Another balloon object shot down over Alaska

[Hawndoh 2,386]

Need Batman's jet from the 1989 film that carried off all of the Jokers balloons that were spewing the gas.

[ABSR 5,309]

5 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

So, work with me here.....a fighter plane.....equipped with "Tactical Scissors*" on the front.  Just cut the strings between the balloon and payload -- balloon floats away, payload plummets in free fall right there, easy recovery.

* "Tactical Scissors" is a trademark of the Raytheon group, and cost $300 million per pair, because of special design and alloys and shit.

Mohel Group Inc. have already created something similar that Israel uses to remove the top of the balloon.  Would it be Kosher for us to borrow it?

[YGIFS 19,450]

1 minute ago, ABSR said:

Mohel Group Inc. have already created something similar that Israel uses to remove the top of the balloon.  Would it be Kosher for us to borrow it?

It would have been, but I used their one pair to cut open a package of thick cut bacon the other day.  

Dammit man, this is why we can't have nice things! 

[Francisco 2.0 32,389]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/14/china-spy-balloon-path-tracking-weather/

 

Quote

By the time a Chinese spy balloon crossed into American airspace late last month, U.S. military and intelligence agencies had been tracking it for nearly a week, watching as it lifted off from its home base on Hainan Island near China’s south coast.

U.S. monitors watched as the balloon settled into a flight path that would appear to have taken it over the U.S. territory of Guam. But somewhere along that easterly route, the craft took an unexpected northern turn, according to several U.S. officials, who said that analysts are now examining the possibility that China didn’t intend to penetrate the American heartland with their airborne surveillance device.

 

 

Quote

The balloon floated over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands thousands of miles away from Guam, then drifted over Canada, where it encountered strong winds that appear to have pushed the balloon south into the continental United States, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence. A U.S. fighter jet shot the balloon down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, a week after it crossed over Alaska.

This new account suggests that the ensuing international crisis that has ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing may have been at least partly the result of a mistake.

 

 

Quote

Meanwhile, the White House on Tuesday said that three other objects shot down over North America in the last week may have posed no national security threat, striking perhaps the clearest distinction yet between those flying anomalies and the suspected spy balloon. John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters that the U.S. intelligence community “will not dismiss as a possibility” that the three craft instead belonged to a commercial organization or research entity and were therefore “benign.”

 

 

Spoiler

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sent spy balloons over Guam before, as well as Hawaii, to monitor U.S. military installations, officials have said. But the days-long flyover of the continental United States was novel, and it sparked confusion inside the Chinese government as diplomats scrambled to disseminate a cover story that the balloon had been blown off course while it was collecting innocuous meteorological data, U.S. officials said.

The furor caught Beijing on its back foot. Initially it expressed “regrets” over what it insisted was a wayward weather balloon. Then it shifted to criticizing Washington for what it said was overreacting, and this week it accused the United States of sending 10 spy balloons over China. The White House has strongly denied the claim as false. “We are not flying surveillance balloons over China. I’m not aware of any other craft that we’re flying over — into Chinese airspace,” Kirby said Monday.

U.S. intelligence and military agencies tracked the balloon as it launched from Hainan Island. Intelligence analysts are unsure whether the apparent deviation was intentional or accidental, but are confident it was intended for surveillance, most likely over U.S. military installations in the Pacific. Either way the incursion into U.S. airspace was a major misstep by the PLA, prompting a political and diplomatic furor and deeper scrutiny by the United States and its allies of Beijing’s aerial espionage capabilities.

Its crossing into U.S. airspace was a violation of sovereignty and its hovering over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana was no accident, officials said, raising the possibility that even if the balloon were inadvertently blown over the U.S. mainland, Beijing apparently decided to seize the opportunity to try to gather intelligence.

The incident was just the latest indication of how purposefully China is going about expanding its surveillance capabilities — from advanced satellite technology to balloons, officials said.

The balloon fleet is a part of a much broader air surveillance effort that includes sophisticated satellite systems and into which the Chinese government has poured what analysts say are billions of dollars of investment over the years.

“This was a discrete program — part of a larger set of programs that are about gaining greater clarity about military facilities in the United States and in a variety of other countries,” said one senior U.S. official. It appears to be meant to “augment the satellite systems.”

