Meanwhile in China

[SurlyGator 865]

Dollars to donuts there's already a sub of some sort in the area to attempt to collect it.

[bolverk 29671]

1 minute ago, SurlyGator said:

Dollars to donuts there's already a sub of some sort in the area to attempt to collect it.

That's another reason why you don't JUST SHOOT IT! over land. You can avoid Bubbas showing up and stealing debris as souvenirs before the intel folks arrive on the scene. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

6 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Has the government said why they think it’s Chinese?

After the flyover the Coca Cola has a little wang to it. 

[jdhorn92 1548]

8 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Has the government said why they think it’s Chinese?

The Chinese acknowledged it's theirs.

[DaggerHorns 3085]

Bawoon Tu Low

[Chooky 13307]

15 minutes ago, Rip76 said:

Did they say how it was shot down?

Joe Biden put on sunglasses and roundhoused it. 

[InkaUtexas 25918]

9 minutes ago, SurlyGator said:

Dollars to donuts there's already a sub of some sort in the area to attempt to collect it.

USCG and USN had boats in the area. Bet the C-130 out of Norfolk had a dive rescue team on board. 

We thought about this recovery. Also shows our Aircraft can fuck you up way up there. 

All I know is two pilots are not buying drinks in Hampton tonight. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

2 minutes ago, jdhorn92 said:

The Chinese acknowledged it's theirs.

Gotcha. Obviously haven’t been paying attention to this.

Strongly in favor of the dickbutt formation suggested above.

[InkaUtexas 25918]

15 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

What if it's not really a spy balloon at all.  What if it is "communicating"?  An actual "trial balloon" if you will.  Main intent being nothing more than simply to see how we respond to their "letter".

They fucked and around and found out. They found out the F-22 can engage at that height. And now we recover their tech and see what it really was.

Best thing is the World saw us shooting it down live on Twitter. Well those that have it. 

[rpspeed 1363]

Some backyard video of the shoot down

https://www.facebook.com/100000622418502/videos/1142336993831892/

Edited February 4, 2023 by rpspeed

[jdhorn92 1548]

4 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Gotcha. Obviously haven’t been paying attention to this.

Strongly in favor of the dickbutt formation suggested above.

They said some bs about it being a civilian weather balloon blown of course.  I think they were trying to get intel on the Dutton Ranch so they could swoop in and money whip Beth while John was in Missoula and Rip was in visting Bill in Sinton.

[Chooky 13307]

I shot my neighbor's bassoon just to cover every base and leave no stone unturned. Enjoy your freedom. 

[bolverk 29671]

Interesting read on the balloon and how it may tie into previous reports of UAPs/UFOs.

Classified U.S. Report Highlights Foreign Power Aerial Spying With Advanced TechBefore a Chinese spy balloon was discovered in the United States, American officials said a rival power may have used advanced technology to surveil U.S. military sites.

WASHINGTON — The Chinese spy balloon that floated across the continental United States before it was shot down by the U.S. military generated deep concern on Capitol Hill in part because it came on the heels of a classified report that outlined incidents of American adversaries potentially using advanced aerial technology to spy on the country.

The classified report to Congress last month discussed at least two incidents of a rival power conducting aerial surveillance with what appeared to be unknown cutting-edge technology, according to U.S. officials. While the report did not attribute the incidents to any country, two American officials familiar with the research said the surveillance probably was conducted by China.

The report on what the intelligence agencies call unidentified aerial phenomena focused on several incidents believed to be surveillance. Some of those incidents have involved balloons, while others have involved quadcopter drones.

Spoiler

The Chinese government said on Friday the Chinese balloon discovered over the United States was mainly for weather research. However, American officials said they have assessed it to be a collection device, though not one that could gather the kind of sensitive information that advanced Chinese reconnaissance satellites already collect.

Many countries use aerial spying technology to gather data on rival nations as well as allies and partners, and to look at remote parts of the globe. But the practice can lead to diplomatic crises and greater military tensions when it goes awry.

On Friday, Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, canceled a weekend trip to Beijing, which would have been the first visit by the top American diplomat there since October 2018, after American news organizations began reporting on the Chinese spy balloon on Thursday, when it was drifting over Montana. On Saturday, the U.S. military shot down the balloon after it entered skies over the Atlantic Ocean.

