Balloon Over Usa

[nero2024]

What your views on this " weather balloon " from China
I find it inconceivable that with all the ground radar and aircraft tracking facilities not to mention the miriad of satellites the us has watching over the country no one has spotted this way out in the Pacific and on its way,it does have hardware on it so it should have a radar bounce. Why didn't China warn them one might be coming their way ( if it is just a weather balloon)

[naomi24]

I said something similar. It wasn't spotted until it was well over land.

[Canary42]

On the pictures I saw it looked like the moon :-)

[Ken4155]

On the news last night i saw one guy speculating on it's origin. "It could have come from Wuhan" he said, as if to suggest it was filled with Covid spores (or whatever) which would be released over the US. They thrive on it, don't they :-))

[douglas9401]

It's a somewhat nimby attitude to shooting it down that the land of the free and possibly Canada have adopted.

Maybe they just can't reach and China have created a new level in spying. :-P

[ichkeria]

Firstly, of course it isn't a "weather balloon"
Second, it probably isn't all that effective
Third, its course was probably not that predictable.
it is embarrassing for the USA as China can 9and are) simply mock them about it "Oh, it's only a balloon"
But more trouble than it's worth to shoot down, probably.

[bookend]

Inconceivable? Yes you're probably right. But just stop and think of this for a moment in military terms. Every report of these objects has to be sent to military analysts to assess the threat they pose. The USA aren't interested in any object that isn't travelling at speed towards the country and given that the latest report seem to indicate that the speed was conditional on the effectiveness of the on-board solar panels, it was hardly a major immediate threat to US territory. It's a "watch and wait" situation.
You don't just shoot an object down because you're uncertain where it came from. As far as China warning countries, the Chinese are as secretive as they've ever been in these matters and wouldn't want to attract attention to anything potentially nefarious in the eyes of others. Who would?
Pacific Islands en route would hardly have the technology to detect the object and couldn't care less. As for US bases in the Pacific, no one can be certain that they didn't alert the US about the balloon days before it became newsworthy. You can be sure that the only reason the public know now is that governments have authorised the disclosure.

[douglas9401]

It's America, ichkeria, nothing is ever too much trouble to shoot.

[Peter Pedant]

It is a spy balloon and they dont want to shoot it down over Montana ( too populated) as it may injure someone
even tho that wd allow them to access what spying was being done..

it is gonna have radar bounce because it is big innit?

[Peter Pedant]

pop m,ontana 1.4 m
area - 300 sq km
4 per sq m

I realise there are cities there

[Peter Pedant]

they doan wanna shoot it down ?
why - they aint got anough guns?
hur hur hur

[nicebloke1]

Lordy, thats a big covid spore. :>))

[Old_Geezer]

One might be more inclined to believe the explanation from some other nations, but not one that isn't trusted, can't even treat it's own citizens properly, and is clearly trying to expand it's area of control both militarily and economically. Most of what the Chinese Communist party says can be taken with a ton of salt.

I don't see this excuse that it can't be shot down though, it's not always over populated areas. And it seems absurd they they can't just snag it and capture it anyway.

[Atheist]

OG; it's supposed to be at 60,000 feet, 18,000 feet higher than commercial flights. I presume US military planes can go higher, but they move at quite a lick and I don't see how they could 'snag it'. It's not moving rapidly and I doubt if military planes have grappling hooks or nets.

[Old_Geezer]

Given the photographs I took it that it must have drifted downwards from it's normal height. After all, if it's out of control...

[Atheist]

I found this on Military.com

"There's a reason the Department of Defense believes China's weather balloon is actually a reconnaissance balloon: The DoD is developing reconnaissance balloons of its own. The Pentagon plans to spend $27.1 million in fiscal year 2023 on balloon-related projects to get its own recon balloons into the stratosphere.
Pictured: A weather balloon. (Lockheed)

It may seem like an idea from the 1960s, but high-altitude balloons 60,000-90,000 feet above the Earth's surface, equipped with machine learning algorithms and solar panels, are a cheap, effective way to watch hypersonic missile testing from America's geopolitical rivals. They can also loiter for much, much longer than any drone. If any of the massive balloons get forced down, they'd just be another weather balloon, which the National Weather Service still uses.

Please do not try to shoot down an NWS weather balloon."

[Atheist]

https://www.businessinsider.com/runaway-weather-balloon-fighter-jets-history-2023-2?op=1&r=US&IR=T

[Atheist]

From Businessinsider.com

https://www.businessinsider.com/shooting-down-chinese-spy-balloon-harder-than-it-seems-2023-2?r=US&IR=T

[Ken4155]

Where's old Superman when you need him? Probably off cavorting with his squeeze, Lois Lane:-)

[Old_Geezer]

The sooner they develop a decent laser weapon, the better then. They don't have ordinance falling to earth. Could probably swing in an arc too making a small hit an easier task.

[Atheist]

OG; You ought to contact the Pentagon with your ideas.