Chinese Spy Balloon
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To be fair-ish, the US is doing the same thing, and quite likely far better at it too. Satellites, high altitude flights, drones, maybe even a snoopy balloon or two.
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US-China hotline goes unanswered
Within hours of an Air Force F-22 downing a giant Chinese balloon that had crossed the United States, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to his Chinese counterpart via a special crisis line, aiming for a quick general-to-general talk that could explain things and ease tensions.
But Austinâs effort Saturday fell flat, when Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe declined to get on the line, the Pentagon says.
Chinaâs Defense Ministry says it refused the call from Austin after the balloon was shot down because the U.S. had ânot created the proper atmosphereâ for dialogue and exchange. The U.S. action had âseriously violated international norms and set a pernicious precedent,â a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement issued late Thursday.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/13/biden-ufo-shot-down-michigan-flying-objects
âSignificantâ debris from China spy balloon retrieved, says US military
Sensors and electronics pulled from waters off South Carolina,... -
US-China hotline goes unanswered
Within hours of an Air Force F-22 downing a giant Chinese balloon that had crossed the United States, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to his Chinese counterpart via a special crisis line, aiming for a quick general-to-general talk that could explain things and ease tensions.
But Austinâs effort Saturday fell flat, when Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe declined to get on the line, the Pentagon says.
Chinaâs Defense Ministry says it refused the call from Austin after the balloon was shot down because the U.S. had ânot created the proper atmosphereâ for dialogue and exchange. The U.S. action had âseriously violated international norms and set a pernicious precedent,â a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement issued late Thursday.
@George-K said in Chinese Spy Balloon:
US-China hotline goes unanswered
Within hours of an Air Force F-22 downing a giant Chinese balloon that had crossed the United States, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to his Chinese counterpart via a special crisis line, aiming for a quick general-to-general talk that could explain things and ease tensions.
But Austinâs effort Saturday fell flat, when Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe declined to get on the line, the Pentagon says.
Chinaâs Defense Ministry says it refused the call from Austin after the balloon was shot down because the U.S. had ânot created the proper atmosphereâ for dialogue and exchange. The U.S. action had âseriously violated international norms and set a pernicious precedent,â a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement issued late Thursday.
The Chinese are pushing, to see how far they can go and to see what our response is.
I think it's time for economic warfare, fought as smart as we can. That involves protection of strategic assets, by both bringing production back to the U.S and using other trading partners.
I also think it is time to help Japan ramp up its defense forces and to further harden Taiwan.
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"Just going to say that it's a real bad time to be a hot air balloon enthusiast right now."
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"Just going to say that it's a real bad time to be a hot air balloon enthusiast right now."
@George-K said in Chinese Spy Balloon:
"Just going to say that it's a real bad time to be a hot air balloon enthusiast right now."
Not necessarily. Hot air balloon rises to about 3,000 ft. above sea level. A blimp may go up to about 7,000 ft. above sea level.
The âobjectsâ shot down were over 20,000 ft. above sea level.
NORAD should have no problem recognizing civilian hot air balloons and blimps as such. -
The US watched it take off, and tracked it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/14/china-spy-balloon-path-tracking-weather/
By the time a Chinese spy balloon crossed into American airspace late last month, U.S. military and intelligence agencies had been tracking it for nearly a week, watching as it lifted off from its home base on Hainan Island near Chinaâs south coast.
U.S. monitors watched as the balloon settled into a flight path that would appear to have taken it over the U.S. territory of Guam. But somewhere along that easterly route, the craft took an unexpected northern turn, according to several U.S. officials, who said that analysts are now examining the possibility that China didnât intend to penetrate the American heartland with its airborne surveillance device.
The balloon floated over Alaskaâs Aleutian Islands thousands of miles away from Guam, then drifted over Canada, where it encountered strong winds that appear to have pushed the balloon south into the continental United States, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence. A U.S. fighter jet shot the balloon down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, a week after it crossed over Alaska.
U.S. intelligence and military agencies tracked the balloon as it launched from Hainan Island. Intelligence analysts are unsure whether the apparent deviation was intentional or accidental, but are confident it was intended for surveillance, most likely over U.S. military installations in the Pacific. Either way the incursion into U.S. airspace was a major misstep by the PLA, prompting a political and diplomatic furor and deeper scrutiny by the United States and its allies of Beijingâs aerial espionage capabilities.
Its crossing into U.S. airspace was a violation of sovereignty and its hovering over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana was no accident, officials said, raising the possibility that even if the balloon were inadvertently blown over the U.S. mainland, Beijing apparently decided to seize the opportunity to try to gather intelligence.
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I think everyone should just calm down about these balloons. There is really nothing new here that NORAD did not already have on its radar or under control.
A little background that if you take the time and effort to read will put a lot things about this and other past mysteries/alleged conspiracies and extra-terrestrial alien encounters in their proper light and perspective:
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I think everyone should just calm down about these balloons. There is really nothing new here that NORAD did not already have on its radar or under control.
A little background that if you take the time and effort to read will put a lot things about this and other past mysteries/alleged conspiracies and extra-terrestrial alien encounters in their proper light and perspective:
@Renauda said in Chinese Spy Balloon:
I think everyone should just calm down about these balloons.
Well these guys are not happy:
A small, globe-trotting balloon declared âmissing in actionâ by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10.
The clubâthe Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB)âis not pointing fingers yet.
But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The clubâs silver-coated, party-style, âpico balloonâ reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting toolâthe HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)âprojected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.
There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiastsâ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.
âI tried contacting our military and the FBIâand just got the runaroundâto try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And theyâre going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,â says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.
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@Renauda said in Chinese Spy Balloon:
I think everyone should just calm down about these balloons.
Well these guys are not happy:
A small, globe-trotting balloon declared âmissing in actionâ by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10.
The clubâthe Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB)âis not pointing fingers yet.
But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The clubâs silver-coated, party-style, âpico balloonâ reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting toolâthe HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)âprojected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.
There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiastsâ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.
âI tried contacting our military and the FBIâand just got the runaroundâto try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And theyâre going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,â says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.
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No doubt, but 38k feet is definitely in commercial space.
âI am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.â ~Winston S. Churchill
