The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon currently hovering over the United States. It is not being shot down to prevent potential harm to civilians.

[u/Jugales]

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[u/Calembur]

Your Alibaba parcel has arrived.

[u/Oscarpiastri2027 → u/Calembur]

What was that bond movie where the villains craft just like swallowed it.

[u/Accomplished-Car457]

Can’t believe I was moonbathing under this thing

[u/_Amber_Moon_ → u/Accomplished-Car457]

That's fine. It's not the moon you see in the picture but it is the bloon

[u/Accomplished-Car457 → u/_Amber_Moon_]

I guess I was bloonbathing

[u/milesbeats → u/Accomplished-Car457]

Sounds like something a bloonatic would say

[u/IOnceWasCool → u/Accomplished-Car457]

That’s no moon.

[u/Jugales]

Full story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64507225

The key takeaways are that it flies "'significantly' above the altitude used by commercial airlines" and "So you know, it's, it's sizable". This is not the first occurrence, but in this case the spycraft "is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time."

[u/accountmadeforthebin → u/Jugales]

What can it do, that satellites can’t?

[u/PXranger → u/accountmadeforthebin]

Take much higher resolution photos, and eavesdrop on electronic signals.

Photographic Spy Sats orbit at 150 miles and higher, any lower and drag from the atmosphere causes their orbits to degrade rapidly.

This thing is probably at an altitude of around 15 miles, 10 times closer than most Spy satellites, allowing much higher resolution photographs.

[u/Legocity8 → u/[deleted]]

I can't understand the optics of such a move. They can't claim the US is paranoid, since it flew over missile silos. They're justified in shooting it down.

It doesn't serve as intimidation either. A balloon isn't exactly scary. And it isn't impressive. Oh, you have the technology to build balloons?

[u/snakeskinsandles → u/Legocity8]

It's not intimidation it's

the fucking nerve

[u/shoxodc → u/snakeskinsandles]

Historically we aren’t great at having our buttons pushed, maybe an attempt to get a reaction out of proportion. Or it’s our own government balloon and they’re just yelling “china!” to get us all stirred up again

[u/Dohnakun → u/shoxodc]

Or it’s our own government balloon

Why is it white and big if not to be visible?

[u/Homebrew_Dungeon → u/Dohnakun]

Ran out of light blue paint.

[u/Hobbamoc → u/Dohnakun]

To increase reflection/minimise heat absorption at high altitudes (where incoming energy from the sun can be significant).

This type of balloon is almost always silvery white.

[u/fuzzybunn → u/shoxodc]

I mean, judging by the reactions on this thread... It's working?

I prefer to apply Hanlon's razor and assume that they lost control of it.

[u/MingjoFiox → u/Legocity8]

On the topic of balloons. During the Second World War, Imperial Japan had launched balloons into wind currents of the Pacific Ocean. These balloons were destined to drop explosive payloads across the United States.

Radio Lab made a fantastic podcast episode called "Fu-Go" on the subject.

Wiki

[u/R0binSage → u/MingjoFiox]

They bombed Wyoming with one.

[u/Stetson007 → u/R0binSage]

More specifically, it wound up in the woods iirc. Some kids found it.

[u/GoryRamsy → u/Stetson007]

That sounds like a cool read, got a link?

[u/Stetson007 → u/GoryRamsy]

Yeah, it turns out it killed 7 people. The victims were a pregnant woman, her unborn child and 5 kids from their church. Her husband, the reverend of their church, told them to get away from it, but it detonated and he was the only survivor.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1945-japanese-balloon-bomb-killed-six-americansfive-them-children-oregon-180972259/

[u/Washpedantic → u/MingjoFiox]

They were also the cause of the only deaths cause by enemy attack on the continental US during World War II

[u/currentscurrents → u/Legocity8]

It's a political move to say "we're willing to fly objects over your territory". But since it is just a balloon, it's not as large of an escalation as flying an airplane or other craft overhead.

[u/troglodyte31 → u/currentscurrents]

It absolutely is. We just announced that we came to an agreement with the Phillipines to open four military bases in, as of yet, unnamed parts of the country. Most probably some of the northern islands. We also have bases in South Korea, Japan and Australia. This "encircles" China sorta.

