Chinese “Weather Balloon” Enters US Air Space

Drathnoxis

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On the one hand: I'm 100% certain it's not a meteorological observatory balloon, and that its there to spy on infrastructure/ military shit.

On the other (more important) hand: this kind of spying is not unusual. This particular vehicle might be unusual, but... to pretend spying on infrastructure/military capabilities is some red line being crossed? Its not. The US, China, and Russia do it all the time (as do quite a few other powers, but those three are by a long way the biggest culprits). For the US to act as if some red line is being crossed, while they're actively spying on the equivalent forces in dozens of other countries, is moronic.
Do the Chinese even need a balloon to spy? Couldn't they just use a satellite to take whatever pictures of the US they want?
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Do the Chinese even need a balloon to spy? Couldn't they just use a satellite to take whatever pictures of the US they want?
Yes, there is no benefit to the balloon, I would be shocked if it was more then an accident that was blown out of proportion by republicans that will ***** about Biden for any possible reason and make issues out of everything since they have no solutions so all they do is look for things that can be problems to whine about.
 

Absent

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Also, if it was a spy balloon, and if it gathered valuable information, would there be a benefit (other than symbolic) in shooting it down after it passed over the usa ?

I genuinely wonder. The question being, do these thingies transmit in real time or is the data gathered after they deflate and land somewhere ?
 

SilentPony

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Also, if it was a spy balloon, and if it gathered valuable information, would there be a benefit (other than symbolic) in shooting it down after it passed over the usa ?

I genuinely wonder. The question being, do these thingies transmit in real time or is the data gathered after they deflate and land somewhere ?
My guess would be it was staged, but by the US government. They have spies in every nation's Government in the entire world, and anyone pretending otherwise is fooling themselves. The Pentagon probably knew about the balloon weeks ago, knew its mission, its capabilities, its route, manufacturer, etc...They probably staged things along the route, either to show the Chinese government false information, or to let the Chinese government know that they(the US) knows about the balloon.
So now we have a situation were the US knows that the Chinese know that the US knows that the Chinese know the US knows. Meaning the Chinese now need to conduct reviews all along the chain of command and manufacturing to find out how the US knew. Its the US's way of fucking with them.
"Hey our spies told us everything, and any pictures you got could be compromised as false intelligence, and we got your spy balloon and you look bad on the international scene."
So now Chinese officials will get even more paranoid and cut-throat to their own.
 

Baffle

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Tiktok marketing stunt IMO. Like those fucking obelisks that kept popping up for a bit.
 

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So now we have a situation were the US knows that the Chinese know that the US knows that the Chinese know the US knows. Meaning the Chinese now need to conduct reviews all along the chain of command and manufacturing to find out how the US knew. Its the US's way of fucking with them.
"Hey our spies told us everything, and any pictures you got could be compromised as false intelligence, and we got your spy balloon and you look bad on the international scene."
Relevant.
 
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TheMysteriousGX

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Re: bullets vs missiles, bullets are actually lousy at taking down high altitude balloons. They're so high up that they don't have *that* much pressure in them and they just kinda hang out there for days with bullet holes anyway. The missile explodes nearby and just kinda shreds the whole thing

Also, if it was a spy balloon, and if it gathered valuable information, would there be a benefit (other than symbolic) in shooting it down after it passed over the usa ?
We can find out what they wanted to find out, and what potential information they got through the jamming.
 

Gordon_4

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Re: bullets vs missiles, bullets are actually lousy at taking down high altitude balloons. They're so high up that they don't have *that* much pressure in them and they just kinda hang out there for days with bullet holes anyway. The missile explodes nearby and just kinda shreds the whole thing


We can find out what they wanted to find out, and what potential information they got through the jamming.
It’s funny, my thinking was they used a missile because it’s detonation would produce functionally harmless debris compared to a burst from any mounted canon because well, gravity is an immutable law and those 20mm shells gotta go somewhere.
 

Silvanus

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The idea that perfectly innocent meteorological survey equipment larger than several vans is sent from one global powerhouse to the airspace of another without telling them first is truly laughable. They're not just completely unaware of the basics of airspace law; they're not idiots.

The important bit is that it's not particularly exceptional, and the US undoubtedly does it all the time.
 
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Thaluikhain

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My guess would be it was staged, but by the US government. They have spies in every nation's Government in the entire world, and anyone pretending otherwise is fooling themselves. The Pentagon probably knew about the balloon weeks ago, knew its mission, its capabilities, its route, manufacturer, etc...They probably staged things along the route, either to show the Chinese government false information, or to let the Chinese government know that they(the US) knows about the balloon.
So now we have a situation were the US knows that the Chinese know that the US knows that the Chinese know the US knows. Meaning the Chinese now need to conduct reviews all along the chain of command and manufacturing to find out how the US knew. Its the US's way of fucking with them.
"Hey our spies told us everything, and any pictures you got could be compromised as false intelligence, and we got your spy balloon and you look bad on the international scene."
So now Chinese officials will get even more paranoid and cut-throat to their own.
That's assuming a lot of competence. Not saying you are necessarily wrong, though.
 
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Asita

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Also, if it was a spy balloon, and if it gathered valuable information, would there be a benefit (other than symbolic) in shooting it down after it passed over the usa ?

I genuinely wonder. The question being, do these thingies transmit in real time or is the data gathered after they deflate and land somewhere ?
From what I've read? The short version is that the actual machinery the balloon was carrying was about the size of a bus, and while the option of shooting it down immediately was raised, it was also advised against so long as it was over land because the falling debris would pose too much potential danger to civilians.
 

crimson5pheonix

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From what I've read? The short version is that the actual machinery the balloon was carrying was about the size of a bus, and while the option of shooting it down immediately was raised, it was also advised against so long as it was over land because the falling debris would pose too much potential danger to civilians.
There were a lot of people saying Alaska and Montana are sparsely populated and all I thought was "what if it lands on a road? Or a farm? What if it's carrying flammable and/or toxic fuel?"

Some people just don't think ahead.
 
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Absent

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From what I've read? The short version is that the actual machinery the balloon was carrying was about the size of a bus, and while the option of shooting it down immediately was raised, it was also advised against so long as it was over land because the falling debris would pose too much potential danger to civilians.
What I meant was : Is there a point in shooting it at all, once it passed the USA ? Was the harm already done (the balloon transmitting the data as it collected it) or did shooting it actually prevent the owners to retrieve the data ?
 

The Rogue Wolf

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What I meant was : Is there a point in shooting it at all, once it passed the USA ? Was the harm already done (the balloon transmitting the data as it collected it) or did shooting it actually prevent the owners to retrieve the data ?
Even if it's the former, the chance to get a peek at Chinese spy technology (whatever survives the explosion and fall) would be hard to pass up.
 

Silvanus

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What I meant was : Is there a point in shooting it at all, once it passed the USA ? Was the harm already done (the balloon transmitting the data as it collected it) or did shooting it actually prevent the owners to retrieve the data ?
It was a domestic political necessity to shoot it down, not a national security one. The Republicans were making hay about Biden being soft on China.
 

SilentPony

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It was a domestic political necessity to shoot it down, not a national security one. The Republicans were making hay about Biden being soft on China.
and proudly, publicly say Trump would have shot it down and gotten China to pay for the missiles. All the while ignoring that Trump hid at least 3 such "weather" balloons spying on our nation weather during his time.
I would love to see a real journalist do a time comparison between the Chinese government renting rooms in Trump tower, and these balloons flying over the nation.