Originally Posted by
wiggy
Could be that... OTOH the images we're seeing of the downed stuff in Ukraine seems to show not much more that a simple met style balloon with radar reflector, so I wonder if it's a case of the Russians thinking "we'll have a go at wot the Chinese just did, well as best we can. It might give us a clue as to where some AD assets are and it means the Ukes might have to expend some ordnance...".
Doubt it's anything much more complex than that.
I don't see how these originated in Russia, looking at the wind patterns. Nobody? has given us a height but launch points west and north of Kyiv look the part.
The hugely sophisticated models for tracking Chernobyl and much smaller plumes might also be back engineered to locate origin assuming the balloons got to altitude soon after launch.
No media curiosity, they just blame Russia. Very unusually, I think that is blx.
But then I might be misreading the seaweed and balls crystal.