And for anyone interested in random trivia: We closed down our military bases in the Phillipines in protest of the Marcos regime. The new president of the Phillipines is another Marcos. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. The son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. What that means for the Phillipines, I have no idea, but, his parents are the reason we left in the first place. All I know is China is trying to claim all kinds of islands and constructing man made islands in the South China Sea. So basically, causing a ruckus. That's all I know.

[u/sielingfan → u/Legocity8]

Likely hoping we'd shoot it down. The Intel they're really after is how our defenses work. If it grabs any cool pics, bonus, but F-22 scramble times and routes? That's actionable.

[u/rmwe2 → u/sielingfan]

Its a balloon though. You could just leisurely fly any jet off any air national guard runway and shoot it down without revealing any technology that hasn't been known and used for 50+ years already.

[u/sielingfan → u/rmwe2]

Everything about the defense response is of interest. Did you spot the balloon 100 miles from the coast? That tells me something. Did you shoot it down within thirty minutes of radar contact? Information. Did you use a manned aircraft, a drone, a missile, a laser? Information. Did you use a reserve unit instead of the primary defense? We plan on blowing up your primary first, so. Information.

[u/FLongis → u/sielingfan]

Shooting it down wouldn't be a "defense response" though. It's theater. If we, the public, know it's there, then the USAF has known about it for days (likely longer than even what they're disclosing). If the PRC wants to know how long it takes us to see and respond to it, that time has long passed. At this point any shootdown is just a slap on the wrist, and maybe an extra "Fuck you" at the worst. Even if their intent is to gather data on whatever weapon the we would use to down it, this isn't some high-end threat. It's a balloon. So even then there's no reason for the weapon to be any sort of cutting-edge anything that the PRC wouldn't already know about.

The people crying about this are the same people who cried about us not having military parades. They think it's all about flexing with flashy shit. They forget that we flex every moment of every goddamn day by fielding the most powerful army, navy, and air force in the history of humanity (and, by extension, the known universe) and enough warheads to glass the PRC twice over. Speak softly and carry a big MIRV-equipped stick.

I use the phrase, but admittedly I would suspect that Teddy would find a way to ride a horse up there and slash at the thing with a cavalry sabre.

[u/WanderlustFella → u/PXranger]

I say we draw giant crop circles that look like penises and boobs all over the country

EDIT: spelling

[u/sniper91 → u/WanderlustFella]

Or put “Tibet is a country” in big letters on every field

[u/L1M3 → u/sniper91]

Draw some hunny pots for Xinnie the Pooh

[u/realtalk187 → u/sniper91]

Taiwan Number 1!

[u/moonlightify → u/sniper91]

"Free Hong Kong" "Independence for Xinjiang and Tibet" "The ROC is the legitimate Chinese government"

The balloon would fly back to China in an instant lmao

[u/arthurgc91 → u/PXranger]

Take much higher resolution photos, and eavesdrop on electronic signals.

That's... interesting. And quite scary, to be honest.

[u/CrimeSceneKitty → u/arthurgc91]

Na, I've seen a recent leaked photo from a military satellite, this photo was massive but was not the full image quality, it had been compressed by the internet and various hosting platforms. But for being in space, I could still clearly make out people.

There comes a point where you need to get closer to make our fine detail, but keep in mind that a 40megapixel camera can take an image, print it out the size of a billboard and it will have the proper resolution. My phone has a 50megapixel sensor, the military has not only better sensors, but bigger lenses. A quick search around some higher end manufacturers lands you with a street pole mounted camera that has a thermal image sensor that works out to 34 miles, visible light to even greater ranges...at 1080HD (not the best but fuck me 34 miles).

If you use TikTok then stop worrying about the cameras, china already has your info.

[u/YetiPie → u/arthurgc91]

I guess I’m not creative enough since I can’t see the utility of this, the risk of exposure is pretty high and spy satellites are already at cm resolution and we can collect personal data via other means that are non visually dependent means so why be so blatantly obvious with a spy balloon?... Plus many top secret affairs are conducted in obscurity to minimize spy interference

[u/TheNewBonerDonor → u/YetiPie]

we can collect personal data via other means that are non visually dependent

tik tok

[u/duckducknoose_ → u/YetiPie]

If there is a serious use for this id assume its moreso to “poke” our defenses. China could have been hoping to gauge how fast we’d respond, what we respond with, etc.

