Spy Balloon

[ABikerSailor]

We can literally see it from the ground....it could be done....the DOD didn't say it wasn't possible.

Yes, you can see it from the ground with high powered binoculars or a telescope. Doesn't mean that it's easy to take down, especially when it's at 60,000 ft (in unregulated airspace incidentally) and the service ceiling for the vast majority of our jets (height they can operate up to) is around 50,000 ft. Yeah, you could get a Blackbird up there, as they are designed to be able to fly at that altitude, but how in the hell are you going to shoot something down when you're travelling at Mach 2?

 

[Rambunctious]

We allowed Russian spy ships to watch and record our ships doing operations without shooting them out of the water. Why? Because they were in international waters, and no action could be taken against them until they were aggressive toward us first.

The continental US is not international waters... first its a balloon what will it be next time?... think man... China is our number one enemy on earth.... they could put anything under that balloon.... and this president just lets it fly right over one of the most strategic states in the nation....

 

[jbrownson0831]

Wow...............you get scared easily, don't you? Really? You were scared that Obama was going to turn the nuclear codes over to the Muslim Brotherhood? Even if he did do that, what would they do with them? How would they get close enough to the gear to use them, and how in the hell would they be able to do anything with them before they were changed?

Wow....do you ever have a sane thought about what Poopeypants and his ilk are doing to this country?

 

[BlindBoo]

It's a test run for their EMP device. The next one gets blasted over the Pacific.

 

[Rambunctious]

What can this balloon do that their satellites cannot do?

That's the point we don't know and it seems we don't care.... ever heard of a dry run?...

 

[ABikerSailor]

The continental US is not international waters... first its a balloon what will it be next time?... think man... China is our number one enemy on earth.... they could put anything under that balloon.... and this president just lets it fly right over one of the most strategic states in the nation....

Guess you missed the part about the balloon being in unregulated airspace. That means it's at a height that is unregulated, something similar to a ship being in international waters.

 

[whitehall]

It's alleged that Biden wanted to shoot it down but the Pentagon refused. How is that possible? At any rate it seems that nobody in the government wants to shoot this thing down for some reason. Can it be filled with biological weapons? Talk to us Joe.

 

[jbrownson0831]

It's alleged that Biden wanted to shoot it down but the Pentagon refused. How is that possible? At any rate it seems that nobody in the government wants to shoot this thing down for some reason. Can it be filled with biological weapons? Talk to us Joe.

Which guy at the Pentagon? The guy who is really a guy or the guy/gal who doesn't know what it is.....

 

[iamwhatiseem]

It's a test run for their EMP device. The next one gets blasted over the Pacific.

They can simply use Russia's torpedo missiles Poseidon to deliver that which would only provide approximately 7-8 second warning.

 

[Ralph Norton]

First off, the balloon is in unregulated air space, meaning that it could set off an incident if it was shot down.

Second, the F22's service ceiling is 50,000 ft. The balloon is floating at 60,000 ft,

Why is it unregulated? What is the altitude limit for a nations' air space?

 

[Ralph Norton]

How exactly do you propose we capture it?

Tractor beam.

 

[Frankenstein]

I imagine we can and should shoot it down but that would also give China the right to shoot down our satellites spying on them.

This is not a satellite it's a balloon.

 

[Ralph Norton]

What can this balloon do that their satellites cannot do?

 

[ABikerSailor]

Tractor beam.

Yeah....................call up Capt. Kirk and have him bring the Enterprise right over to retrieve that thing.

 

[Frankenstein]

The Air Force is going to attempt to capture the instrument package. We will see how that plays out the next few hours. The one danger is a self-destruct mechanism.

That would not go well for China!

 

[Rambunctious]

Guess you missed the part about the balloon being in unregulated airspace. That means it's at a height that is unregulated, something similar to a ship being in international waters.

And if it had a nuclear device hanging below it?... our airspace belongs to us... we determine where the lines are... and we determine what a potential threat is... or we use to.... pick up any book on electromagnetic pulse weapons.....

 

[pknopp]

Do not try to rewrite our recent history... Trump had conditions that were not being met and that's why he didn't remove us from Afghanistan.... its that simple... Biden had no conditions as we can all now see....

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/politics/lindsey-graham-trump-afghanistan/index.html

 

[ABikerSailor]

This is not a satellite it's a balloon.

Yes, it's a balloon, not a satellite. But it's still in unregulated airspace, and if we shot it down, that would be similar to shooting down one of their satellites. It's not the object itself as it's where the object is located. If it were at a lower altitude, then we would have every right to shoot it down. But, since it's in unregulated airspace (similar to a ship being in international waters) we don't.

 

[B. Kidd]

DOD is contemplating the whiteness of the balloon.

 

[Rust_Cohle]