The balloon was launched from the ground, part of a program run in part by the PLA Air Force, and it may have been taken off course by strong high-altitude winds, officials said. It was partly directed by air currents and partly piloted remotely, they said. With propellers and a rudder, it has the capability to be maneuvered.

After the balloon launched, computer modeling conducted by The Washington Post indicates steering currents would have pushed it due east over the Pacific Ocean, probably passing between the Philippines and Taiwan.

Computer model trajectory by The Washington Post of air currents originating from Hainan, China on Jan. 20 at an altitude of roughly 60,000 feet. The model projects the path eight days into the future. Each triangle on the red line marks one day. (Image by Washington Post/NOAA) (Image by NOAA)

Around Jan. 24, when the balloon would have been roughly about 1,000 miles south of Japan, model simulations show it began to gain speed and rapidly veer north. This would have been in response to a strong cold front that had unleashed exceptionally frigid air over northern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Ordinarily, atmospheric steering motions would have kept the balloon on much more of a west to east course, historical weather data shows. However, the intense cold front forced the jet stream and high altitude steering currents to dip south and may have scooped the balloon northward.

Left: Historical average flow pattern on Jan. 24 to 27 at altitude of roughly 60,000 feet. Currents flow typically west to east off the coast of China. Right: Actual flow pattern on Jan. 24 to 27 this year. The flow curls more to the northeast of China, in response to cold air pushing off Asian continent. (Image by Washington Post/NOAA) (Image by NOAA)

The airship entered U.S. airspace off Alaska on Jan. 28, crossing Canada and re-entering the United States over Idaho on Jan. 31, one day before it was spotted over Montana by civilians, prompting a ground stoppage at the airport in Billings, as U.S. officials considered shooting it down.

When officials determined they could not mitigate the risk to people on the ground, they decided to wait until they could shoot it down over water.

Analysts are still awaiting the retrieval of the balloon’s payload, which officials estimated to be the size of three school buses, but “it doesn’t look like it’s a dramatic new capability,” said a second U.S. official. “It looks like it’s more collection — everybody always wants more.”

Kirby said Monday: “These balloons have provided limited additive capabilities to the [People’s Republic of China’s] other intelligence platforms used over the United States. But in the future, if the PRC continues to advance this technology, it certainly could become more valuable to them.”

U.S. officials stressed that they took steps to defeat any efforts by China to gather sensitive information from military sites. Any such information or communications were encrypted, Kirby has said.

“The name of the game of spying is always new capability, new mitigation,” said the second official.

 

 

 

 

 

[Trey3216 15,346]

7 hours ago, Blotto said:

Mmmmm..... Tactical scissors

New female ska band? 

[Poe It Up 126]

2 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/14/china-spy-balloon-path-tracking-weather/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sent spy balloons over Guam before, as well as Hawaii, to monitor U.S. military installations, officials have said. But the days-long flyover of the continental United States was novel, and it sparked confusion inside the Chinese government as diplomats scrambled to disseminate a cover story that the balloon had been blown off course while it was collecting innocuous meteorological data, U.S. officials said.

The furor caught Beijing on its back foot. Initially it expressed “regrets” over what it insisted was a wayward weather balloon. Then it shifted to criticizing Washington for what it said was overreacting, and this week it accused the United States of sending 10 spy balloons over China. The White House has strongly denied the claim as false. “We are not flying surveillance balloons over China. I’m not aware of any other craft that we’re flying over — into Chinese airspace,” Kirby said Monday.

U.S. intelligence and military agencies tracked the balloon as it launched from Hainan Island. Intelligence analysts are unsure whether the apparent deviation was intentional or accidental, but are confident it was intended for surveillance, most likely over U.S. military installations in the Pacific. Either way the incursion into U.S. airspace was a major misstep by the PLA, prompting a political and diplomatic furor and deeper scrutiny by the United States and its allies of Beijing’s aerial espionage capabilities.

Its crossing into U.S. airspace was a violation of sovereignty and its hovering over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana was no accident, officials said, raising the possibility that even if the balloon were inadvertently blown over the U.S. mainland, Beijing apparently decided to seize the opportunity to try to gather intelligence.

The incident was just the latest indication of how purposefully China is going about expanding its surveillance capabilities — from advanced satellite technology to balloons, officials said.

The balloon fleet is a part of a much broader air surveillance effort that includes sophisticated satellite systems and into which the Chinese government has poured what analysts say are billions of dollars of investment over the years.