In 2001, a U.S. Navy signals intelligence aircraft collided with a Chinese interceptor jet near the Chinese island of Hainan; the incident left a Chinese pilot presumed dead and led to a diplomatic crisis involving the leaders of the two nations.

China spends about $209 billion, or 1.3 percent of gross domestic product, on its military overall, according to a Pentagon report. But policymakers in Washington have been especially worried about its investments in technologies that could have military or intelligence applications.

U.S. defense officials believe China is conducting surveillance of military training grounds and exercises as part of an effort to better understand how America trains its pilots and undertakes complex military operations. The sites where unusual surveillance has occurred include a military base in the United States and a base overseas, officials said.

The classified report mentioned Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan as sites where foreign surveillance was believed to have occurred, but did not explicitly say China had been behind the actions, a U.S. official said.

Since 2021, the Pentagon has examined 366 incidents that were initially unexplained and said 163 were balloons. A handful of those incidents involved advanced surveillance balloons, according to a U.S. official, but none of them were conducting persistent reconnaissance of the U.S. military bases. (However, spy balloons that the U.S. government immediately identifies are not included in the unidentified aerial phenomenon tracking, according to two U.S. officials.)

Because spy balloons are relatively basic collection devices and other balloons have not lingered long over U.S. territory, they previously have not generated much concern with the Pentagon or intelligence agencies, according to two officials.

The surveillance incidents involving advanced technology and described in the classified report were potentially more troubling, involving behaviors and characteristics that could not be explained.

Officials said that further investigation was needed but that the incidents could potentially indicate the use of technology that was not fully understood or publicly identified. Of the 171 reports that have not been attributed to balloons, drones or airborne trash, some “appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and require further analysis.”

Even outside of the incidents mentioned in the classified report, some current and former military officials warned against underestimating the advanced surveillance technology that could be embedded in the Chinese spy balloon. Pentagon officials say the belly section of the balloon that houses surveillance equipment is about 90 feet long, or equivalent to three schoolbuses.

“There’s more of a potential risk from these kinds of balloons than many people think,” said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., a former head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which carries out the air defense mission within the U.S. military’s Northern Command.

Officials cautioned that imperfect radar and sensor readings could cause confusion, making an ordinary object appear to be something threatening.

The Pentagon has released images of some of the suspected surveillance incidents that were initially unexplained. The images showed green triangles in the air taken near two different Navy exercises. At a congressional hearing last year, Pentagon officials said the triangles were simply small drones. The use of night-vision gear had made them look otherworldly.

While the drones had not been officially attributed to any country, in one incident a Chinese ship was in the vicinity.

It is not clear how strong the evidence is that China is using an advanced technology that the United States does not possess. Some American officials remain skeptical that China would risk exposing some of its most advanced technology in any surveillance activity that could be detected by the United States.

The surveillance balloon stirred outrage on Capitol Hill. Some officials said the information about adversarial spying contained in the classified report on unidentified aerial phenomena had already driven up concern earlier.

Both Republicans and Democrats hawkish on China called the surveillance balloon a violation of American sovereignty that highlighted the threat from Beijing.

Representative Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and chairman of a new House committee on China, said the administration needs to tell lawmakers more about what it knows about surveillance of military facilities.

“This is all the more reason for the House Intelligence Committee to receive a full briefing on this matter,” Mr. Gallagher said Friday. “There is a documented history of unidentified — and now identified — objects near sensitive military facilities, and we need to move with a sense of urgency to get to the bottom of this.”

When China tested a hypersonic missile in 2021, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that it was something close to a Sputnik moment, referencing the Soviet Union’s successful Cold War satellite launch. Hypersonics has been a key technological focus of Beijing and is one area where China has demonstrated capabilities equal or exceeding those of the U.S. military.

But the incidents potentially involving advanced technology described in the classified report are not believed to involve any sort of hypersonic propulsion, U.S. officials said, nor does the Chinese spy balloon that generated a diplomatic crisis.

“We don’t need any more evidence than this that we are in a Cold War-like long-term competition that will be expressed in military and intelligence terms for the coming decade,” Evan Medeiros, a Georgetown University professor and senior Asia director on the White House National Security Council in the Obama administration, said of the balloon episode involving China. “And what the relationship lacks is the mechanisms to manage this.”

