Chinese Spy Balloon Flying Over the U.S.

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Honestly if you can’t hit a defenseless balloon….in clear daylight. Video footage is from a home, not a NASA camera.
 
If you watch the Fox News video closely, the sidewinder shot down the balloon but also destroyed the spy equipment. The equipment completely disintegrated into small pieces. You can see it falling and the light reflections as it rained down...

Probably should have just put a 45 round through the balloon when it was over Montana (or sooner!) and let it deflate slowly to ground......
 
Salty said:
American defense is unwilling to take action against a balloon launched from a foreign country because it might cause damage. It might have hit someone, had explosives, or bio weapons on it that could have hurt our citizens. So we do nothing.


Think about what that says about us to our enemies. This was the most effective attack from a foreign nation, on the US since Pearl Harbor. I think probably even worse than Pearl Harbor.
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Isn't this like the second Chinese balloon that has "accidentally" made it over here? First time might have a chance of being accidental, but the second time, not a chance.

I think that China is using it as a chance to poke fun at US defenses:rolleyes:
 
FPK1 said:
If you watch the Fox News video closely, the sidewinder shot down the balloon but also destroyed the spy equipment. The equipment completely disintegrated into small pieces.
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Or the payload included a self-destruct package. That would make sense.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
Or the payload included a self-destruct package. That would make sense.

Ron Wanttaja
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but a self-destruct would expose the lie of it being a civilian balloon...
 
“The coast guard also advised mariners to leave the area due to military operations "that present a significant hazard".”

just curious, how does this work? do boaters have some kind of TFR/NOTAM type system? my exposure to boating consists more of drinking on a floating motorized vehicle on lakes where no one really gives a sht about rules and stuff. I mean, I followed all the rules, it was other people that didn’t. that’s right, nautical equivalent of the FAA, just in case you’re reading this….
 
eman1200 said:
“The coast guard also advised mariners to leave the area due to military operations "that present a significant hazard".”

just curious, how does this work? do boaters have some kind of TFR/NOTAM type system? my exposure to boating consists more of drinking on a floating motorized vehicle on lakes where no one really gives a sht about rules and stuff. I mean, I followed all the rules, it was other people that didn’t. that’s right, nautical equivalent of the FAA, just in case you’re reading this….
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As the bulk of my experience in Lake Michigan offshore sailing, it’s completely Wild West. I have no clue how they would ensure notification or compliance.
 
Katamarino said:
Chinese-Spy-Balloon-Memes-5.jpeg


Close-up pictures released.
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So, just a big shipment of Flied Lice?
 
NoHeat said:
Interesting that there was no attempt to shoot it down.
The Pentagon claims that would have been a hazard to people in Montana. But I wonder if it might have been too high for an antiaircraft missile. Or maybe an untargetable radar signature.
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Certainly not too high. The Nike Hercules I was trained on, could go to 140,000 feet. Radar return on the other hand might be an issue.
 
GaryM said:
The'd just claim it was to prevent civilian casualties if we shot down their 'weather' balloon.
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...Or deny it had such a package. "All damage was caused by the unprovoked Yankee attack...."

Ron Wanttaja
 
They had to wait until the weekend when the National Guardsmen we’re flying since they’ve cutback the military so much.
 
Baked Potato said:
Now that may be a little more difficult. In addition to not being a dedicated air-to-air platform, the A-10 has no radar capability with which to achieve a radar lock. It would be a purely visual task for the pilot
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Yeah, but it would basically be a free drone for target practice. Of course it wouldn’t be very well simulated practice since the service ceiling of a tank is a little shy of 60,000 feet.
 
So if it’s true the US military knew of this balloon since it was over THE ALEUTIANS, would it not be plausible that any sensitive communications, transmissions, etc. were shut down across the country during its passage? And had it been shot down cowboy style as pushed for by some here, had a single cow or empty barn in Montana or Kansas been taken out, would there be no uproar about “why’d he take out a harmless balloon and risk our safety”?

I can totally see where letting it fly over while we’re comm out is the most adult thing to do.

96E41028-09FB-4247-8070-62ED367A6B78.gif
 
SkyChaser said:
We didn't want to shoot it down until China was done doing whatever it was they were doing with it. :confused::rolleyes::mad:
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The decision to let it go was probably two-fold. (1) No guarantee that bringing it down over land will result in no loss of life or property, and (2) counter-intel. And let me add (3) how many government secrets do you think were exposed by this slowly meandering balloon?

In addition, the track that I saw had it coasting down over Canada, and if that’s the case we really didn’t have a choice in the matter beforehand.
 
woodchucker said:
The decision to let it go was probably two-fold. (1) No guarantee that bringing it down over land will result in no loss of life or property, and (2) counter-intel. And let me add (3) how many government secrets do you think were exposed by this slowly meandering balloon?

