Chinese spy balloon spotted flying over US

[Boxer]

Here is my opinion. China is sabre rattling.
The US response was/is to pull out the 'chattering teeth' from the drawer. Nothing coherent comes from the chattering.

This is all so unsettling.
MOO

MOO the real response will not be public.

 

[Eli9]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/china-spy-balloon-1.6735770

''Balloon travelled over Canada, government source tells CBC News''​

Later Friday, the Pentagon acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.

"We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon," U.S. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement, declining to offer further information such as where the second balloon had been spotted.

Biden considered downing balloon​

The U.S. actually had been tracking the first balloon since at least Tuesday, when U.S. President Joe Biden was first briefed, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

According to three U.S. officials, Biden was initially inclined to order the surveillance balloon to be blown out of the sky, and a senior defence official said the U.S. had prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot it down if ordered.''

President Biden was briefed and asked the military to present options, according to a senior administration official, who was also not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive information.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised against taking "kinetic action" because of risks to the safety of people on the ground. Biden accepted that recommendation

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153997635/chinese-spy-balloon-montana-pentagon

 

[Erutan]

President Biden was briefed and asked the military to present options, according to a senior administration official, who was also not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive information.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised against taking "kinetic action" because of risks to the safety of people on the ground. Biden accepted that recommendation

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153997635/chinese-spy-balloon-montana-pentagon

Well alrighty then.
I seriously don't want to risk anyone's safety, but this seems like a weak response.

So, we just allow it to remain in our airspace for several more days ?
A week ?
What if the PRC sends another balloon ?

What about first clearing civilians out of harms' way ... and then either trying to disable it or tow it to the ground ?
They should have done this already when it was over lesser populated areas.

Thinking out loud here.

 

[Betty P]

Well alrighty then.
I seriously don't want to risk anyone's safety, but this seems like a weak response.

So, we just allow it to remain in our airspace for several more days ?
A week ?
What if the PRC sends another balloon ?

What about first clearing civilians out of harms' way ... and then either trying to disable it or tow it to the ground ?
They should have done this already when it was over lesser populated areas.

Thinking out loud here.

The only way to shoot it down before it entered the US would be to shoot it down as it travelled over Canada. Not a good idea.

 

[Erutan]

Ugh:

Dry run: Balloons called top ‘delivery platform’ for nuclear EMP attack

High-altitude balloons, such as the one China has floated over mountain state military bases this week, are considered a key “delivery platform” for secret nuclear strikes on America’s electric grid, according to intelligence officials.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Yes, that's frightening !

Take out America's electric grid/platform for a few months or more and you'd win a war without having to fire a shot.
Almost literally no one can survive without electricity, esp. those in more northern states who do not heat with wood.
Even wood pellets or coal (anyone still use that to heat ?) would fail as you still have to be able to procure those items.


The government needs to find out what kind of intelligence China is taking from us.
It's called protecting this country.
M00.

 

[Erutan]

The only way to shoot it down before it entered the US would be to shoot it down as it travelled over Canada. Not a good idea.

Again, like I said -- the safety of civilians is the top concern.
That's why I suggested moving people out of harm's way.
But there must be other options ?


Could they disable it and tow it to the ground ?
I keep thinking we have the capabilities to do so.
The only reason for ongoing concern is if we're being put in danger.
Imo.

 

[RANCH]

This could be a test run by China to see what our response is.

So far the response is to do nothing and to minimize any kind of news that could cause a reaction from the public against China.

That is a signal to China that the US is weak and will not respond with anything close to military action to prevent further acts by them against us.

Looks like we have open sky's now. And that's very dangerous to the safety of all Americans. JMO.

 

[Eli9]

The only way to shoot it down before it entered the US would be to shoot it down as it travelled over Canada. Not a good idea.

Alaska would have been an option I think.

 

[Arkay]

Yes, that's frightening !

Take out America's electric grid/platform for a few months or more and you'd win a war without having to fire a shot.
Almost literally no one can survive without electricity, esp. those in more northern states who do not heat with wood.
Even wood pellets or coal (anyone still use that to heat ?) would fail as you still have to be able to procure those items.


The government needs to find out what kind of intelligence China is taking from us.
It's called protecting this country.
M00.

This is truly unnerving, IMO.

There must be so many threats to our security from enemies like Iran, Russia, and China. Most of these would be unknown to us, the general public.

Something so overt as this, looming in plain sight over America ----it seems unfathomable. And another one over Latin America.....I'm sure China is saying it blew off course, as well.

I've lived all my life in NYC. On 9/11, the air-traffic controllers were the first to know something was deeply wrong---four airplanes that had diverted from their flight paths.
We didn't know what was coming until it came. Planes flying low and fast, until they crashed into the World Trade Center and into people I knew.

That experience makes me feel nauseous when an enemy's aircraft, even a balloon, is off-course. Two of them loose in the Western world does not feel coincidental to me.


All JMO.

 

[gliving]

Will You See The Balloon From China Over The Tennessee Valley?

There’s been a lot of talk over the past 24 hours about the balloon from China spotted over Montana and then Missouri. Using the last known location of the balloon over eastern Missouri and t…

whnt.com

There’s been a lot of talk over the past 24 hours about the balloon from China spotted over Montana and then Missouri. Using the last known location of the balloon over eastern Missouri and the last known height of 60-66,000 feet, we can run a couple of computer models to show where the balloon may travel in the future based on upper-level winds. The above graphic shows it drifting over Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.