“This was a discrete program — part of a larger set of programs that are about gaining greater clarity about military facilities in the United States and in a variety of other countries,” said one senior U.S. official. It appears to be meant to “augment the satellite systems.”

The balloon was launched from the ground, part of a program run in part by the PLA Air Force, and it may have been taken off course by strong high-altitude winds, officials said. It was partly directed by air currents and partly piloted remotely, they said. With propellers and a rudder, it has the capability to be maneuvered.

After the balloon launched, computer modeling conducted by The Washington Post indicates steering currents would have pushed it due east over the Pacific Ocean, probably passing between the Philippines and Taiwan.

Computer model trajectory by The Washington Post of air currents originating from Hainan, China on Jan. 20 at an altitude of roughly 60,000 feet. The model projects the path eight days into the future. Each triangle on the red line marks one day. (Image by Washington Post/NOAA) (Image by NOAA)

Around Jan. 24, when the balloon would have been roughly about 1,000 miles south of Japan, model simulations show it began to gain speed and rapidly veer north. This would have been in response to a strong cold front that had unleashed exceptionally frigid air over northern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Ordinarily, atmospheric steering motions would have kept the balloon on much more of a west to east course, historical weather data shows. However, the intense cold front forced the jet stream and high altitude steering currents to dip south and may have scooped the balloon northward.

Left: Historical average flow pattern on Jan. 24 to 27 at altitude of roughly 60,000 feet. Currents flow typically west to east off the coast of China. Right: Actual flow pattern on Jan. 24 to 27 this year. The flow curls more to the northeast of China, in response to cold air pushing off Asian continent. (Image by Washington Post/NOAA) (Image by NOAA)

The airship entered U.S. airspace off Alaska on Jan. 28, crossing Canada and re-entering the United States over Idaho on Jan. 31, one day before it was spotted over Montana by civilians, prompting a ground stoppage at the airport in Billings, as U.S. officials considered shooting it down.

When officials determined they could not mitigate the risk to people on the ground, they decided to wait until they could shoot it down over water.

Analysts are still awaiting the retrieval of the balloon’s payload, which officials estimated to be the size of three school buses, but “it doesn’t look like it’s a dramatic new capability,” said a second U.S. official. “It looks like it’s more collection — everybody always wants more.”

Kirby said Monday: “These balloons have provided limited additive capabilities to the [People’s Republic of China’s] other intelligence platforms used over the United States. But in the future, if the PRC continues to advance this technology, it certainly could become more valuable to them.”

U.S. officials stressed that they took steps to defeat any efforts by China to gather sensitive information from military sites. Any such information or communications were encrypted, Kirby has said.

“The name of the game of spying is always new capability, new mitigation,” said the second official.

 

 

 

 

 

“China didn’t intend to penetrate the American heartland.” Holy shit that’s hilarious. 

[NWBuck 8,552]

7 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

[MissingInAction 25,035]

1 hour ago, Poe It Up said:

“China didn’t intend to penetrate the American heartland.” Holy shit that’s hilarious. 

"MIA didn't intend to penetrate Poe It ups mom". Equally hilarious.

[deadshank 24,652]

[SurlyGator 865]

But, but, they weren't Luft...

[deadshank 24,652]

16 minutes ago, SurlyGator said:

But, but, they weren't Luft...

What?  Are you a lawyer?  Or my wife?

[CooterBrown 18,005]

On the potential "alien" objects.  My deal with that.  You are telling me that these things are sophisticated enough to travel and navigate through space/spacetime, or whatever to arrive at Earth, and enter our atmosphere in a controlled manner that prevents them from being incinerated. Then Captain Hiller takes it out with a janky old Murican bandit shot. 
 

Due to the distance, when the exploration probe visited earth, we were cavemen. The signal was sent that the planet was harmless, so they just send the science division.

They finally get back 200,000 years later and run into:

[GoPokes83 2,240]

So… Why not shoot them down when they fly over Guam?

[YGIFS 19,450]

7 minutes ago, GoPokes83 said:

So… Why not shoot them down when they fly over Guam?

I don't know if you're being literal...but Guam is only 8 miles wide.  By the time you scramble a jet up there and get into a firing position...it's long since passed over Guam.  

