China Balloon 🎈

[phart010 | 1,708]

Old news now.. but I’m surprised I didn’t see a thread about this.

China sent US a balloon. Beijing says don’t worry it’s just a civilian weather balloon that went off course. Trump said blow it up! So did Biden! Pentagon told him wait until it’s over the ocean so balloon pieces don’t fall on some farm. 

Well we shot it down the other day just off the coast of South Carolina. China is shaking their fist. Americans are speculating about what the balloon really was. 

Personally I don't buy the weather balloon story. The thing is supposed to have some level of positioning controls. So if it went off course, they should have brought it back on course. And if it could no longer be controlled then it was a hazard and should have been brought down.

If this truly was a spy balloon then it’s a bold move to send it into US airspace.

[Gloves | 11,843]

Aliens.

[phart010 | 1,708]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Aliens.

Yes the Chinese kind

[Gloves | 11,843]

Just now, phart010 said:

Yes the Chinese kind

Chileans!

[phart010 | 1,708]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

Chileans!

 

[Hammerfestus | 3,891]

[Tabonga | 2,345]

The whole excuse about debris hitting something in Montana is BS.   You take a fighter plane with machine guns and perforate only the balloon part until it starts losing gas and it will descend relatively smoothly - you can always add more perforations to speed it up.

It is unlikely that it was filled with hydrogen.  That is pretty old school.

There may have been some fail safe to explode either remotely or at a certain altitude - sometimes you have to role the dice.

Best case scenario you wind up with the electronics fairly intact to examine.

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As it is the Chinese have stuck a finger in our eye - similar to what they routinely do with air and naval incursions in Taiwan.   I suspect the whole thing was primarily to see what we would do - and we failed pretty pathetically IMHO.  

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I also find it pretty suspicious this was covered up until someone in Montana caught pictures of this one.

 

[Mega Tank | 974]

Such a missed opportunity for popping a balloon in a much more creative way

[Tabonga | 2,345]

Here is a relatively tangential weird factoid - the first anti-aircraft gun was invented and used in 1870.

[Tanooki | 4,953]

Point blank, day one, hour one, from the moment any of those ever were detected they should have been shot down.  Epic explosion?  Nah, let it drift down as it gases out, then spread that all over the media to embarrass the hell out of the Chinese and expose them again for what they are.  Spread that tech out, explain it in stupid person detail, so everyone gets it.  Notify people to keep an eye out in case one slips by so we don't have to rely on the random media to rarely be more honest and point it out.  That was just wrong, disgusting really, it was handled how it was.  That traveled over a large part of the US in places with sensitive material and sites, but hey...debris.  Yup, not buying it.  Not sure what the deal is if this was under Trump it started, but given the ties Biden has it wouldn't surprise me if he wanted it ignored for good probably as bookends around the Trump era.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

What if it was filled with Covid 20 though?

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

You guys are party poopers, balloons are fun! 

[Tabonga | 2,345]

50 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Point blank, day one, hour one, from the moment any of those ever were detected they should have been shot down.  Epic explosion?  Nah, let it drift down as it gases out, then spread that all over the media to embarrass the hell out of the Chinese and expose them again for what they are.  Spread that tech out, explain it in stupid person detail, so everyone gets it.  Notify people to keep an eye out in case one slips by so we don't have to rely on the random media to rarely be more honest and point it out.  That was just wrong, disgusting really, it was handled how it was.  That traveled over a large part of the US in places with sensitive material and sites, but hey...debris.  Yup, not buying it.  Not sure what the deal is if this was under Trump it started, but given the ties Biden has it wouldn't surprise me if he wanted it ignored for good probably as bookends around the Trump era.

In WWII the Japanese had launched incindiary balloons at the US - the balloons were supposed to descend in the Pacific Northwest and explode with the intention of starting forest fires - which would divert resources to fight.

The government suppressed any publication of the knowledge - they didn't want the Japanese to know that some of the balloons were getting to their destinations.  

Called Fu-Gos by the Japanese, there were about 9300 launched.  About 300 were found in the US.  The only damage caused was the deaths of 5 members of a family who found one on a picnic in 1945 and the children apparenly messed with it and triggered the bombs.

Here is a picture of the mechanism of one of them:

[guitarzombie | 927]

I feel like im the only person in this country that doesn't give a shit at all.

[Tanooki | 4,953]

3 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

You guys are party poopers, balloons are fun! 

Wow look two more low flying behind his wife!  Get 'em!

@guitarzombie I would agree, but knowing how that country behaves towards others, it's a pretty horrible national security risk considering what they want to do to us, even if Taiwan as a country we defend wasn't in the picture.  We're #1 on their kill/shit list for their political interest in being the only global leader and super power (at any cost.)  Stuff like that could scout out anything, test things within reason, and more to do some serious damage, not to mention the joking of covid 20 up there as I suppose some could be used to spread another bio weapon too.

[Tenjikuronin | 1,755]

[Hammerfestus | 3,891]

1 hour ago, guitarzombie said:

I feel like im the only person in this country that doesn't give a shit at all.

Nope.  Also don’t give a shit.  Did you know Chinese people get free healthcare?

[a3quit4s | 4,127]

This is by far my favorite artistic take on the balloon:

 

[Gloves | 11,843]

10 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

This is by far my favorite artistic take on the balloon:

 

Oh, bother.

[Tabonga | 2,345]

They need a better design.

[guitarzombie | 927]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

Wow look two more low flying behind his wife!  Get 'em!

@guitarzombie I would agree, but knowing how that country behaves towards others, it's a pretty horrible national security risk considering what they want to do to us, even if Taiwan as a country we defend wasn't in the picture.  We're #1 on their kill/shit list for their political interest in being the only global leader and super power (at any cost.)  Stuff like that could scout out anything, test things within reason, and more to do some serious damage, not to mention the joking of covid 20 up there as I suppose some could be used to spread another bio weapon too.

You're a very anxious and nervous person lol

[Estil | 1,265]

Hey China, we hate to burst your balloon but...we burst your balloon!  

[Estil | 1,265]

1 hour ago, a3quit4s said:

This is by far my favorite artistic take on the balloon:

 

Oh bother...

[Strange | 1,702]

Well, the current President doesn’t belong to my favorite sports team political party so therefore it was handled very poorly. However if the current President WAS part of my favorite sports team political party and had handled it exactly the same way, then it would have been perfectly fine.

Such is American politics. No one has any nuanced opinions and even less have the expertise to be weighing in on this with a serious opinion in the first place.

[Tanooki | 4,953]

2 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

This is by far my favorite artistic take on the balloon:

 

Hey look it's Presintator Xi.