Who had Chinese Spy Balloon on their bingo card?!?

[Ann.without.an.e]

53 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:

Very true.  
 

 

 

Has anyone heard any reports of injuries from some dummy trying to shoot it down?  I’ve seen tweets urging people to try, never mind that it’s 12 miles up.  I’m concerned someone might try and injure innocent by standers.  Boy, that would give the Chinese an insight into our population.  🤣.  

 

 

Nah, it hasn't made it to Florida man yet, right? 😂

[Farrar]

The experts in the media take seems to be nearly universally that whether this was on purpose ("let's see what they do") or not, it's a big fail for the Chinese.

The increasing "we have to shoot it down at all costs" narrative by some people is bonkers. I'm sure we could spend a bunch of money and time and bring it down somehow if we needed to, but if it's not getting anything, why bother spending the money or taking the risk. Why should we shoot down something the size of a small house over places people live? Even the environmental cost wouldn't be awesome if we'd done it in the middle of nowhere.

I was chatting with dh about this and I said that if the US floated a spy balloon over China, we probably would get a good bit of information because the Chinese genuinely are hiding all kinds of stuff. We already have to use satellite imagery to figure out where Uighur "re-education" camps are and how big they are and how many people are lining up to cremate their loved ones who died of the Covid that's supposedly not rampaging. Not to say our government doesn't have secrets. But not in the same way on the same level. You just can't hide things successfully in a relatively free country the way you can in an authoritarian one. But I think the Chinese don't fully get that. They know they have all kinds of secrets, so they assume we have the same level of things we're hiding in the same ways. And that's even if they know on some level that's not quite right. It just goes against how they think about these things. So maybe it's all just a test balloon. But I don' think so.

[Miss Tick]

Once again my ds who spends his free time playing video games is ahead of the curve. When COVID hit he got everybody he knew along with his scout troop set up online, and over the next 18 months his social circle actually expanded (unlike the rest of us). I had to apologize for all my pre-COVID critical remarks about time spent on the computer. Now this crazy balloon is floating across the US and I remember that he is an expert at some video game called "Balloon Tower Defense" Perhaps the game development was backed by the military? Anyway, I asked and he says according to the game we just need to put some monkeys in towers with a bunch of darts. We got this, people!

[Ann.without.an.e]

2 minutes ago, Miss Tick said:

some monkeys in towers with a bunch of darts. We got this, people!

 

Is this the plan you were reading about @Heartstrings ? 🤣   Definitely sounds like prepping in the southeast region (I can say this, I live here) 😂

[Pawz4me]

31 minutes ago, Farrar said:

The experts in the media take seems to be nearly universally that whether this was on purpose ("let's see what they do") or not, it's a big fail for the Chinese.

 

Yeah. Despite partisan political yakking, I don't see any way this looks good for China.

[Faith-manor]

2 hours ago, Ann.without.an.e said:

 

True, true but I have more faith in the people of Montana to stay inside than the people of Florida 😂

Exactly my thoughts as well! I half expect DeSantis himself to go out there with a handgun somehow thinking he can shoot it down himself. The ultimate Florida Man story. 

[Faith-manor]

57 minutes ago, Miss Tick said:

Once again my ds who spends his free time playing video games is ahead of the curve. When COVID hit he got everybody he knew along with his scout troop set up online, and over the next 18 months his social circle actually expanded (unlike the rest of us). I had to apologize for all my pre-COVID critical remarks about time spent on the computer. Now this crazy balloon is floating across the US and I remember that he is an expert at some video game called "Balloon Tower Defense" Perhaps the game development was backed by the military? Anyway, I asked and he says according to the game we just need to put some monkeys in towers with a bunch of darts. We got this, people!

Awesome sauce! 😁

[Heartstrings]

55 minutes ago, Ann.without.an.e said:

 

Is this the plan you were reading about @Heartstrings ? 🤣   Definitely sounds like prepping in the southeast region (I can say this, I live here) 😂

I think this a much better plan than rednecks in fields with AR 15s.   I wonder if this is why those monkeys were stolen from the Dallas Zoo last week?  Maybe that guy was just prepping for this scenario?   🤣

 

I wish I could write screen plays, this would make an excellent adventure movie.  Shark-Nado eat your heart out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Heartstrings

[Heartstrings]

2 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Exactly my thoughts as well! I half expect DeSantis himself to go out there with a handgun somehow thinking he can shoot it down himself. The ultimate Florida Man story. 

I’d pay to watch that live stream. 

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, Heartstrings said:

I’d pay to watch that live stream. 

Bring the popcorn!!!! 🍿🍿🍿🍕🍕🍕🍹🍹🍹

[Beth S]

15 hours ago, Terabith said:

It's actually over near where my friend in Carbondale is.  Can be seen from Paducah right now.  Kinda doubt currents will bring it my way, but maybe.  

Thanks to your tip, @Terabith, I found this on our local news station's coverage!

[Jaybee]

 

[Pawz4me]

Sounds like they may bring it down. Flights have been stopped at Wilmington, NC, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC, until 3:30.