 

[YGIFS 19450]

10 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

They fucked and around and found out. They found out the F-22 can engage at that height. And now we recover their tech and see what it really was.

Best thing is the World saw us shooting it down live on Twitter. Well those that have it. 

yeah, I don't really get the whole "The World is laughing at us because a balloon made it all the way across our continental states" chest-thumping?

the remnants can now be scrubbed for chem/bio weapons, any remaining intelligence or surveillance equipment is now ours, can be reassembled, and reverse engineered.  It's 99% likely it obtained nothing it couldn't have gotten from satellite imagery.  No civilians were hurt.  We showed we can monitor an asset from one coast to another seamlessly with logistical and mid-air refueling precision.  And the cherry on top?  Our birds can operate and engage at heights nobody thought possible (except hopefully the pilots).  The fact that CG and Navy vessels were that close suggest this was likely the plan the whole time.  

I'm sure some people were laughing at us, but when they google "How high is 1/3rd of Earth's stratosphere?"  And they learn that our fighter-aircraft can operate and fire at 11-12 miles above the planet...the laughter will turn to something altogether different.  Obviously civilian casualties was first priority.  Then intel gathering.  But part of me thinks they were baiting the thing out to the Coast (to have a few laughs) and also shoot it down at highest possible altitude as a "If this is how you want it, well...then you gets it!"  Obviously the balloon was moving slow but it's not that big.....to fire with that precision at that altitude and risk what googlemaps already told China years ago?  Uh, I'm taking that scenario all fucking day. 

First strike precision at nearly 12 miles above our home planet.  I think a lot of foreign militaries just took a collective shart.    

[Underdog 28623]

34 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

After the flyover the Coca Cola has a little wang to it. 

[Pam Cummings 9641]

8 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

yeah, I don't really get the whole "The World is laughing at us because a balloon made it all the way across our continental states" chest-thumping?

the remnants can now be scrubbed for chem/bio weapons, any remaining intelligence or surveillance equipment is now ours, can be reassembled, and reverse engineered.  It's 99% likely it obtained nothing it couldn't have gotten from satellite imagery.  No civilians were hurt.  We showed we can monitor an asset from one coast to another seamlessly with logistical and mid-air refueling precision.  And the cherry on top?  Our birds can operate and engage at heights nobody thought possible (except hopefully the pilots).  The fact that CG and Navy vessels were that close suggest this was likely the plan the whole time.  

I'm sure some people were laughing at us, but when they google "How high is 1/3rd of Earth's stratosphere?"  And they learn that our fighter-aircraft can operate and fire at 11-12 miles above the planet...the laughter will turn to something altogether different.  Obviously civilian casualties was first priority.  Then intel gathering.  But part of me thinks they were baiting the thing out to the Coast (to have a few laughs) and also shoot it down at highest possible altitude as a "If this is how you want it, well...then you gets it!"  Obviously the balloon was moving slow but it's not that big.....to fire with that precision at that altitude and risk what googlemaps already told China years ago?  Uh, I'm taking that scenario all fucking day. 

First strike precision at nearly 12 miles above our home planet.  I think a lot of foreign militaries just took a collective shart.    

Well the military didn't send detailed plans directly to my email. Obviously they're a bunch of idiots and don't know what they're doing if they weren't keeping me in the loop with hourly updates.

[David Dennison 18856]

19 hours ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

Actually, a potential chemical or biological delivery capability cruising over the heartland was ignored.

Do you actually believe this?

[YGIFS 19450]

Wasn't that how the Rebels took out the Visitors in the original V-Series?  They tossed that red dust bio weapon from hot air balloons?  That was obviously a documentary.  

The fact the surface vessels were that close already, they knew roughly where it was going based on surveillance weather aircraft and now its ours.  And holy shit, 12 mile high missile capability to hit something no larger than a studio apartment.  And the world got to see it in real time and collective soil themselves.  "Oh, so what...you guys just had that this whole time and didn't tell anybody?"  

There have to be so many bummed out stupids around this great land of ours who didn't get a chance to shoot the thing down themselves.  