If you likely mean why not shoot it down after they see it in Guam? I'm guessing maybe they wanted to see how this thing maneuvered?  Could have a jet from Guam follow it to Wake (within one-way range particularly if there's no mid-air antics).  From there another jet can follow from Wake to Midway.  Midway to Hawaii.  and so on.  Apparently, they were monitoring the comms and signals emitting from the balloon in addition to see how it ascended/descended/maneuvered.  I'm guessing you could probably get close enough to it to see if it emitted any nuclear profiles.  Plus collecting the debris just off the coast of South Carolina with awaiting near-port surface/sub-surface vessels and coast guard assets is a fuckton easier than grabbing something outta the North Pacific Gyre which is what, 20 times the size of the Continental U.S. with far more unpredictable currents and depths?  

 

[Red Five 40,852]

[GoPokes83 2,240]

I don't know if you're being literal...but Guam is only 8 miles wide.  By the time you scramble a jet up there and get into a firing position...it's long since passed over Guam.  
If you likely mean why not shoot it down after they see it in Guam? I'm guessing maybe they wanted to see how this thing maneuvered?  Could have a jet from Guam follow it to Wake (within one-way range particularly if there's no mid-air antics).  From there another jet can follow from Wake to Midway.  Midway to Hawaii.  and so on.  Apparently, they were monitoring the comms and signals emitting from the balloon in addition to see how it ascended/descended/maneuvered.  I'm guessing you could probably get close enough to it to see if it emitted any nuclear profiles.  Plus collecting the debris just off the coast of South Carolina with awaiting near-port surface/sub-surface vessels and coast guard assets is a fuckton easier than grabbing something outta the North Pacific Gyre which is what, 20 times the size of the Continental U.S. with far more unpredictable currents and depths?  
 

I meant in territorial waters. Keep knocking them down and eventually they’ll get tired of sending them.

[YGIFS 19,450]

agreed, I think what you'll see from now on.  or at least, it is my hope.  Is send up a sortie, if it's basically giving off the same sigint/comms signatures, no radiation detected, get some hi-res photos and splash the bitch over the water.  Don't waste the fuel on salvaging the wreckage, it'll get swept in with that plastic flotsom in the Pacific.  We got enough sidewinders to take out a balloon a day for the next several years.  

[Bevo 13,575]

I think I figured it out. We need to have our own attack balloons with razor blades and shit. Send them up to take out the Chinese Mylar imitation junk.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Bevo

[Homercles 10,205]

[ABSR 5,309]

8 hours ago, YGIFS said:

I don't know if you're being literal...but Guam is only 8 miles wide.  By the time you scramble a jet up there and get into a firing position...it's long since passed over Guam.  

If you likely mean why not shoot it down after they see it in Guam? I'm guessing maybe they wanted to see how this thing maneuvered?  Could have a jet from Guam follow it to Wake (within one-way range particularly if there's no mid-air antics).  From there another jet can follow from Wake to Midway.  Midway to Hawaii.  and so on.  Apparently, they were monitoring the comms and signals emitting from the balloon in addition to see how it ascended/descended/maneuvered.  I'm guessing you could probably get close enough to it to see if it emitted any nuclear profiles.  Plus collecting the debris just off the coast of South Carolina with awaiting near-port surface/sub-surface vessels and coast guard assets is a fuckton easier than grabbing something outta the North Pacific Gyre which is what, 20 times the size of the Continental U.S. with far more unpredictable currents and depths?  

 

But would shooting it down make the island of Guam capsize?

[YGIFS 19,450]

It's why you gotta hit it on the tall size.  Centrifugal motion and what-not.  Science, Bitch!

I think about Hank Johnson sometimes and remember that his district is adjacent to MTG's.  And I think, "What the fuck is in the water of North Georgia?"  And is the anthem of that region still that kid with the banjo on the swing?  Explains so much.  These are the people appropriating the money to my Department of Defense?  

Then again, 30 days ago I would have laughed at $25mm for balloon surveillance.  Now I think that's not enough.  

Also-these things are being found in the Stratosphere, 2 "levels" up.  Where the fuck is Space Force in all this?  Chance to come outta the gate hot and brand yo' shit.  And where are you guys?  Technical consulting to the new Star Trek series on theCW?  

[Kennythetiger 9,377]

So when a nation launches one of these balloons, is there ever a true intention to retrieve it when its “mission” is completed, or does the owner just say “Fuck it” and let it turn into someone else’s problem?  