WaPo story (gifted)

Quote

The Pentagon is considering shooting down the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been floating over the United States for several days, U.S. officials acknowledged Saturday after President Biden told reporters, “We’re gonna take care of it.”

Appearing in Syracuse, N.Y., the president smiled and gave a thumbs up when asked directly whether he intends to order the military to bring down the craft.

As the balloon approached the Atlantic Ocean, the FAA, citing an unspecified security situation, announced ground stops for all flights in and out of Wilmington, N.C., Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Charleston, S.C., until 3:30 p.m. In a statement, the agency said the ground stop was to “support the Department of Defense in a national security effort.”

Meanwhile, multiple military aircraft loitered along the Atlantic coast of North and South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of those cities, according to the aircraft tracking site ADS-B Exchange.

 

[Heartstrings]

So instead of bringing it down in Montana then hauling it out to the East Coast they just let it float itself there so it can be closer to whichever military base called dibbs.  Good way to save taxpayer dollars.  

[Pawz4me]

3 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:

So instead of bringing it down in Montana then hauling it out to the East Coast they just let it float itself there so it can be closer to whichever military base called dibbs.  Good way to save taxpayer dollars.  

I think the idea is to do it over the ocean, and before it reaches international waters. But that's just a guess.

[Pawz4me]

AP is reporting that it's down

[Heartstrings]

5 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I think the idea is to do it over the ocean, and before it reaches international waters. But that's just a guess.

I sure hope they fish it back out and don’t just pretend that an enormous balloon sinking to the bottom of the ocean is fine.  Study it, burn it, I don’t care.     Ugh, I hate when they use the ocean as a dumpster.  

[Pawz4me]

Just now, Heartstrings said:

I sure hope they fish it back out and don’t just pretend that an enormous balloon sinking to the bottom of the ocean is fine.  Study it, burn it, I don’t care.     Ugh, I hate when they use the ocean as a dumpster.  

I'm absolutely positive it will be promptly retrieved. No worries about that!

[Farrar]

Wow. I can't believe that the thing I thought would happen, happened. The minute I heard about it, I thought, surely they're just going to bring it down the moment it hits the ocean.

Lol at Biden giving shooting it thumbs up. At least he didn't try to talk about it and put his foot in his mouth in some way.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Farrar

[Faith-manor]

CNN says it had been shot down and will come down in US territorial waters. But the question is, did the Air Force do it or did they hire Florida Man? I am going to be very sad if Florida Man had nothing to do with it!

[Farrar]

4 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

CNN says it had been shot down and will come down in US territorial waters. But the question is, did the Air Force do it or did they hire Florida Man? I am going to be very sad if Florida Man had nothing to do with it!

It happened off Myrtle Beach. As we all know, Myrtle Beach is a colony of Florida Men who have chosen to expatriate. So I think we can still credit the Florida Man.

[Ting Tang]

Never in a gazillion years would I have dreamed something like this happening up!  Of course, I never thought I'd live through a crazy pandemic. Thanks, China!  Anything is possible!

I told my husband that this is not how I hoped my adult life would go.  I just hoped I'd be living in boring times like my childhood. 

[pinball]

Did anyone see the footage of the aftermath? Let me see if I can link it:

 

Ha-ha…just kidding! It was AF, not “A naval aviator”

[Heartstrings]

2 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

old my husband that this is not how I hoped my adult life would go.  I just hoped I'd be living in boring times like my childhood. 

But were times really boring then or was it just that you were blissfully unaware because you were a child?   The past  20, 30, 60+ years have been anything but boring.  

[Ting Tang]

1 hour ago, Heartstrings said:

But were times really boring then or was it just that you were blissfully unaware because you were a child?   The past  20, 30, 60+ years have been anything but boring.  

Oh yes! Of course, some of it is due to a blissful ignorance of childhood. I was born at the right time— I do feel the world is much different for my children. I do hope the balloon is much ado about nothing. It’s so bizarre 

[TravelingChris]

6 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

Oh yes! Of course, some of it is due to a blissful ignorance of childhood. I was born at the right time— I do feel the world is much different for my children. I do hope the balloon is much ado about nothing. It’s so bizarre 

I don't think my kids ever thought we lived in boring times.  I know that dh and I never did.  We are much likely much older than you but our kids are middle to late millenials and never thought it was boring.  

[Heartstrings]

More info is coming out on the balloon now that it’s down.  
 

This article says it’s happened several times before, under different administrations, so this was nothing new.  I think that goes well with my “slow news week” idea.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/02/04/yes-chinese-spy-balloons-flew-over-the-us-when-president-trump-was-in-office-too/amp/

 

I do think is shooting it down is an escalation.  I think that was what had to happen once the public became aware of it though, at least politically.  
 

I can’t find any Good sources but Im seeing some mentions that we’re jamming the transfer of data from the balloon as it was flying through, so it looks like China got little to no intel and but we were able to study it while it was flying over and of course now we have the balloon itself.  Most of that is coming from tweets from people I’ve never heard of but are considered “in the know”, so take that with a grain of salt.  

 

 

[chiguirre]

The Pentagon didn't seem to specify, but my guess is the earlier balloons weren't visible to the naked eye. That's what made this one such a hot topic.