Originally Posted by
Ascend Charlie
Mmmm...aliens travelling thousands of light years in a helium balloon, of course that sounds reasonable.
Which balloons? From the interview to the head of US NORAD linked above:
We're unable to immediately determine the means by which any of the three latest objects were kept aloft or where they were coming from]
I was hoping that a flight community would offer at least some speculation on that., but I saw none, so here's my 5c.
- There is a provocation in act, a sort of show of will and abilities directed against the US and it's allies.
- It doesn't just demonstrate the ability of getting above or very close to pretty much any point over the Noth, but also the ability of assembling and launching these from domestic soil, or Canadian one. Both are very worrying.
- The objects could be rotary wing(s) drones, fully enclosed? Maybe some expert could comment on the physics and technology needed to fly them to 40,000 ft.
- The shutdown by with live AIM missile is debatable. An unarmed missiles, like the one used with the ballon over sea would have preserved debris for analysis. Although, it could have been feared that it may have missed a small object.
- A kinetic knock out device should be used, something that can embed into the target or grab to it, then descend by chute.