[Brisketexan 105,094]

What if this is just the most elaborate, over-the-top gender reveal ever, and when we shoot one down and it explodes in a blue cloud, some super-rich Chinese couple will be all over TikTok celebrating their impending baby boy with their friends?

Did y'all ever think of that?

[Kennythetiger 9,377]

Is it really a gender reveal if it doesn’t start a wildfire somewhere?  

[drt 638]

Can you even do that on TikTok in china? I thought theirs was regulated to educational shit, ours was meant to distract our kids during their formative years…

[Parliament 14,255]

It's China.  The only gender that's allowed to survive 24 hours is male.

[atomheartbevo 89,644]

11 hours ago, Bevo said:

I think I figured it out. We need to have our own attack balloons with razor blades and shit. Send them up to take out the Chinese Mylar imitation junk.

I've seen this movie, only the balloon has a net... And Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro

It looks like this

but I think we need to do better and fancier, because we are the USA

 

 

[Bevo 13,575]

What movie is that?

[Victor Lazlo 1,776]

The China Syndrome 

[Homercles 10,205]

Distinct possibility that all these things are not necessarily China/foreign objects, and hopefully we aren’t shooting down every slow moving aerial object that’s unidentified.  

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

9 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

I've seen this movie, only the balloon has a net... And Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro

It looks like this

but I think we need to do better and fancier, because we are the USA

 

 

Stardust

[Trey3216 15,346]

16 hours ago, ABSR said:

But would shooting it down make the island of Guam capsize?

No, scrambling the fighters will.  That thrust really does a number on the balance  

[Trey3216 15,346]

15 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

What if this is just the most elaborate, over-the-top gender reveal ever, and when we shoot one down and it explodes in a blue cloud, some super-rich Chinese couple will be all over TikTok celebrating their impending baby boy with their friends?

Did y'all ever think of that?

If it blows up pink, we'll know that another poor Chinese girl was fed to the snow leopards.  

[Armybrat 40,832]

Pico balloons launched by ham radio clubs….

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/hobby-clubs-missing-balloon-feared-shot-down-usaf

[Deej 76,759]

21 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Pico balloons launched by ham radio clubs….

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/hobby-clubs-missing-balloon-feared-shot-down-usaf

[atomheartbevo 89,644]

US Air Force U-2 pilots flexing and taking selfies with the Chinese balloon when they were checking it out.  Given the balloon was at 60,000 feet or so, and it looks kind of tiny here, wonder if they were at 70,000 feet or higher.

[PRONG HORN 3,141]

10 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Given the balloon was at 60,000 feet or so, and it looks kind of tiny here, wonder if they were at 70,000 feet or higher.

No, that would mean that the pilot is about two miles away from the balloon in this pic.  

[PantsTent 2,002]

1 hour ago, PRONG HORN said:

No, that would mean that the pilot is about two miles away from the balloon in this pic.  

[JesusSweatDuck 17,781]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/chinese-spy-balloon-gathered-intelligence-on-us-military-sites-nbc-news/ar-AA19pVLM

Video in link goes into more detail

 

Quote

The high-altitude balloon, controlled by Beijing, was able to make multiple passes over some of the sites before it was shot down on Feb. 4, at times flying in a figure-eight formation, NBC said, citing two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.

The three officials said it could transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real time, NBC reported.

"The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images," NBC cited the officials as saying.

Related video: Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from U.S. military sites, senior U.S. officials say (NBC News)
U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment. The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

At the time, U.S. officials played down the balloon's impact on national security.

The balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada early in February before the U.S. military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast on President Joe Biden's orders.

The Chinese balloon incident prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing and further strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

The episode caused an uproar in Washington and led the U.S. military to search the skies for other objects that were not being captured on radar.

The United States said on Feb. 17 it had successfully concluded recovery efforts off South Carolina to collect sensors and other debris from the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and that investigators would analyze its "guts."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Juby Babu in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens and Bernadette Baum)

 

[Your Mom 4,805]

Isn’t it just assumed that we are conducting as much surveillance on them as they are on us?

[Parliament 14,255]

Well don't tell them!!!

[Lhorn 4,913]

Surly assured me that our surveillance of the balloon gathered intimate details of its capabilities and that we knew exactly what information was being transmitted back to China.  Lol!   
“frequently wrong but never in doubt” should be our motto. 
 