Ensemble plots show a collection of data and the above graphic shows the GFS Ensemble model. The closer the lines, the better the consensus as to where the balloon could track. Both of these images show 96 hours into the future. Eventually, it tracks over the Atlantic.

 

[Betty P]

Ugh:

Dry run: Balloons called top ‘delivery platform’ for nuclear EMP attack

High-altitude balloons, such as the one China has floated over mountain state military bases this week, are considered a key “delivery platform” for secret nuclear strikes on America’s electric grid, according to intelligence officials.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Not necessarily a good source for this kind of information. The balloon has traveled across a large section of the US with no incidents. It will probably be ok. It’s reported in the news media that it’s being escorted by US military jets.

 

[RANCH]

Not necessarily a good source for this kind of information. The balloon has traveled across a large section of the US with no incidents. It will probably be ok. It’s reported in the news media that it’s being escorted by US military jets.

So there's nothing to see here? No worries, the Chinese don't what to hurt us?

 

[Erutan]

Not necessarily a good source for this kind of information. The balloon has traveled across a large section of the US with no incidents. It will probably be ok. It’s reported in the news media that it’s being escorted by US military jets.

My fear is that this could indeed be a 'dry run' ?
This specific balloon may be harmless, but not if it's collecting intelligence information.
Even if it's not taking any information, it's still concerning.
Why is it here ?
Why now ?

I'd love for this all to be a gigantic 'nothing burger', and a misunderstanding of colossal proportions.

However, it feels wrong.

I don't have a drone, but if I did, it'd be for my own property if let's say, I was a farmer or a rancher and needed to check on my stocks' safety without having to drive for miles.
But if I flew it over someone else's land, then yes, that would be trespassing and problematic !
Don't worry I wouldn't do that.

Iirc, there are laws about flying private drones over public land like national parks ?
Try it at a military base and you may receive a fine or worse.
Imo.

 

[Betty P]

So there's nothing to see here? No worries, the Chinese don't what to hurt us?

No, I don’t trust them. I do trust our own military to have checked it out and determined whether this balloon was a threat.

If it had some type of hazardous cargo on board, wouldn’t it be better to shoot it down over the Atlantic Ocean than over the US?

 

[RANCH]

No, I don’t trust them. I do trust our own military to have checked it out and determined whether this balloon was a threat.

If it had some type of hazardous cargo on board, wouldn’t it be better to shoot it down over the Atlantic Ocean than over the US?

The military said it isn't a threat, just a surveillance platform.

So why not bring it down over Montana where it wouldn't hurt anyone and we could really figure out why China sent it over the US and let us analyze their technology?

 

[Betty P]

My fear is that this could indeed be a 'dry run' ?
This specific balloon may be harmless, but not if it's collecting intelligence information.
Even if it's not taking any information, it's still concerning.
Why is it here ?
Why now ?

I'd love for this all to be a gigantic 'nothing burger', and a misunderstanding of colossal proportions.

However, it feels wrong.

I don't have a drone, but if I did, it'd be for my own property if let's say, I was a farmer or a rancher and needed to check on my stocks' safety without having to drive for miles.
But if I flew it over someone else's land, then yes, that would be trespassing and problematic !
Don't worry I wouldn't do that.

Iirc, there are laws about flying private drones over public land like national parks ?
Try it at a military base and you may receive a fine or worse.
Imo.

I live next to a national park and we see drones flying over it more and more often. Saw one flying back there at night recently. JMO, it seems like a good way to lose an expensive toy. It may be illegal, too.

 

[Betty P]

The military said it isn't a threat, just a surveillance platform.

So why not bring it down over Montana where it wouldn't hurt anyone and we could really figure out why China sent it over the US and let us analyze their technology?

I don’t know. I wondered the same thing, myself. The military must have their reasons.Seems like Montana would have been a better place to do that.

 

[DeDee]

A Chinese "weather" data gathering balloon is over the USA for a reason. <modsnip> Because they can! <modsnip> moo

<modsnip>

Live updates: Suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the US

The substructure beneath the suspected Chinese spy balloon, believed by officials to be the steering and surveillance apparatus, is roughly 90 feet, according to a defense official. That's roughly the length of three city buses.

 

[justtrish]

I don’t know. I wondered the same thing, myself. The military must have their reasons.Seems like Montana would have been a better place to do that.

Hi BettyP!

I see on Flighttracker24 that a plane labeled COBRA47 US Air Force plane has been in the sky for nearly 9 hours and it seems to be circling/flying along the possible path the balloon has taken. I plugged the data from the app in to Google and this is what is says about the Boeing RC 135u Combat Sent. Sounds like they are concerned enough to deploy this plane to track it.

RC-135U Combat Sent

The RC-135U Combat Sent provides strategic electronic reconnaissance information to the president, secretary of defense, Department of Defense leaders, and theater commanders.

www.af.mil

 

[ReadySet]

I live in SC and we are currently in the projected path. Of course we should all be worried and expecting something more from our leaders.

I'm not worried. IMO our leaders have it under control.

Looks like we are doing our usual, trying to put together a 500 piece puzzle with only 50 pieces.

A couple pages ago, there were several posts saying there was a huge explosion over Montana. What happened to that? Looks like it's been debunked. Just sayin'.