I cannot fucking wait for the conspiracy theories about this balloon and its demise.  This is gonna be so goddamned funny.  I'll try one:

1.  The balloon was a false flag operation by the current Dept. of Defense to convince the Congress to give it more high altitude-balloon missiles.  

[EuroHorn 3263]

1 hour ago, Rip76 said:

Did they say how it was shot down?

With something pointy 

[Chad Fuck 17675]

One thing is for sure: Some crew chief somewhere is happily working up a stencil for a balloon kill.

[Balcones 316]

1 hour ago, bolverk said:

That's another reason why you don't JUST SHOOT IT! over land. You can avoid Bubbas showing up and stealing debris as souvenirs before the intel folks arrive on the scene. 

Great point. It’s is a good trade to allow China to have 5-6 days to collect intelligence on us so we can better protect the integrity of the collection device once we do shoot it down. 

[JesusSweatDuck 17781]

2 hours ago, Underdog said:

Good thing Dak wasn't involved or it would've badly missed or intercepted. 

[David Dennison 18856]

9 minutes ago, Balcones said:

Great point. It’s is a good trade to allow China to have 5-6 days to collect intelligence on us so we can better protect the integrity of the collection device once we do shoot it down. 

Do you really think they learned anything they don't already know? Really?

[Rip76 4925]

Just now, David Dennison said:

Do you really think they learned anything they don't already know? Really?

Why shoot it down then?

Public perception?

[Underdog 28623]

I have it on good authority that Farmland porn is YUGE in Gyna, balloon was secretly filming such activities. 

[YGIFS 19450]

9 minutes ago, Balcones said:

Great point. It’s is a good trade to allow China to have 5-6 days to collect intelligence on us so we can better protect the integrity of the collection device once we do shoot it down. 

Genuinely curious as to what you think it can see from 12 miles up with what couldn't be that heavy/high resolution lens that it can't already see with much better tech at 120 miles up?  Down here in a college laboratory, you can bounce a laser off a lens and determine it's thickness, curvature, and resolution capability.  DoD did that days ago, determined it wasn't getting much more than it already gets from satellite imagery.  I think it was a taunt, particularly since they flew it as just above where fighter jets were known to top-out on reliable engagement before our SoS was set to visit.  And then...oops.  We were lying...the whole world watched an F-22 hit that tiny target 12 miles above its home planet.  

Once it was ruled out not to contain a nuclear weapon (which nearby aircraft confirmed days ago)...I liked the idea of letting it drift away from land and capturing it at sea while showing off our killer toys. 

I'm just going out on a limb and assume that it's slightly possible the USAF, USN, & NOAA know a little bit more about this shit than we do.  

[InkaUtexas 25918]

3 minutes ago, Rip76 said:

Why shoot it down then?

Public perception?

To learn we let it fly. To shoot it down was to tell them we can. 

OR maybe it was not the USAF and an aggy flying on reveille with a 30-06 took it out. Who knows. 

 

[David Dennison 18856]

Just now, Rip76 said:

Why shoot it down then?

Public perception?

We let it fly for as long as we needed to.

[Balcones 316]

3 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Do you really think they learned anything they don't already know? Really?

Probably not. They already know everything. 

[YGIFS 19450]

14 minutes ago, Rip76 said:

Why shoot it down then?

Public perception?

Nobody even entertained the notion we had the capability of that type of precision missile strike on a small target at that altitude from moving aircraft.  And we couldn't exactly tell the world, "New War Game...we're gonna float a tester balloon 12 miles up and watch an F22 or 35 shoot it down on the first try."  Because foreign countries would just assume we rigged it somehow, so back to business as usual.  But everybody knew this was a live fire, not an exercise.  And the world just took a collective dump thinking, "Well that was real.  And terrifying.  What the fuck else don't we actually know about their fixed wing fleet?"  

China was enjoying listening to 35% of our country bitch and moan about not blowing the thing outta the sky over land.  And then when we did shoot it down over the coast...they checked their maths (they're good at that) and exchanged glances like, "How fucking high?"  'Bout as high as the Lockhead Martin stock price is gonna be on Monday, HIGH FIVE CHANG!  

And everybody please remember, that China never before tried to use satellites, spies, and cyberwarfare to obtain things from the United States before 2021.  This kinda shit is all completely brand new despite the manufacturing dates on the recovered materials.  

