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Chinese spy balloon over US

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Chinese spy balloon over US

Old 2nd Feb 2023, 22:41
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Chinese spy balloon over US

https://www.yourbigsky.com/billings-...ing-statement/

Harking back to Japanese fire balloons in WWII?!
Not the first time in recent years - and they don't want to take `kinetic action' (FFS, just say shoot it down) because of the danger of debris to those on the ground.


Last edited by tartare; 2nd Feb 2023 at 23:02.
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Old 2nd Feb 2023, 23:16
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Probably an Alibaba order gone astray.
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Old 2nd Feb 2023, 23:20
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Originally Posted by tartare
https://www.yourbigsky.com/billings-...ing-statement/

Harking back to Japanese fire balloons in WWII?!
Not the first time in recent years - and they don't want to take `kinetic action' (FFS, just say shoot it down) because of the danger of debris to those on the ground.

https://twitter.com/wildweatherdan/s...052801/photo/1

https://www.news.com.au/technology/i...62bde74004dac5


also last year, sighting over Philippines

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dipl...outh-china-sea




cheers

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Old 2nd Feb 2023, 23:37
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Yes, we had a thread about this somewhere, the airfield and the giant hangar for it, and how it was based on a US military experiment; this was also seen observing Taiwan.
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 00:09
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Only 98 more to go.
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 02:11
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Balloon is over the Montana Minuteman III silo areas - now has 2 x F-22A + KC-10 tanker heading there

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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 02:14
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Would be interesting to get hands on the payload.
But I guess too high for any type of drone with scissors...!
Wonder if it'll `drift' south-east over Whiteman...?
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 02:14
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 02:14
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Senior Defense Official Holds a Background Briefing on High-Altitude Surveillance BalloonKey points:

Very high confidence aircraft is PRC asset

Aircraft is a surveillance asset

Limited surveillance value relative to other PRC surveillance assets

PRC officials have been engaged “with urgency”
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 03:34
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Question raised by that briefing: If they have taken steps against surveillance from the balloon, but LEO satellites provide similar or better coverage then doesn't that run a risk of creating an observable delta? OTOH, It can certainly be a good time for a solid misinformation plan. Are there any secret carrot farms now laid out in the area? Lots of radio chatter concerning Christopher Robin's woodland friend?

The AF is not saying the altitude, but a couple of people with theodolites or sextants could get some known separation to find that out, most easily around dawn or dusk. About 2 -5 miles ought to be enough for non-precision equipment to manage a +/-5% estimate (any school children in Montana looking for a project?) Decent astronomical telescopes should have sufficient precision to get better results. Don't forget to correct for curvature of the Earth!
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 04:59
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No nation has yet claimed ownership, therefore it must be a hazard to high altitude navigation and should be removed.

IG
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 05:13
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If a drone or balloon with a telescope was to hover over my garden I would shoot it down.
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 06:43
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They always blame balloons..
...Its Aliens I tell you !!!
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 06:47
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Originally Posted by tartare
https://www.yourbigsky.com/billings-...ing-statement/

Harking back to Japanese fire balloons in WWII?!
Not the first time in recent years - and they don't want to take `kinetic action' (FFS, just say shoot it down) because of the danger of debris to those on the ground.

https://twitter.com/wildweatherdan/s...052801/photo/1
Yeah, Montana being so densely populated......not.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/st...ana-population

behind only Alaska and Wyoming in terms of least densley populated states in the US....
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 08:48
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To be fair, at least the Chinese "weather balloons" actually look like weather balloons...
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 09:11
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Originally Posted by Imagegear
No nation has yet claimed ownership, therefore it must be a hazard to high altitude navigation and should be removed.

IG
Who is navigating that high except other balloons?
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 09:15
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Wonder if its steerable? Photo on BBC seems to show solar type panels hanging below it. Any unusual movements from Chinese vessels in N Atlantic? Wot goes up, must come down.......
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 10:29
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Originally Posted by ROC man
Wonder if its steerable?
The similar Google Loon balloons 'steered' by changing altitude to get into suitable winds. Seemed quite effective for use as a radio relay.

"Google's Project Loon uses controllable altitude superpressure balloons to achieve flights of over 300 days.["

Google Loon is now closed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loon_LLC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpressure_balloon
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/k...loon-balloons/

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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 10:40
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Very interesting JimJim. So it just needs the jetstream data nobbling before publication.......
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Old 3rd Feb 2023, 11:28
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Yeah, Montana being so densely populated......not.
Yes, Montana is about 50% larger than the UK in area and has only 2% of the population - about one million. It's a big state - 550 miles east-west and 300 miles north south.

​​​​​​​You could shoot the balloon down with minimal risk of hitting anyone!
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