Chinese spy balloon hovering over Montana

#251
#251
hndog609 said:
Has this actually happened or is it assumed that's the case? Why keep it a secret? If the .gov, for whatever reason, didn't want to go public about it there's still no reason not to knock the thing down when over a nowhere area. I can't fathom why this or any administration would tolerate a foreign device loitering in our airspace.
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I don't want to give the impression that I think this is fine, but I do think there are some reasonable explanations. May or may not be correct, but you can certainly make a case for leaving it up.

There are huge balloons capable of reaching the edge of space, some dude parachuted out of one several years ago. Just saying "oh it's a balloon and it's over Montana, it won't hurt anything when it comes down" isn't feasible. That thing could be miles in the air, be the size of a bus, and subject to winds powerful enough to push it God knows where when you shoot it. We don't know what kind of surveillance equipment it has, what it is capable of observing or transmitting, but the government probably does. Is it possible that they may have made a risk/reward calculation that it just isn't going to collect enough information to make it worth shooting down? I bet if they shot it down and it went off course and landed on somebody, some of the same people wanting to shoot it down would go through the roof.
 
#254
#254
clarksvol00 said:
I don't want to give the impression that I think this is fine, but I do think there are some reasonable explanations. May or may not be correct, but you can certainly make a case for leaving it up.

There are huge balloons capable of reaching the edge of space, some dude parachuted out of one several years ago. Just saying "oh it's a balloon and it's over Montana, it won't hurt anything when it comes down" isn't feasible. That thing could be miles in the air, be the size of a bus, and subject to winds powerful enough to push it God knows where when you shoot it. We don't know what kind of surveillance equipment it has, what it is capable of observing or transmitting, but the government probably does. Is it possible that they may have made a risk/reward calculation that it just isn't going to collect enough information to make it worth shooting down? I bet if they shot it down and it went off course and landed on somebody, some of the same people wanting to shoot it down would go through the roof.
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So by your own example they can figure out how to do this

Felix Baumgartner skydive: the key questions answered

but taking this one out is just some WAG? I'm dubious.
 
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#258
#258
ClearwaterVol said:
What is the weight of the cargo? What is the material the balloon is made from? What will it be shot down with? How much of the balloon material will be lost from shooting it down? Will the material be lost during the descent?

If you cannot provide answers and how each might affect the speed of descent as well as trajectory of descent then you need to crack some more books.
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It you don’t think our Air Force, who can park a warhead within 10 meters of a target halfway around the world can’t calculate how to land a ballon from 60,000 feet within a ten mile uninhabited circle in the Great Plains, I feel sorry for you
 
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#261
#261
hog88 said:
Are you suggesting that the people who can figure out how to land a rocket on a barge can't figure out how to bring this thing down safely?
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I think they can come up with a plan to do it. I also think they may think nothing is foolproof and the risk isn't worth it.
 
#263
#263
InVOLuntary said:
You assume it's happened.
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I don't know if it did and neither does anyone else. Nor does anyone know why the US is choosing the path it is.

It's easy to take pot shots at Biden over this, and of course the usual suspects are whining he's weak. But fact is no one knows enough to say.
 
#265
#265
The rumors coming out of DC is it’s a Chinese Collection Agency here to collect all the debt Trump owes the Chinese National Bank
 
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#267
#267
OrangeTsar said:
It you don’t think our Air Force, who can park a warhead within 10 meters of a target halfway around the world can’t calculate how to land a ballon from 60,000 feet within a ten mile uninhabited circle in the Great Plains, I feel sorry for you
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But, the administration stated they are concerned with the debris field on citizens below.

Has anyone from this administration ever traveled to Montana or the Dakota's region?
 
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#269
#269
ETV said:
But, the administration stated they are concerned with the debris field on citizens below.

Has anyone from this administration ever traveled to Montana or the Dakota's region?
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Administration blowing smoke up our you know what as usual
 
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