Edited February 4, 2023 by YGIFS

[Balcones 316]

7 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Genuinely curious as to what you think it can see from 12 miles up with what couldn't be that heavy/high resolution lens that it can't already see with much better tech at 120 miles up?  Down here in a college laboratory, you can bounce a laser off a lens and determine it's thickness, curvature, and resolution capability.  DoD did that days ago, determined it wasn't getting much more than it already gets from satellite imagery.  I think it was a taunt, particularly since they flew it as just above where fighter jets were known to top-out on reliable engagement before our SoS was set to visit.  And then...oops.  We were lying...the whole world watched an F-22 hit that tiny target 12 miles above its home planet.  

Once it was ruled out not to contain a nuclear weapon (which nearby aircraft confirmed days ago)...I liked the idea of letting it drift away from land and capturing it at sea while showing off our killer toys. 

I'm just going out on a limb and assume that it's slightly possible the USAF, USN, & NOAA know a little bit more about this shit than we do.  

Imagery. That’s what they were doing? Oh, ok. I wasn’t aware of that. I guess that is all that it could be, now that you point it out.

No way they could be testing their radio communication, learning about what they can collect on our telecommunications, what they could potentially interfere/jam with at that elevation, etc… they could be doing countless things.
 

Why make it easy for them? 

[David Dennison 18856]

Just now, Balcones said:

Imagery. That’s what they were doing? Oh, ok. I wasn’t aware of that. I guess that is all that it could be, now that you point it out.

No way they could be testing their radio communication, learning about what they can collect on our telecommunications, what they could potentially interfere/jam with at that elevation, etc… they could be doing countless things.
 

Why make it easy for them? 

Who said we made it easy?

[YGIFS 19450]

3 minutes ago, Balcones said:

Imagery. That’s what they were doing? Oh, ok. I wasn’t aware of that. I guess that is all that it could be, now that you point it out.

No way they could be testing their radio communication, learning about what they can collect on our telecommunications, what they could potentially interfere/jam with at that elevation, etc… they could be doing countless things.
 

Why make it easy for them? 

Testing our radio communications?  At 60,000 feet, moving horizontally?  Tell me you don't know anything about secure comms systems without telling me you don't know anything about secure comms systems?  oooh  hey, maybe it was a decoy so we'd all be looking up becuase they're drilling beneath us to learn how to jam our buried broadband lines when the big day comes, right?  I thought I'd have to wait for the conspiracy theories to start floating around, but you are an early leader outta the gate.  

[InkaUtexas 25918]

Sometimes you learn from letting your enemies play. Saw some reports that we saw this coming in from a way out. Check out NORAD's scan zone. We announced it when Jim in Montana looked up called a sheriff who called the USAF and the press. 

Shit is above you all the time. I think we played this one well. 

If it was just a weather balloon, well our navy boys got a fun dive exercise, the USAF got to coordinate, and a Pilot can paint a balloon on his F-22. Plus we showed we can hit at that height with accuracy. 

Just ordered a F-22 model. Will keep it for the next winter shitty storm. 

[Chad Fuck 17675]

Who said we made it easy?

He’s seen the same CNN chyrons as the rest of us, therefore he has a complete knowledge of a totality of the circumstances. No one, not least a government that spends 10x the next 10 countries combined on surveillance and defense, could possibly know more about it or have a better idea of how it should
be handled. Hand him a 12gauge with duck shot and he can take care of it himself.

[David Dennison 18856]

It's amazing to me that people don't understand we allowed that balloon to stay in the air exactly as long as it was useful for us to do so.

[UpperWestside 6163]

3 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

He’s seen the same CNN chyrons as the rest of us, therefore he has a complete knowledge of a totality of the circumstances. No one, not least a government that spends 10x the next 10 countries combined on surveillance and defense, could possibly know more about it or have a better idea of how it should
be handled. Hand him a 12gauge with duck shot and he can take care of it himself.

I feel like Neil DeGrasse Tyson could come in here and give us a detailed explanation of things and we would still have some posters question him because someone read something from Facebook that sounds better to them.

[YGIFS 19450]

To allow foreign balloons to fly is to show weakness!!!  They can jam our satellites now because we didn't take bold action.  

