Why would the Chinese government be flying a large stratospheric balloon? It is possible that the balloon's flight termination system failed. ERIC BERGER - 2/3/2023 | Ars Technica
"The balloon's flight raises several questions—such as, just what the heck is it doing there? This story will address what is known and not known about the flight. The information below is based on public statements, other news reports, and an interview with a stratospheric balloon expert, Andrew Antonio, whose company, Urban Sky, is developing the world’s first reusable stratospheric balloons for remote sensing."
[Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA, and author of the book Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston.]
Where are the bullets/missile debris going after they pass through the balloon??? Everywhere you point to shoot has an unsafe backstop.....
Back in the 80's, whilst I was working at Miami ARTCC, an air traffic facility, the balloon/small blimp that was tethered over Cudjoe Key slipped it's mooring and went drifting across the gulf trailing a MILE or so of tether.....
A concerned boater decided to rescue same and tied it off to his boat...... well this was early in the day, and as the sun warmed things up the balloon became more buoyant, lifted the boat out of the water, dumped all occupants into the gulf, and proceeded to drift across the gulf once again...
What to do??
Scamble jets out of homestead......
they chose a missile, problem solved!
The balloon is at 60,000 ft. I don't believe there are any jets out of Homestead that can get anywhere close to that height.
Particularly now, since Homestead is a race track...................
"...A man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box..." Frederick Douglass, 1867
Meanwhile 2nd balloon confirmed... no word about the suspected 2nd (or 3rd?) balloon over Canada?
OAN Geraldyn Berry UPDATED 5:06 PM PT – Friday, February 3, 2023
A second Chinese spy balloon has reportedly been spotted in Latin America.
On Friday evening, the Pentagon confirmed this news. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder made a statement to CNN.
“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Ryder said.
This comes as a balloon was spotted moving east, 60,000 feet above the central continental U.S., last Friday.
Initially, the Pentagon had said the balloon currently did not pose a “military or political” threat.
According to a senior defense official, the United States has “extremely high confidence” that the object was a Chinese high-altitude balloon that was flying over key locations to gather intelligence. One of the states where the balloon was noticed was Montana, which is home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of the country’s three nuclear missile silo fields.
Ryder has said that the U.S. took steps to ensure it did not collect sensitive information.
45th President Donald Trump and other Republicans are criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration for not knocking the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon out of the sky.
On Friday, a Pentagon representative said that the eavesdropping abilities of the balloon are no more advanced than those of China’s existing low-Earth orbit surveillance satellites. It was claimed that bringing the balloon down would produce a “substantial” amount of debris, which may harm or kill people on the ground.
The balloon is at 60,000 ft. I don't believe there are any jets out of Homestead that can get anywhere close to that height.
The Us and Russia botrh broke 90,000 feet prior to 1960. The Us with the F104, Russia with the SU9. The rocket assisted JF104 broke 120,000 feet altitude. The F15 can "zoom" to 90,000. The F16 nearly makes it.
No, a stationary (or neaqrly so) target at 60,000 feet is no challenge.
Heck, we have SAMs which are claimed to be capable of 130,000 feet.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
That's odd.... I read that it is now over MO near a B 1 Bomber base? Whoever the Pentagon spokes person is comes across as a total weasel. Not very reassuring.
That's odd.... I read that it is now over MO near a B 1 Bomber base? Whoever the Pentagon spokes person is comes across as a total weasel. Not very reassuring.
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