I fear our military is far less Jason Bourne and far more Gomer Pyle than we’d like to believe. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Lhorn

[Brisketexan 105,094]

8 minutes ago, Lhorn said:

Surly assured me that our surveillance of the balloon gathered intimate details of its capabilities and that we knew exactly what information was being transmitted back to China.  Lol!   
“frequently wrong but never in doubt” should be our motto. 
 

I fear our military is far less Jason Bourne and far more Gomer Pyle than we’d like to believe. 

Do you even John Winger, bro?

[YGIFS 19,450]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:06 PM, PRONG HORN said:

No, that would mean that the pilot is about two miles away from the balloon in this pic.  

Not if they were inverted, duh! 

So, to recap:

1.  China captured all of our most sensitive defense capabilities and nuclear weapon depots while the world laughed at us.

2.  China will use this information against us in warfighting.

3.  According to many news outlets and surly experts, tensions with China HAVE NEVER BEEN HIGHER!

4.  Somebody wake me for the impending multi-theater WWIII.  

 

Or it's possible it was just a really good few days for the U.S. Armed Forces and we got some toys from China off the coast of South Carolina, while we demonstrated to the world that we have weapons systems that can fly into the mid-Stratosphere and accurately fire ordnance on enemy devices.  Nothing below 15 miles above the Earth is safe.  Fun movie idea.

 

[atomheartbevo 89,644]

3 hours ago, Your Mom said:

Isn’t it just assumed that we are conducting as much surveillance on them as they are on us?

36 minutes ago, Lhorn said:

Surly assured me that our surveillance of the balloon gathered intimate details of its capabilities and that we knew exactly what information was being transmitted back to China.  Lol!   
“frequently wrong but never in doubt” should be our motto. 
I fear our military is far less Jason Bourne and far more Gomer Pyle than we’d like to believe. 

China has satellites that can pick up signals.  China has spies who can park a car, buy a business or house near a lot of military installations and then scoop up lots of signals intelligence.  Military knows where it was going and they could turn off any Top Sekrut comm devices in advance.

Military is probably far more worried about the hiding-in-plain-sight dudes who have a house or business nearby and are scooping up signals intel for days/weeks/years on end.  Or spies in the factories or research centers.

Radio signals, how do they work?

[Homercles 10,205]

What about jet pack guy?  Could he be a spy too?

[YGIFS 19,450]

Just now, Homercles said:

What about jet pack guy?  Could he be a spy too?

Fair point.  What do we actually know about what that guy once he's dropped off the football and left the state?  What does he take with him?  

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,896]

Are we sure this isn’t what we keep shooting down?
 

[Schulz2.0 28,951]

22 hours ago, Lhorn said:

I fear our military is far less Jason Bourne and far more Gomer Pyle than we’d like to believe. 

We've got plenty of top secret shit to spy with. Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean we haven't actively been using them.

Sincerely, 

A guy that was actually in the military 

[Lhorn 4,913]

2 hours ago, Schulz2.0 said:

We've got plenty of top secret shit to spy with. Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean we haven't actively been using them.

Sincerely, 

A guy that was actually in the military 

I don’t doubt it at all.  I never implied otherwise.  If you think so, show me where.
What I am suggesting is that while one portion of our military or most of our military might be completely on the ball, there might be other areas where we are stepping on our own dicks.  I missed most of the discussion about the balloon.  I’ve heard it suggested that we’re completely on top of the situation the whole time.  Knew exactly what the balloon’s capabilities were and knew exactly what information they acquired with the balloon- in real time.  The latest reports are “we don’t think they learned a whole lot” and that determination was made after the fact, not in real time.  
if we are incapable of tremendous lapses in our national security then how did the balloon, multiple balloons get to our airspace?  Could we pull that off with China or Russia?  I’m asking because I don’t know the answer but would guess that radar would pick it up.  If one were to say that ballon’s fly too high for radar to detect, then why are we surprised by this.   There are likely hundreds up there now.  
I’m certainly not saying they acquired vital information but I don’t think we need to make it easy for them by letting surveillance balloons traverse the entire country unimpeded. 

By the way, I hope and pray that whatever surveillance they are doing, we are doing 10 fold.  

Edited April 4, 2023 by Lhorn