Who should we believe, guy in Deep South who's only time above 500 feet is on Spirit Airlines or Branson, Missouri who does all his own research or Pentagon that spends billions each year on stratosphere observation, manned flight, droned flight, and jetstream study?  

Once you strip away the domestic politics bullshit away from this (obviously the foreign relations element needs to be addressed soon), this wasn't that complicated.  and to boot, a rather badass victory for our Armed Forces and geospatial teams.  We just got a free live fire chance to prove a buncha cool shit from high altitude refueling to precision missiles in mid-stratosphere to rapid naval recoveries and now can reverse engineer their toy using what we found.  But nope, 'errbody can bitch about something.  

Tell you what, call up your local shooting range and have 'em take down the usual targets and instead put chinese helium balloons and you can fill those full of lead.  Enough jerkoff material to last you a few days.

[Brisketexan 105123]

All I know is that some poor fighter jock just got his call sign changed to “Pop.”

[Nicole44 22059]

[Chad Fuck 17675]

All I know is that some poor fighter jock just got his call sign changed to “Pop.”

He’s not gonna feel bad about it at all.

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

2 hours ago, YGIFS said:

yeah, I don't really get the whole "The World is laughing at us because a balloon made it all the way across our continental states" chest-thumping?

the remnants can now be scrubbed for chem/bio weapons, any remaining intelligence or surveillance equipment is now ours, can be reassembled, and reverse engineered.  It's 99% likely it obtained nothing it couldn't have gotten from satellite imagery.  No civilians were hurt.  We showed we can monitor an asset from one coast to another seamlessly with logistical and mid-air refueling precision.  And the cherry on top?  Our birds can operate and engage at heights nobody thought possible (except hopefully the pilots).  The fact that CG and Navy vessels were that close suggest this was likely the plan the whole time.  

I'm sure some people were laughing at us, but when they google "How high is 1/3rd of Earth's stratosphere?"  And they learn that our fighter-aircraft can operate and fire at 11-12 miles above the planet...the laughter will turn to something altogether different.  Obviously civilian casualties was first priority.  Then intel gathering.  But part of me thinks they were baiting the thing out to the Coast (to have a few laughs) and also shoot it down at highest possible altitude as a "If this is how you want it, well...then you gets it!"  Obviously the balloon was moving slow but it's not that big.....to fire with that precision at that altitude and risk what googlemaps already told China years ago?  Uh, I'm taking that scenario all fucking day. 

First strike precision at nearly 12 miles above our home planet.  I think a lot of foreign militaries just took a collective shart.    

That’s not really any kind of secret. Most of our fighter aircraft can get up that high and all of the long range missiles routinely climb that high and higher on their way to the target. 

[Chad Fuck 17675]

You’re right. Call sign “Prick” seems more likely.

[Covri 6249]

25 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

All I know is that some poor fighter jock just got his call sign changed to “Pop.”

Monkey Ace

 

 

[Bevo 13576]

3 hours ago, jdhorn92 said:

The Chinese acknowledged it's theirs.

It also has written on the side in big letters -

中国制造  Made in China. 

[YGIFS 19450]

4 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

That’s not really any kind of secret. Most of our fighter aircraft can get up that high and all of the long range missiles routinely climb that high and higher on their way to the target. 

True.  But the world getting to see it in real time, first strike, at that altitude.  Even if you thought it theoretically possible as a foreign power, to have all of your people see it live...that's a bit of a gut check.  If we had launched a surface-to-air, that'd be one thing.  But to have a vanilla F-22 or F-35 do it so effortlessly, first try, in the middle of the stratosphere, hitting the worthless inflatable part---not the fun shit on bottom, whilst sending the signal "Oh yeah, surface vessels already within a few nautical miles of debris, will have in hand shortly. kthxbai"  Kinda cool.  

4 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

You’re right. Call sign “Prick” seems more likely.

Well the pilot is kind of a prick.  He popped that poor little Chinese kid's balloon.

[Balcones 316]

18 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Testing our radio communications?  At 60,000 feet, moving horizontally?  Tell me you don't know anything about secure comms systems without telling me you don't know anything about secure comms systems?  oooh  hey, maybe it was a decoy so we'd all be looking up becuase they're drilling beneath us to learn how to jam our buried broadband lines when the big day comes, right?  I thought I'd have to wait for the conspiracy theories to start floating around, but you are an early leader outta the gate.  

