I really hope this balloon doesn’t fly over NC. A lot of folks around here aren’t the most knowledgeable when it comes to physics but they make up for it with their love of guns and shooting stuff… If a big Chinese target in the sky floats over here it’s going to sound like Baghdad in april of 2003 due to all the rednecks trying to shoot that thing down. I just got a new roof and I really don’t want it full of bullet holes.
I may be ignorant on the subject but will an air to air from a jet track an object with no heat signature? Can it be taken out from the surface? Would be cool if a sub took it out.
Maybe… if the sun is shining on it it might have enough of a heat signature. Radar guided would work - those big solar panels hanging underneath it would give it one heck of a radar return. I’d imagine however that they wouldn’t use a missle. Blowing it up ruins any chance of studying it to see what sensors and capabilities it has on it. 60,000ft is well within the altitude range of an f-15, f-16, f-22, etc. so I imagine they would just send a fighter up and poke a few 20mm sized holes in it to let the helium out. The deflated ballon would act like a large streamer type parachute and slow it down enough that it would probably survive the landing mostly intact. That’s partly why I don’t believe the whole “we can’t shoot it down due to danger to people on the ground” explanation. Unless it is carrying some non-surveillance payload (bomb, biological weapon, etc..) shooting it down using bullets would be a reasonably safe plan. Particularly since we already have 20mm heit-sd ammo (high explosive incendiary tracer - self destructing) for the m61 Vulcan (used on the F-15, F-16, & F-22). The self-destruct being the important part as far as civilians on the ground are concerned.
Air to air is probably cheaper than ground to air. Why it wasn’t taken out over low density areas, like Alaska, Wyoming, Montana… Last elevation I saw was down to 50k. A private plane flying at 43k had a visual around KC.
And if some redneck who won the lottery did decide to fly up in his jet and shoot it down… that would possibly be the most American thing in history.
Article I saw said it was a Cessna citation. But I doubt many business jets are fitted with 50mm toys I didn’t know the citations had a 51k ceiling. I heard a story earlier in the day, Canada said there was a second bogie…I haven’t heard an update.
interesting vid 'supposedly' taken in Montana .. will we ever get straight & honest answers from this POS administration ? ... look at the replies that came from news organizations all over the country “Massive Explosion”: Something Is Happening in the Skies of Montana https://thelibertydaily.com/massive-explosion-something-is-happening-in-the-skies-of-montana/ here is the vid/link https://twitter.com/MMtTreasures/status/1621661908205195265
I think the real problem is our supposed “commander” in chief is so weak he couldn’t knock a sick whore off a ****pot so whenever he hears somebody say China he gets more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
China sensing a country in internal turmoil being led by a weakling. So they are sending a message. Russia and China have been working on weakening us for decades....it's paying off.