In addition, the track that I saw had it coasting down over Canada, and if that’s the case we really didn’t have a choice in the matter beforehand.
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If it had surveillance equipment it may very well have gathered important information. They might have gotten lots of information before it was shot down.
 
eman1200 said:
“The coast guard also advised mariners to leave the area due to military operations "that present a significant hazard".”
….
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More than likely a general broadcast on channel 16 and 22a on VHF with a box navigation area coordinates…there is a CC notice to mariner system but it’s not that responsive and you need the internet. Preplanned events like missile launches from the cape get a little more notice. I am sure it was more like a man overboard or distressed vessel broadcast as the event happened. Navy stationed in the area will also light you up and communicate directly if your screwing things up…and your listening to radios. I spend more than a couple of weeks each year transiting smaller sailing yachts from Caribbean and South Florida to New England and that’s my experience to date.
 
MBDiagMan said:
If it had surveillance equipment it may very well have gathered important information. They might have gotten lots of information before it was shot down.
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Like what? I’m genuinely curious what important information might have been collected. Other than information we WANTED it to collect.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Good grief! We’re talking security here. Worrying about appearance SHOULD take a back seat to appearance. This kind of wussy thinking by the current leadership is not going to generate a good outcome should we get into a conflict.
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…and which graduating class from the National Defense University do you hail from?
 
woodchucker said:
Like what? I’m genuinely curious what important information might have been collected. Other than information we WANTED it to collect.
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The list of possibilities is endless. There are signals that are important to national security that you never dreamed of.

When trained for maintenance and repair of the Nike Hercules missile I had to gain a Top Secret NIC NAC clearance due to a portion of the signals relayed to the missile. Had the enemy known the signal they could have rendered the system useless. There are numerous signals for various military systems that must be guarded.
 
MBDiagMan said:
They had to wait until the weekend when the National Guardsmen we’re flying since they’ve cutback the military so much.
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Actually, not a bad idea. The Guard and Reserve have our most experienced pilots.

It'd be interesting to find out about the behind the scenes maneuvering behind getting assigned to the shoot-down mission. Bet there was a lot of competition.

Ron Wanttaja
 
woodchucker said:
Like what? I’m genuinely curious what important information might have been collected. Other than information we WANTED it to collect.
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My work in that world was over fifty years ago, but had the enemy learned what I was sworn to protect they could have defeated our particular air defense missile system. Although that one is no longer in operation, I am sure there are multitudes of signals equally as secure and critical.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
It should have been shot down as soon as it entered US airspace, inside the ADIZ.....a few miles from Alaska.
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Yes.

But of course there’s a lot of airline and freighter traffic near there. I’m guessing it won’t be that easy to divert all the traffic in time, before the balloon is out of US airspace.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Which graduating class? US Army Air Defense School, Fort Bliss, Texas class 4-69.
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Huh - didn’t know that was a senior-level Professional Military Education program. Were you involved In National Defense decision making, based on available intelligence info?

I still marvel at how people can speak with such confidence about things they don’t seem to know about. I personally have no idea what was going on here but I do know we have the best military and the best intel in the world (if not us, who else?).

I also know there’s a chain of command - and it doesn’t include PoA - certainly not those using emotions rather than information to make decisions.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Huh - didn’t know that was a senior-level Professional Military Education program. Were you involved In National Defense decision making, based on available intelligence info?

I still marvel at how people can speak with such confidence about things they don’t seem to know about. I personally have no idea what was going on here but I do know we have the best military and the best intel in the world (if not us, who else?).

I also know there’s a chain of command - and it doesn’t include PoA - certainly not those using emotions rather than information to make decisions.
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Did you listen to what Biden said after it was shot down? Or was he lying?
 
So can someone tell me what they think a basically uncontrollable balloon can gather that can’t be gathered by a white van around (fill-in-the-blank national asset) or a properly equipped Cessna flying over/near the same asset, either/both by legal drivers/pilots from China, in our very open country?
 
Llewtrah381 said:
…and which graduating class from the National Defense University do you hail from?
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Pfft. NDU is for academics and hasn’t really put out a stellar warfighting product since the class of ‘90.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Huh - didn’t know that was a senior-level Professional Military Education program. Were you involved In National Defense decision making, based on available intelligence info?

I still marvel at how people can speak with such confidence about things they don’t seem to know about. I personally have no idea what was going on here but I do know we have the best military and the best intel in the world (if not us, who else?).

I also know there’s a chain of command - and it doesn’t include PoA - certainly not those using emotions rather than information to make decisions.
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No, I wasn’t a Brigadier General, but my knowledge of missile and electronic communications coupled with a long career as an electrical engineer probably gives me more knowledge of electronic communication and software security than any senior level officer with a few possible exceptions for high level officers with a technical education.

So, what are your qualifications that provide you with so much knowledge on the subject?
 
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