Chinese spy balloon over US

[melmothtw]

Originally Posted by 70 Mustang

Did it have "made in China" written on the side? Couldn't be from Russia or North Korea? Could it be that the respective government actually did not know?

Or something like the Bay of Pigs fiasco?

In the UK, I haven't seen or heard anything regarding how the "ownership" was determined?

Just asking. May have missed a news report ot two.

China has said it's theirs, only they're saying it's a civil weather balloon.

[70 Mustang]

Still?

Why cancel the "Blinking" visit?

[AreOut]

Originally Posted by Andrewgr2

Perhaps it is a stray weather balloon- but the PRC would say that, wouldn’t they? If it is actually spying then it might be more beneficial for the US to intercept its transmissions and decode what it is reporting than it would be to bring it down - if indeed they have the technology to bring down something flying at perhaps 80,000 feet. If they do have the technology they might not want to demonstrate it.

of course US has the technology to bring it down, but using expensive rockets(SM-3 costs north of $10M) that go to the edge of space would be an overkill for a balloon

[Low average]

In my opinion, the capabilities of this balloon are probably minimal and not the point. This is a strong statement from China - they can put their hardware directly over the US unopposed, and visible for all to see.

Powerful.

[Winemaker]

Originally Posted by Ninthace

I beg to differ. As it loses buoyancy Archimedes loses the battle with Newton. As it descends increasing pressure, courtesy of Boyle, will compress the fixed mass of gas further decreasing the buoyancy and accelerating the descent and resulting in a fearsome bump. The only question is would the rising temperature at lower altitude bring Mr Charles to the rescue?

High altitude balloons are launched with a bubble of gas that is pretty small in volume compared to the volume at height, as the gas expands with reduced pressure at altitude. What counts is the displaced mass of the air the lifting gas replaces. Air masses (at sea level) 1.225 kg/m^3, helium 0.178 kg/m^3, so provides about 1 kg/m^3 of lift.

[ShyTorque]

Originally Posted by Sue Vêtements

Spying Over Montana?

Looking at a map I've always got the feeling that Montana is an old man spying on Idaho. Sticking his nose right into Idaho's business.

You can't unsee that now

In that case, I hate to think what Florida looks like…..

[havoc]

I’ll be the cynic…. Put internal cargo that would produce an EMP blast

Hopefully the US will bring it down in the gulf or Atlantic coast

[Ninthace]

Must be some clever coves in the PRC that can launch a balloon and get it to arrive in the right place in the US.

[Phil Errup]

John Dutton will sort it out 🤠

[mikeoneflying]

The Chinese will auto destruct the balloon over the sea -- the balloon might even have the capability to auto destruct if attacked.

I wonder when the next balloon is due?

[Sue Vêtements]

Originally Posted by mikeoneflying

I wonder when the next balloon is due?

If it's like London busses, there won't be any for a while, then four will come along at the same time

[Mr_App]

Originally Posted by mikeoneflying

I wonder when the next balloon is due?

When is the next election?

[ORAC]

[ORAC]

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/sta...S-enN6uv2GBpXw

NORAD and the Canadian DoD has confirmed that a 2nd Balloon is currently being tracked somewhere over Canada.

[Flyhighfirst]

Why not shoot it down? Collateral damage would be almost zero chance. You don’t destroy it. A couple of rounds from an aircraft. Wait to see if it starts descending. No well then a couple more rounds. Eventually it is going to start a slow descent to the ground.

This does sound all very strange.

[Flyhighfirst]

Originally Posted by Imagegear

No nation has yet claimed ownership, therefore it must be a hazard to high altitude navigation and should be removed.

IG

The Chinese have claimed ownership. Said it was a wether balloon gone astray. I had heard altitude was 60000.

[langleybaston]

Originally Posted by Flyhighfirst

Why not shoot it down? Collateral damage would be almost zero chance. You don’t destroy it. A couple of rounds from an aircraft. Wait to see if it starts descending. No well then a couple more rounds. Eventually it is going to start a slow descent to the ground.

This does sound all very strange.

Siunds like good shooting, from hit rates quoted ........ missing barn doors etc.
How do we know gas is helium? H2 a darn sight cheaper and easier.

[zerosum0]

EMP Weapon Positioning

PRC possibly just practicing how to position a balloon over the central US using the global jetstream, should they ever elect to employ the EMP bomb to shut down much of the US

[Flyhighfirst]

Originally Posted by Ninthace

Why bother? Its presence is known and knocking it down gives an indication of high altitude defence capability.

sorry but those that want to know already know. So you not think every time there is a missile test there aren’t numerous Chinese and Russian agents watching and recording? Of course there are. Are there Americans doing the same for Russian and Chinese tests. Yes of course. On the US at least there are areas where the public can park up and watch these tests. Video them all they like. Their range and altitude won’t be a secret. Maybe their precision and the tech behind that will be but the rest is easy to find out.

[Flyhighfirst]

Originally Posted by havoc

I’ll be the cynic…. Put internal cargo that would produce an EMP blast

Hopefully the US will bring it down in the gulf or Atlantic coast

Whats the point of an EMP blast? Might as well just launch a nuke. Which would give you the EMP. You would have the same reaction. If the Chinese were to detonate a large EMP over the US I’m pretty sure the silos would be emptied. There would be no other reason to detonate an EMP except to cover a first strike.