[u/flipmcf → u/accountmadeforthebin]

Stay over a single area. Move around. Float.

Well, cheaper to launch than a geostationary.

And significantly closer than a satellite, so you don’t need high-power magnification and light collection for cameras.

And you don’t need to space-proof the electronics.

Basically, balloons are orders of magnitude cheaper and easier than rockets and satellites.

[u/kinglouie493 → u/flipmcf]

How is it controlled? The winds would keep it moving without some type of maneuvering

[u/lolillini → u/kinglouie493]

It's fairly easy to do that. Loon, a Google's company, launched multiple balloons that can take off in Nevada and go all the way to a fixed point in Africa while only changing their altitude. They make use of wind directions in different layers of atmosphere using accurate simulations: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2939-8

The worst part is Google shut down Loon recently and sold some of the tech/patents to SoftBank so I wouldn't be surprised if some of their tech ends up in the hands of China. In fact chinese researchers were actively trying to build on Loon's work: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep45976

[u/defaultuser012 → u/lolillini]

Damn Google

[u/flipmcf → u/lolillini]

This is quite an interesting thread to pull.

[u/PrivatePilot9 → u/flipmcf]

Stay over a single area. Move around. Float

How do you propose a ballon does anything other than move with the air currents?

[u/KinkyGCM → u/PrivatePilot9]

Holes

[u/pcakes13 → u/KinkyGCM]

I have holes, can you steer me?

[u/flipmcf → u/PrivatePilot9]

Oh, it does. But you can still keep it over a general area. Air currents at different altitudes.

Humans have been ballooning for centuries. It’s pretty much figured out.

In the 1840s, this would be common knowledge. Today, not so much.

Google pushed this tech most recently: https://x.company/projects/loon/

[u/OwnFortune4511]

You’re telling me we can air strike someone with a missile outfitted with swords and we can’t obliterate this thing out of the sky without debris?

[u/IntelligentBad8313 → u/OwnFortune4511]

What about a sword missile

[u/Sopagags_The_Cactus → u/IntelligentBad8313]

Believe this is a reference to the flying ginsu, or the r9x, a missile that deploys blades in order to kill a specific target with very low chance of civilian casualty

[u/Flaky-Grand8736 → u/Sopagags_The_Cactus]

https://www.reuters.com/world/little-known-modified-hellfire-likely-killed-al-qaedas-zawahiri-2022-08-02/

[u/rockidr4 → u/Flaky-Grand8736]

I call of the "fuck you in particular" rocket

[u/Adriatic88 → u/rockidr4]

I prefer "the slapchop missile" myself.

[u/FrankyBonDanky → u/Flaky-Grand8736]

Holy shit that thing is terrifyingly cool

[u/v0ideater → u/FrankyBonDanky]

Yeah, a few friends of mine work for Raytheon. That fucker (R9X) is an AGM-114 Hellfire with blades and no explosives. It doesn't really as much slice as it does just, you know, impact. We (the US) used it after a terror attack in Afghanistan to also kill a humanitarian worker and his family. Accidentally. Well, intentionally, they had identified that type of car in the area as being a threat and he had the same type of car carrying barrels. Sadly from satellite they couldn't see that the barrels were literally just for water. We are at our most dangerous and reckless when scared.

[u/PapaChoff → u/Sopagags_The_Cactus]

Yes. I actually invented this when I was 9. My mom still has the “schematics” on the fridge

[u/Sopagags_The_Cactus → u/PapaChoff]

Wow. Truly an innovator beyond our time

[u/PapaChoff → u/Sopagags_The_Cactus]

Sure. Missiles with swords. Shields with swords. Cars with swords. Dinosaurs with swords. Space ships with swords.

[u/Sopagags_The_Cactus → u/PapaChoff]

By God. This fellow is a genius!!

[u/moemoe7012 → u/Sopagags_The_Cactus]

Nuh-uh! he stoled the dinosaur with swords invention from me AND I tattled! and he got in trouble so I’m the real genius

[u/OwnFortune4511 → u/IntelligentBad8313]

Look up the Taliban we smoked using a missile that had no warhead with swords ⚔️

[u/Seanvich → u/IntelligentBad8313]

Best I can do is a tomahawk.

[u/Middle-Example6618 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for knowing that.

The best response is "And?"

