Breaking News... That Chinese Spy Balloon. Thoughts?

Pepper said:
Secretary of State Blinken cancelled his diplomatic mission this weekend to China because of balloon. Is that the right move? I don't know.
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I don't know... I'd think it wasn't the right choice if the thing was sent as a brazen intimidation move. That would be "giving into the bully" and doesn't sound right. But I don't know what his mission was going to be, so I'll read up more on that and maybe be able to answer more intelligently. :sneaky:
 
Pepper said:
Secretary of State Blinken cancelled his diplomatic mission this weekend to China because of balloon. Is that the right move? I don't know.
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Yeah, just read that on the AP newswire too. China is claiming 'force majeure' - OBE (Overcome by Events) in America speak. That seems a bit weak. Surely the Chinese are savvy enough to have incorporated a destruct and/or anti-capture anti-tamper capability into it. Esp. if it is indeed for surveillance and intel gathering.

Diplomatically? Sufficient to cancel a SecState visit? Dunno. Comes off as a bit wimpy on our part? Better to confront the issue than pretend it isn't happening? Or perhaps just a convenient reason to cancel the visit? Curious to read how U.S. Ambassador to China plays into all this.

Or perhaps all this is just a trial balloon (pun intended) testing our ability to react and counteract to this airship (China's designation) incursion?
 

According to the National Weather Service:
"Twice a day, every day of the year, weather balloons are released simultaneously from almost 900 locations worldwide! This includes 92 released by the National Weather Service in the US and its territories. The balloon flights last for around 2 hours, can drift as far as 125 miles away, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere! ..."

I assume that the Chinese balloon is something different as it has undoubtedly been in the air for more than two hours.
 
CallMeKate said:
I'm sorry you're worried about your grandson... sometimes worry is a good weapon to keep us prepared. I get so annoyed at people who say "Bah, nothing to worry about..." because the world has gotten hellishly frightening on a LOT of levels and yes, there ARE things to worry about if those people would poke their head out of lala land once in a while, they'd see it. @Pepper
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I SO agree with every word you wrote Kate! @Pepper Sorry you are worried. I know how you feel. I'm concerned about this world my grandchildren have to live in for several reasons. I pray for them daily.
 
Been thinking more on this. How about getting some of our high altitude jets up there and have their exhaust alter to course of the balloon? The balloon is already far north in the U.S. Maybe divert it further north into Canada? Hmm. No. Our friends to the north may not appreciate that. O.K., then, south? Perhaps over a trailer park in Alabama? That'd give the Chinese intel analysts cause for pause.

Even mount a jet engine in the cargo bay of a C-130 Hercules? Make a balloon -blaster out of it. Heck, it's been used for everything else. This would add to its already impressive resume.

Get jets from various air national guard squadrons in the air and contest pushing the balloon - pong style - over various states in the desert SW. Points awarded based on electoral college votes the state has. Las Vegas could cash in with a lottery for all U.S. citizens. Like where it finally gives up the ghost and is forced down or just expires on its own. Million dollar pay-out. Hey, when there's a buck involved, D.C. gets interested too.

Making light of a serious situation, I know. But at times levity breeds results.
 
Ok, trying to get this in the right thread this time.... :rolleyes:

The Pentagon has announced that the spy balloon is over the center of the US and will be here a few more days!! :mad:
They knew this thing was on the way for quite awhile now and did nothing.

Possibly they have jammed it's ability to spy somehow but I have little to no faith in their willingness to stop it. I would love to see it fly into a million little pieces and burn on the way down. 🤬
 
If you look on the map and see where this “spy” balloon is heading, it is in the area of our Missile Sites and IBM Fields. It should be taken down now. Think about this. This balloon is highly likely to be continuing to send data back to China. Under law, we have the right to shoot it down. Even if it’s heading east and the plan may be to shut it down over the ocean, it will be too late seeing how this balloon is continuing to send back data and pictures to China. I would send up 2-F-35’s and shoot it down.

This once again shows real weakness on our part or is this part of the “pay to play” agreement. I’ll leave it at that before I get my head cut off.
 
Myrtle said:
Ok, trying to get this in the right thread this time.... :rolleyes:

The Pentagon has announced that the spy balloon is over the center of the US and will be here a few more days!! :mad:
They knew this thing was on the way for quite awhile now and did nothing.

Possibly they have jammed it's ability to spy somehow but I have little to no faith in their willingness to stop it. I would love to see it fly into a million little pieces and burn on the way down. 🤬
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And lose any technology that might be of use to know.
 
I have heard of this type of scare stories before. While in Texas for winter, I would hear news stories that sounded more or less like this:

" There are reports that there is strong evidence of forth coming attack on the United States in the near future."

Well, time passed and there was no attack. Next month there was another report of another attack coming. I couldn't believe it. Who issued these reports? The government? The CIA? Some how I started thinking that perhaps this was just a "wonderful" excuse to boost up the military expenditure; I don't know!

