this, so may have missed something.)