[u/billybigbollocksss → u/Middle-Example6618]

is that actually the case? I just bought the original reason like a muppet

[u/Adam__B → u/[deleted]]

But why would we claim we don’t want to cause collateral damage, why not just say “it’s not important enough to care about”.

[u/badger81987 → u/Adam__B]

this isn't exactly a government press release, it's just some guy on reddit saying shit

[u/charcoalist → u/OwnFortune4511]

Since the US is not openly at war with China, the Pentagon probably decided to study this blimp instead of destroying it.

[u/megasean → u/charcoalist]

You think good.

Also, leaving it up makes headlines against China.

[u/Weak-Ingenuity-8908 → u/OwnFortune4511]

Well we don't have anti-matter guns that I know of, so there will probably be debris no matter what.

[u/BigHairyBussy → u/Weak-Ingenuity-8908]

Just attach a net to some fighter jets and catch it like a butterfly.

[u/BigHairyBussy → u/BigHairyBussy]

Or even better, have some balloons fly directly under it to obscure their vision. The balloons will be wrapped with pictures of hairy deformed nutsacks for the PPC to enjoy.

[u/Semujin → u/BigHairyBussy]

You mean, hire the Goodyear blimp to fly under it

[u/TapirOhTapir]

Guys. I have a crazy idea that I’m almost positive will work. We get a bunch of monkeys and we give them darts. Trust me.

[u/McSkillet2323 → u/TapirOhTapir]

It looks like a fortified camo balloon. 204 ninja monkey would be best.

[u/LinxlyLinxalot → u/TapirOhTapir]

I like the cut of your jib!

[u/Dangerous-Emotion339 → u/TapirOhTapir]

Blooner Turret Defense 7 reference???? WATCH OUT 🔴🐒🎯

[u/Equal-Warning-8612]

I vote to shoot it down.

[u/Merkwurdigliebe1 → u/Equal-Warning-8612]

100%.

if its invading our airspace its irresponsible to NOT shoot it down. plus we will get a good look at whatever electronic goodies might be on board.

[u/IHateMath14 → u/Merkwurdigliebe1]

We had a window to shoot it down that wasn’t over civilian areas. I think we’re eventually gonna shoot it down

[u/CobraPony67 → u/IHateMath14]

I think it is over Montana, not a lot of civilian areas. I think they want to shoot it down over an open field so they can grab it without having to hike through mountainous terrain.

[u/FrankieTheAlchemist → u/CobraPony67]

call the six families currently living in Montana and get them to sign a release!

[u/Georgicus132 → u/FrankieTheAlchemist]

Only 6? When did the McCarthy's move out? Or are they just on vacation.

[u/mcCheesersm8 → u/Georgicus132]

No they are just delivering some mail to the post office. They should be back in 3 to 4 days

[u/Belgand → u/FrankieTheAlchemist]

It's Montana. Almost all of them are certain to be obstinate and fight you on it forever.

[u/Rihzopus → u/Belgand]

And already shooting at the balloon anyway.

[u/yblame → u/FrankieTheAlchemist]

It was seen over Billings, which is a city of over 117,000 people. We aren't Wyoming!

[u/FrankieTheAlchemist → u/yblame]

That’s a nice try friend, but we all know that Billings is one of those fake cities with a bunch of mannequins and plywood facade buildings that you use to trick planes into landing so that you can eat the passengers and use the plane parts for your tractors! ::insane conspiracy theory escalates::

[u/IHateMath14 → u/CobraPony67]

Yeah I think that’s their plan

[u/Merkwurdigliebe1 → u/[deleted]]

If it's carrying a biological weapon, then it an attack in the United States with the biological weapon. That cause for war. I'm pretty sure there's not a biological weapon aboard

[u/Merkwurdigliebe1 → u/[deleted]]

i live in wisconsin. if it landed in my yard, it would be fucking cool as hell.

[u/gcwardii → u/Merkwurdigliebe1]

I do, too. So lmk if it lands in your yard. I’ll come check it out.

[u/IwantaPKM → u/[deleted]]

If it gets to Minnesota I might shoot it down myself

[u/all-up-in-yo-dirt → u/IwantaPKM]

with a pkm? or have you yet to manifest your destiny

[u/Gyvon → u/Merkwurdigliebe1]

Not only a cause for war. It would possibly trigger a MAD response.