As far as that balloon, take a gun shoot the bugger down and stop complaining about it. It's only a balloon. If you are afraid of balloons, you got a problem. What would you do with a full scale war with bombs being dropped on your home?
 
[Deleted my initial response. I will re-answer this when I'm not so upset.]

.... Okay, I'm ready to try again. About the "war with China" I agree, @Packerjohn . I don't think it's going to happen... at least not anytime soon. As for the balloon, I think you know exactly what it is and what it's doing/gathering and what the risk is... so answering such a statement is something I don't even know how to respond to.
 
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Knight said:
And lose any technology that might be of use to know.
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Are you saying we might lose technology by shooting it down? Could you enlarge on that a bit?

Packerjohn said:
I have heard of this type of scare stories before. While in Texas for winter, I would hear news stories that sounded more or less like this:

" There are reports that there is strong evidence of forth coming attack on the United States in the near future."

Well, time passed and there was no attack. Next month there was another report of another attack coming. I couldn't believe it. Who issued these reports? The government? The CIA? Some how I started thinking that perhaps this was just a "wonderful" excuse to boost up the military expenditure; I don't know!

As far as that balloon, take a gun shoot the bugger down and stop complaining about it. It's only a balloon. If you are afraid of balloons, you got a problem. What would you do with a full scale war with bombs being dropped on your home?
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I don't think anyone is talking about an attack from the balloon itself, Packerjohn. The balloon is gathering American secrets. Perhaps they will use that for a future attack but they wouldn't if we had kept them from getting the info in the first place.

They are now saying that they have mitigated the ability of the balloon and they are learning from monitoring it. Of course we all believe every word of that. :rolleyes:

I don't know but I do think Americans should be interested in spying by China and a lot of other things that are going on with the Chinese and our government. :censored:
 
I once was walking in dark back to my barracks in Navy in
Hawaii, all of a sudden something came down on my head and
pretty much covered me.....turns out it was a weather balloon, it
had been launched about 50 miles away from an air force base LOL.....also does anyone remember the balloon incident several years ago, where they thought a kid was trapped inside it...made the headlines for a couple days.......
 
If the Chinese can place a lander on the moon, I'm sure they have spy satellites as well, and would not have to resort to something as primitive as a balloon.

If the balloon drifted across the Pacific from China, imagine all the fossil fuel emissions they are sending us as well.
 
ArnoldC said:
Which begs the question, just how far up into the atmosphere does a nation's sovereignty extend?
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That's a good point, and it's been debated between countries before...for decades. Since Sputnik, specifically.

China has earned a reputation for being technologically advanced, but of course, the western world knows that Chinese technology only advances as far as theft and plagiarism can take it. China has hit a rough patch now that the US president told them they can't have any new chips, but I'm sure the balloon is very puzzling. After all, China stole technology years ago that makes balloon-tech obsolete. I suppose that's why the thing is just being observed for now. I have no doubt we know exactly what it's doing, and the only question is why.
 
Wigglestein said:
Shouldn't the US have tracked it coming across the ocean? Maybe we could have shot it down then and there!
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Maybe it has stealth capabilities. Or maybe oceanic radar doesn't look specifically for airships.

In any case, shooting down another country's aircraft is an act of war, no matter what type it is, unless it's armed, of course. And that has to be confirmed before you start shooting.
 
Murrmurr said:
After all, China stole technology years ago that makes balloon-tech obsolete. I suppose that's why the thing is just being observed for now. I have no doubt we know exactly what it's doing, and the only question is why.
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Any speculation on the "why" @Murrmurr ? Here's what I don't get... surely China knew we'd "catch" it. And we knew they'd know. So what kind of game is it? Provocation? There is no WAY they thought we wouldn't see it. I guess it'll play out over this week, but it's feeling like a stupid game but some of the players (John Q. Public) weren't given the right data to understand the rules.
 
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CallMeKate said:
Any speculation on the "why" @Murrmurr ? Here's what I don't get... surely China knew we'd "catch" it. And we knew they'd know. So what kind of game is it? Provocation? There is no WAY they thought we wouldn't see it. I guess it'll play out over this week, but it's feeling like a stupid game but some of the players (John Q. Public) weren't given the right data to understand.
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I have no idea what China's motivation is, but they're definitely sending a message. Unfortunately, Supreme Leader Xi thinks in Chinese and the US military doesn't; it can only see motives from a western point of view.

Power is Xi's only priority and he's been on pretty shaky ground at home. The Chinese people are really mad at him. The US thinks Xi is worried about the economy over there, but the economy isn't his problem, so it's not something he worries about. He's got literally hundreds of officials in charge of that problem.

Power is Xi's only concern....and Taiwan. That balloon is about one or the other, imo.
 


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