22 years a signal officer in the military. Retired though, so maybe things have changed. What do I know? 

If we don’t use radio frequency to communicate anymore, what do we use, son?  If not HF, VHF, UHF, L band, etc… what is the new medium? These radio waves can’t go past 60,000 ft? When did that change?
 

In my day, we used radio frequency for communicating to satellites. VHF, UHF, L-band, etc.. kinda depended. We even used radio frequency to communicate with GPS satellites. No idea what they use today.

Moving horizontally? No comment, son.

I wasn’t aware you couldn’t jam a frequency anymore. Or interfere at all.. You couldn’t collect information traveling through the air.  Would be interesting to see what a balloon at 60,000 ft could do to a plane at 35,000 ft. But all planes have super secret “secure communications” Right, son? I’m not sure if planes use radio frequency anymore for their systems. They did in my day.
 

Obviously the Chinese would only want to collect information on just military networks. That would be their only reason to be over the US.  The only target to collect on. Probably have no interest in testing/collecting/messing with civilian networks, aviation, commerce, media, etc… 

So, tell me about the new non-radio frequency we have these days.

[InkaUtexas 25918]

China's balloon's call sign is Whale Condom. 

[YGIFS 19450]

13 minutes ago, Balcones said:

22 years a signal officer in the military. Retired though, so maybe things have changed. What do I know? 

If we don’t use radio frequency to communicate anymore, what do we use, son?  If not HF, VHF, UHF, L band, etc… what is the new medium? These radio waves can’t go past 60,000 ft? When did that change?
 

In my day, we used radio frequency for communicating to satellites. VHF, UHF, L-band, etc.. kinda depended. We even used radio frequency to communicate with GPS satellites. No idea what they use today.

Moving horizontally? No comment, son.

I wasn’t aware you couldn’t jam a frequency anymore. Or interfere at all.. You couldn’t collect information traveling through the air.  Would be interesting to see what a balloon at 60,000 ft could do to a plane at 35,000 ft. But all planes have super secret “secure communications” Right, son? I’m not sure if planes use radio frequency anymore for their systems. They did in my day.
 

Obviously the Chinese would only want to collect information on just military networks. That would be their only reason to be over the US.  The only target to collect on. Probably have no interest in testing/collecting/messing with civilian networks, aviation, commerce, media, etc… 

So, tell me about the new non-radio frequency we have these days.

 

Thank you for your service.  My father was a comms officer in the U.S. Navy, maybe you crossed paths at some point.  You can absolutely jam or interfere.  And I didn't say there's a new non-radio frequency these days.  What I am saying is why make this high-profile and very obvious attempt at such a bizarre altitude?  when it can just as easily be gleaned from the ground, from the cargo bays of commercial jetliners at 45,000 feet gliding across our country (they do this shit all the time), or from low-orbit satellites?  The comms are the comms, why take this huge risk at that altitude when it's effectively the same as the other alternatives?  And it was to see about interfering on earth-to-satellite comms or vice-versa, what's the difference in 45,000 versus 60,000 is effectively negligible.  It'd be like telling me it's 35 degrees below zero when it's really 36 degrees below zero.  It makes no difference to the observer.  

You've forgotten more about these frequencies than I'll ever know.  My point is where is the jamming/interfering edge in this observational operation at that particular part of the stratosphere?  We know the warming at the entry back into the troposphere does effect/affect satellite communications.  But your local NPR weather guy can tell you that, you don't to risk an international war using a balloon.  If it was to test jamming capability over the continental United States, why let us know for four days and let us see exactly how your toy works?  This wasn't like a 1940's SS amplified D-Klein wiretap that could by anywhere along hundreds of miles of lines.  If something was detected listening in any of the frequencies you mentioned, I would think some enterprising USAF E-5 may have thought to look up and say, "Couldn't possibly be that giant Chinese balloon over our base, could it?"  Why be so obvious about it when you already effectively have that intel already and could risk us finding your new toys? 

[Kennythetiger 9381]

1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

We announced it when Jim in Montana looked up 

*Burt