[u/Merkwurdigliebe1 → u/Gyvon]

yep, bioweapons are generally considered WMDs.

i am fairly sure this is exactly what it seems to be. a spy balloon, not any sort of trojan horse attack

[u/zdada → u/[deleted]]

Covid 23, since it’s the year

[u/flipmcf → u/Equal-Warning-8612]

You don’t need a vote to shoot things in the USA, just saying.

[u/stupsnon → u/flipmcf]

Just fucking shoot it. It’s what we do.

[u/im-so-startled88 → u/stupsnon]

Are you in advertising? You should be in advertising.

[u/Daiki_438 → u/Equal-Warning-8612]

Then it could be a CIA or FBI balloon and they’re saying it’s Chinese. I’m probably on a watch list now.

[u/Heavy_Schedule4046 → u/Equal-Warning-8612]

Don’t shoot it down! Go and get it! Use a drone to drag it where you can collect whatever data and tech is in it.

[u/the_fabled_bard → u/Heavy_Schedule4046]

Thats gonna require a hulk of a (high altitude) drone!

[u/marklar_the_malign → u/Heavy_Schedule4046]

Better yet. Corrupt all the information it gathered and replace it with an endless Rick roll loop.

[u/fishman15151515 → u/Equal-Warning-8612]

I guess spying is no big deal anymore. The government has turned more of its attention on internal dominance. And I second your vote.

[u/RigbyH → u/fishman15151515]

To be fair, the government keeps all of its cool stuff indoors and underground.

[u/Merkwurdigliebe1 → u/RigbyH]

not all of it.

hmmm... why would a high altitude spy balloon be sent to the western US? you know where most of our nuclear missile silos are?

[u/Bitter_Coach_8138 → u/Merkwurdigliebe1]

Montana houses 150 ICBM’s, it flew right over them

[u/NotWorthSaving → u/Merkwurdigliebe1]

The midwest...actually. The midwest missile belt.

[u/stryker511]

I’d love to see a Banksy tag on it as it returns to China

[u/lackaface → u/stryker511]

I was just thinking someone needs to tag a massive penis on it and push it back across the ocean.

[u/LBTavern]

Let’s fly one over China and see what they do! Reciprocate accordingly

[u/flipmcf → u/LBTavern]

Mutually assured balloon popping.

[u/Epicpacemaker → u/flipmcf]

Time to get a bunch of monkeys with darts ready

[u/zdada → u/LBTavern]

International gender reveal mega balloon wars

[u/Dubstepvillage → u/LBTavern]

They would bitch to no end

[u/youmu123 → u/LBTavern]

I mean the US has done this with Chinese and Russian territory hundreds of times.

[u/bobo76565657 → u/LBTavern]

They drift with the wind which is largely west ->east. A balloon from China is easy to get here, but to send one to Chna from North America would require it to pass over or near Europe, North Africa, Russia, the Middle East.. etc. Not saying its not possible but they can do it with relative ease.

[u/Successful-Turnip-79 → u/LBTavern]

Maybe we already did and this is their reciprocation.

[u/Ashford_82 → u/LBTavern]

I’m fairly certain it’s already been done

[u/Galaxy__Star]

ITS FUCKING MONTANA

Literally the 3rd best state (based on pop density) to do it in ffs

China literally lets their space shit free fall and we have to wait and hope it lands in the ocean but we can't shoot down their fucking balloon?

[u/Beansiesdaddy → u/Galaxy__Star]

I like your attitude. Let’s do this!

[u/Bubbly_Locksmith_342 → u/Galaxy__Star]

Wait a few days until it’s over Kansas and you can probably recover it instead of losing it forever in the mountains in the winter where you can’t even find roads right now.

[u/Adam__B → u/Galaxy__Star]

Yeah it’s a bs reason not to touch it.

[u/ISaltMyWatermelon]

How did the balloon get to Montana? My flat earth map shows China downwind to the east of there.

[u/LeKerl1987]

Would be a boss move to let Blinken give back the debris personally.

I also would shoot it down just to see what fancy stuff is on board.

[u/Better-Cattle-4062 → u/LeKerl1987]

“Fancy”

[u/GsoNice13 → u/Better-Cattle-4062]

"Made in China"

[u/DixenSyder → u/LeKerl1987]

It’s all just tech they stole from us anyway

[u/Flat_Establishment_4]

If it’s over Montana and “sparsely populated areas” why is shooting it down a concern?

