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

Jamala said:
How? You ask....this is how....

Words from Pentagon Official

"Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here," a senior defence official said on Thursday.

"So the first question is, does it pose a threat, a physical kinetic threat, to individuals in the United States in the US homeland? Our assessment is it does not.

"Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not.

"So given that profile, we assess the risk of downing it, even if the probability is low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting someone or damaging property, that it wasn't worth it."

A US official added on Friday to CNN: "This isn't like Top Gun where it just explodes and doesn't go anywhere. It's large and it's metal, it would put hundreds of Americans at risk."
Click to expand...

Yeah well, they've just shot it down. They should have done it earlier, imo. You can't let something like this happen, not in the state things are right now.
 

Murrmurr said:
It's extremely likely that our military contacted a Chinese official the moment the craft entered our airspace, and a safe bet the Chinese official said that the craft posed no threat whatsoever.

You don't just shoot things down because they're overhead. When the Russian military did that, over 280 innocent people died.
Click to expand...
I hope our military doesn’t just take the word of Chinese officials. Our side said it was a spy craft so apparently they didn’t.

Of course you don’t shoot things down just because they are overhead. You shoot them down because they are in your airspace without permission and with ulterior motives. That action should be taken before the intruder steals your information, not after.

There is no comparison to shooting down an unarmed spy craft and Russia shooting down a fully loaded passenger plane.
 

Alligatorob said:
We could have shot it down as soon as we first detected it.

I suspect the wait was to collect as much information as possible, and to increase the chances of recovery. It was finally shot down as it was about to leave our airspace, our last legitimate shoot down time.

May be easier to recover from water than it would have been on land. I don't believe the claim that it was to protect folks on the ground. Much of its path was over very unpopulated areas. However ground is harder than water, and acess can be more complicated.

Anyway we are likely to never really know the Chinese motives, but I am sure there will be plenty of pundits offering guesses.
Click to expand...
Not a media pundit but OK MY GUESS

China is testing the air flow currents for possible biological attack. Which brings me to wondering if any air quality samples were taken. I previously thought shooting it down over the Pacific would have been the way to go. Not so sure now that would be wise. Like volcanic ash due to their tiny size and low density, the particles that make up volcanic ash can travel long distances, carried by winds. When an ash column is moved about by wind, it is called an ash plume.

When & how to stop one before it can do what it is designed to do might get some answers from the one shot down.
 
Myrtle said:
I hope our military doesn’t just take the word of Chinese officials. Our side said it was a spy craft so apparently they didn’t.

Of course you don’t shoot things down just because they are overhead. You shoot them down because they are in your airspace without permission and with ulterior motives. That action should be taken before the intruder steals your information, not after.

There is no comparison to shooting down an unarmed spy craft and Russia shooting down a fully loaded passenger plane.
Click to expand...
My point was about haste; the Russian military acted without reliable evidence or confirmation, only suspicions.

Our military claims they knew the airship was there, began tracking it, contacted Chinese officials about it several times, then came up with a safe plan, and executed it. IMO, they knew what they were doing and they made the right decisions.
 
Knight said:
Not a media pundit but OK MY GUESS

China is testing the air flow currents for possible biological attack. Which brings me to wondering if any air quality samples were taken. I previously thought shooting it down over the Pacific would have been the way to go. Not so sure now that would be wise. Like volcanic ash due to their tiny size and low density, the particles that make up volcanic ash can travel long distances, carried by winds. When an ash column is moved about by wind, it is called an ash plume.

When & how to stop one before it can do what it is designed to do might get some answers from the one shot down.
Click to expand...
And now our military will know whether or not that's true.

China already had a pretty clear picture of what our military has before that airship was spotted, and we don't have the really secret, classified stuff lying out in the open, nor is that inventory ever discussed over radios or the internet or anywhere in plain English (and certainly not in Chinese).
 
If the current administration were " on the ball" so to speak,this thing should've been shot down over the ocean.
They've been aware of it since Wednesday.
Since we've still not gotten the real story about Covids origins, lets pray its not some type of bio/chemical weapon.
I sincerely doubt we'll get the truth.
 
I saw a general being asked about it and location, he responded "No we're not going to tell everyone where it is. They can look up"

That's like ELEVEN MILES UP.......you couldn't see it even with the best binoculars. A telescope would be better.
 
Jamala said:
No reaction from China yet?
The deed is done but not dusted, IMHO
I hope I am wrong.
The Chinese do not like egg on their face.
Click to expand...
Chinese officials apologized all day. I'm not joking.

A Chinese American lady I watch on YouTube explained today that the CCP is experiencing a sort of political vacuum after Xi forced several top members into retirement - this following his "re-election" - and proposed that this left the people who's job it is to do stuff like deploy surveillance balloons temporarily without their bosses, but still under an old order to Release the Balloons on a specific day. And those guys always follow orders, no questions asked, bosses or no bosses.

This, she said, clearly indicates the CCP is in utter chaos, and that, in the eyes of Chinese citizens (and Xi's enemies within), Xi has lost control of the Party and lost Face.

Eh. Sounds kinda far-fetched, but could be.
 
Giants fan1954 said:
If the current administration were " on the ball" so to speak,this thing should've been shot down over the ocean.
They've been aware of it since Wednesday.
Since we've still not gotten the real story about Covids origins, lets pray its not some type of bio/chemical weapon.
I sincerely doubt we'll get the truth.
Click to expand...
According to radio news I heard today, the Administration did order it to be shot down earlier but the military delayed acting because of the risk of doing so over land. They did however take some action to interfere with the balloon's spy system. Details classified ?
 
Murrmurr said:
Chinese officials apologized all day. I'm not joking.

A Chinese American lady I watch on YouTube explained today that the CCP is experiencing a sort of political vacuum after Xi forced several top members into retirement - this following his "re-election" - and proposed that this left the people who's job it is to do stuff like deploy surveillance balloons temporarily without their bosses, but still under an old order to Release the Balloons on a specific day. And those guys always follow orders, no questions asked, bosses or no bosses.

This, she said, clearly indicates the CCP is in utter chaos, and that, in the eyes of Chinese citizens (and Xi's enemies within), Xi has lost control of the Party and lost Face.

Eh. Sounds kinda far-fetched, but could be.
Click to expand...


Kinda far fetched…I agree.
But here’s another thought, the balloon might have been in celebration of the Lantern Festival :)
 
From the US Dept. of Defense website about this balloon-

The balloon did not pose a military or physical threat. Still its intrusion into American airspace over several days was an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty. The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration.

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-S...chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/
 
It is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted,
they saved the Chinese the trouble of collecting it after it
had finished the job, plus it has sunk, beside the Titanic and
it will take years to find!

Mike.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top