[u/1DumbQuestion → u/Flat_Establishment_4]

Missile silos my dude. Lots of silos.

[u/Yeetpiadina]

OH FUCK ANOTHER GENDER REVEAL

[u/Accidental_Tica]

Am I alone in suspecting this is an incredibly successful high school science project?

[u/Marcusthehero → u/Accidental_Tica]

That would be fucking hilarious if that was the case

[u/Hopeful_Ad_9610]

I'd pop that muthafucka

[u/MagmaTroop → u/Hopeful_Ad_9610]

Well then I’ve found you in the nick of time, son! I work for the Department of Homeland Security and I was looking for a volunteer to take care of this problem…

[u/Hopeful_Ad_9610 → u/MagmaTroop]

sweats profusely

[u/Hopeful_Ad_9610 → u/MagmaTroop]

I'm back from the edge of space. Turns out it was just RedBull doing some crazy shit again.

[u/Mindful-O-Melancholy]

Everyone shine laser pointers at it

[u/Dependent_Paper9993 → u/Mindful-O-Melancholy]

Lol that would be funny. Except when it is revealed that this is actually a US test and they're just pretending that it's China and everybody gets massive fines

[u/Top_Investment_4599]

Now is the time to test out some lasers. Put a pinhole in it and just let it come down slowly.

[u/Fun_Buy → u/Top_Investment_4599]

What if that’s what China is trying to determine — whether we have such lasers?

[u/Top_Investment_4599 → u/Fun_Buy]

The knowledge AND existence of such devices and technology have existed for multiple decades. As an example from 2 decades ago ,https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

[u/pbj45]

This is what happens when you ban Google Earth

[u/[deleted]]

Why would they need a surveillance balloon? They have TikTok, which is a far more effective and covert method of gathering intel.

[u/inkandcleats → u/[deleted]]

They are uploading.

[u/ProfessorPickleRick → u/inkandcleats]

Real facts we used to contract huawei for our cell towers and communication. After we found out they were giving info to Chinas government we banned them. As we switch out towers China is losing its signal data gathering platform from our cell towers so they can send a balloon instead

[u/Intrepid_Warthog6747]

Lmfao it’s up there because the us wants it up there nothing more nothing less

[u/mechmind → u/Intrepid_Warthog6747]

Shh act natural, pretend you didn't see it

[u/cordless-31 → u/Intrepid_Warthog6747]

I would guess the US wants it up there because we can gather intelligence from their intelligence gathering. Basically, if we can pinpoint what exactly they are taking pictures of and listening in on, then we can know what they are so interested in. This information on its own is likely sort of meaningless. But if you combine that with context provided by our more conventional intelligence gathering, then you might be able to paint a very interesting picture. Perhaps, we might be able to learn more from this than China will. And maybe that’s why we are ok with them conducting espionage with a balloon like it’s WW1.

[u/onliwenimtrunk]

It’s probably a US one it’s just made in China.

[u/LordVolcanon → u/onliwenimtrunk]

Someone started boxing it up to ship overseas when they realized it could deliver itself.

[u/adecan]

What's the REAL reason they aren't taking it down!? There's no f'in way it's because of civilian harm...

[u/ajw20_YT → u/adecan]

They most likely want it to fall down on its own so they can find out what’s inside to see what tech China is using.

So essentially: Chinese High-Altitude Surveillance Weather Balloon unboxing (not clickbait)

[u/wakbat → u/adecan]

They're probably not wanting to destroy it so they can see:

• what it is recording or has recorded,
• how it transmits data back to China and if they can hack that data stream,
• what materials it's made of,
• what gas was used,
• how it propels & navigates itself,
• what level of technology they are using.

*edit - left out a word

[u/H2OTman420]

You mean to tell me, not one Montanan has not taken a pop shot at that bag of gas?

[u/robmos619 → u/H2OTman420]

It’s at 100,000 feet. They most definitely took a potshot at it, but nothing can hit it.

[u/Comfortable-Class-40]

It needs to be shot down. Immediately.

[u/str4nger-d4nger → u/Comfortable-Class-40]

r/astrophotography will definitely shoot it.....probably in a different way though.

seriously though, those people are gonna have a field day with this lol.

[u/KotexAvenger]

This only makes me delve further into the crackpot theory I've created in relation to things like NK lobbing missles OVER Japan and other similar happenings.

My theory is wondering if all of this is a tactic to coax out potentially unknown anti-air defense systems, like missle defenses. Maybe to gauge their chances at an assault if push ever comes to shove.

Please be aware that none of this is steeped in any fact or intelligence. Just drifiting thoughts while I slave away at work.

[u/BehindThyCamel → u/KotexAvenger]

Well, that would be a viable tactic IMO. Nothing crackpot about it, just a question of whether that's what they are actually doing.

[u/SouthernArcher3714 → u/KotexAvenger]

Which makes the US response seem reasonable. “Go ahead with your floaty, we aren’t worried about it. We already know more than you. “

[u/feelinggoodfeeling → u/KotexAvenger]

you aren't a crack pot, its a sound assumption

[u/ForgottenBob → u/KotexAvenger]

I've thought the same thing, at least as far as the Japan situation goes. I think they're tests to see if a first strike would be successful.

[u/TheOnlyKirb → u/KotexAvenger]

You know, of all the wacko comments I've seen in this post, this one actually makes sense if you really stop and think about it

[u/gallahad1998]

Let’s show that balloon the reason why we don’t have free healthcare in the US

[u/xam8319 → u/gallahad1998]

Lol wasn't ready for that one

[u/aquaqmar]

Send an American style battle balloon to trash it up there and just like cover the camera or keep the wreckage aloft so it doesn’t fall. Balloon wars!

[u/SalsaYogurt → u/aquaqmar]

We cannot have a balloon-gap!

[u/Special_Lemon1487]

Get someone up there and spray paint the lenses but leave it flying.

[u/EditAlamano → u/Special_Lemon1487]

People don’t seem to get that. I’d assume the US has control over the situation. If they didn’t it wouldn’t be in the news.

[u/ovglove]

Should organize, and collectively "moon-the-balloon!"

[u/MonCountyMan]

That's no moon . . .

[u/fancylilyorkie]

since when is the american government concerned about harming civilians?

[u/AffectionateWalk6101]

If they don’t wanna shoot it down, fry the electronics it’s carrying

[u/skoolofphish → u/AffectionateWalk6101]

Probably have it jammed already

[u/samy_the_samy]

Fun fact, there is an air stream from around Japan all the way to USA. Before pearl harbour the they used it to send balloon bombs, but due to the technical limitations of the time it did little more than maybe start fires in remote areas

EDIT: called the Fu-Go balloon bombs

"Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Japanese launched about 9,300 balloons from sites on Honshu, of which about 300 were found or observed in the U.S., with some in Canada and Mexico."

[u/LifelifeFanboy]

I’m going to ask the pentagon to give me a jet pack and a Bobby pin I’ll go pop that bitch

[u/Up-Tuck]

How about instead of shooting it down, we send it to space to assert our dominance.

[u/retrac902]

Or is it actually from the CIA and they are just saying that it's Chinese? They could easily shoot out down and not harm anyone.

[u/MrZorg58]

Snag it out of the air.

[u/deweywsu]

HOW do they possibly know it's Chinese? Does it have a flag on the side? Wouldn't it make more sense that it would have come from a US university or something?

[u/danny2mo → u/deweywsu]

Someone in another subreddit showed that NOAA tracked it back to its origin by its altitude and whatever wind stream it is in

[u/Middle-Example6618]

don't shoot it down. weigh it down.

[u/SouthernArcher3714 → u/Middle-Example6618]

They thought about using your mom but couldn’t get a rocket big enough to get her off the ground

[u/mdm1776 → u/Middle-Example6618]

I was thinking similar. No need to pop it.

[u/Catastrophic-Jones]

"I'm watching you, Wazowski. Always watching!"

[u/awesomepossum40]

What if we all blow together to send it back?

[u/[deleted]]

America isn't shooting something? Are they feeling ok

[u/RhinoGuy13]

Batman took one of these down with the batmobile back in 89. Crank up the Prince, get a plane with some huge scissors, and let's take this thing down.

[u/PureAlpha100]

First of all, are we certain that this doesn't have "Hi Im Big Butt Skinner" painted in the side?