So China is flying a balloon over Montana apparently..

[Jman]

1 hour ago, 1pooh4u said:

Apparently China isn’t happy that we shot it down and is saying they’ll do the same 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/02/04/asia/beijing-reacts-us-jets-shoot-chinese-spy-balloon-intl-hnk/index.html

I'm pretty sure they said that publicly, but privately China was probably "Okay, just get rid of it, but we get to make a statement."  Things are tense enough as it is without killing balloons unilaterally.  Otherwise they would have intercepted it immediately.

[Raptorpat]

I just really want to know how @TrigunBebop is handling all of this

[SwimOdin]

2 hours ago, Raptorpat said:

I just really want to know how @TrigunBebop is handling all of this

He’s in mourning.

[Raptorpat]

Or is it a refractory period?

[tsar4]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:12 AM, 1pooh4u said:

Jic our resident Trump Clown comes back to blame this on Biden somehow or if you just know a MAGA fuck stick 

 

It does seem that China has a problem with keeping their balloons to themselves, doesn't it?

As angry as Trump was about China, you'd think he'd have asked if we could nuke them in mid-air.

[PhilosipherStoned]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:54 PM, katt_goddess said:

When we use balloons for spy flyovers please do. Because it means someone is trolling.

I suggest using one of those ugly inflat-a-Trumps.

I just started researching into this but there's a lot of secrecy still. Apparently this isn't the first balloon China has flown over not just U.S. airspace but several other continents. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/06/1154767882/this-wasnt-the-first-chinese-balloon-over-the-u-s-why-were-the-others-ignored 

I'd like someone to clarify the muddy water from a lot of the media articles going around as a former military intelligence operative. I'm not familiar with weather balloons and the tech more sophisticated models need to gather large scale meteorological data, but I agree with all the intelligence execs I've seen quoted that China's weather balloon explanation is shaky at best given the route it took and if nothing else the fact China said nothing until challenged. Also there's several memes around the u.s. falling apart as a superpower going around china because it wasn't shot down immediately....

It was tracked pretty much as soon as it entered the right air spaces and officials waited for it to enter a goldilox zone so to speak where it could be shot down in a position that would ensure no civilian casualties and make sure the pieces could still be easily recoverd for counter intel..

What about the one(s) during the Trump administration we didn't even hear about though? Not pointing fingers though that's easy enough to do, but Trump admin pretty much just said "What there were more? We were never briefed on that shit!"

Edited February 7, 2023 by PhilosipherStoned

[PhilosipherStoned]

Video for reference/context etc. (I have to note there is no translator and no subtitles just this f***ing CNN "analyst" dubbing over her speaking in chinese. -__-

I know we typically gaslight conservative and rightwing media here rightfully so most of the time, but I've seen CNN be guilty of skewing context and headlines...They all do it just sayin') 

I know the aerostat balloon we had in Iraq was massive and supposedly top knotch for weather AND espionage/ intelligence. I could see it from my UAV ground site, and I've flown some shadows around it before. This balloon is pretty laughable in comparison I think though even if they were going for some HD intel but still wanted small for stealth purposes...

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/02/06/china-balloon-official-response-cnntm-wang-vpx.cnn

Edited February 7, 2023 by PhilosipherStoned

[Sieg67]

China wants their balloon back....
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-says-it-wants-its-busted-balloon-back-after-the-us-navy-fished-the-suspected-spy-craft-out-of-the-ocean/ar-AA17fyVX

[André Toulon]

22 hours ago, Sieg67 said:

China wants their balloon back....
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-says-it-wants-its-busted-balloon-back-after-the-us-navy-fished-the-suspected-spy-craft-out-of-the-ocean/ar-AA17fyVX

All of this just seems so odd to me...if we don't return it, it shows we're dishonest..... because we don't wanna ship your spy trash back to you?

It's not us property so we have to return it....if you put something in my yard, and I don't want it there, I'll remove it and do what I want ....

But I know this is far more sensitive than me finding a camera in my yard recording my house or some silly shit and me keeping it. I just wanted to get mad at this because fuck them.

[Top Gun]

Official diplomatic response: "No givesies-backsies!"

[scoobdog]

2 hours ago, André Toulon said:

All of this just seems so odd to me...if we don't return it, it shows we're dishonest..... because we don't wanna ship your spy trash back to you?

It's not us property so we have to return it....if you put something in my yard, and I don't want it there, I'll remove it and do what I want ....

But I know this is far more sensitive than me finding a camera in my yard recording my house or some silly shit and me keeping it. I just wanted to get mad at this because fuck them.

It’s not odd if you consider the PRC follows what is essentially a neo-feudal set of moral imperatives.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

Nobody needed a sidewinder missile to take that thing down.

 

Just a bullet would let all gas out and cause a slow descent.

[scoobdog]

24 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Nobody needed a sidewinder missile to take that thing down.

 

Just a bullet would let all gas out and cause a slow descent.

Because shooting bullets is the best way to do that, right?

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

1 minute ago, scoobdog said:

Because shooting bullets is the best way to do that, right?

Yup, especially off the coast of Alaska.  What else could you hit there?  A hump back whale, perhaps?

[Master-Debater131]

3 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

Because shooting bullets is the best way to do that, right?

I read a report that Canada had tried to shoot one down this way and it didnt work. Apparently the balloons are designed to maintain some integrity even if they are punctured a bunch.

[Master-Debater131]

DoD was tracking and we have shot down another "high altitude object" that was in Alaskan airspace.

 

 

 

Edit: Some of what they are saying at the Pentagon breading. It was at about 40k feet, they saw it yesterday, POTUS ordered the shoot down, F-22s got the job done, they are working on recovering it now, it posed a threat to air traffic, it was about the size of a car.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Master-Debater131

[katt_goddess]

2 hours ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Nobody needed a sidewinder missile to take that thing down.

 

Just a bullet would let all gas out and cause a slow descent.

If a bullet is all it takes, the balloons in question wouldn't survive a bird in flight or ground debris at take-off.  

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

1 minute ago, katt_goddess said:

If a bullet is all it takes, the balloons in question wouldn't survive a bird in flight or ground debris at take-off.  

It's a balloon, not a 747.

[katt_goddess]

Just now, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

It's a balloon, not a 747.

A high-altitude balloon, numbnuts. 

If any old balloon could safely go as high as those go, there'd be far more stories of idiots tying helium balloons to lawnchairs and ending up in space. 

[Master-Debater131]

2 minutes ago, katt_goddess said:

A high-altitude balloon, numbnuts. 

If any old balloon could safely go as high as those go, there'd be far more stories of idiots tying helium balloons to lawnchairs and ending up in space. 

They dont launch lawnchairs into space, they launch dildos.

Seriously, it was a problem for a while there where people were strapping sex toys and a go pro to a balloon, and launching the damn thing way the hell into the atmosphere. Theres a video on youtube with more than 100k views showing just this happening.

 

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

17 minutes ago, katt_goddess said:

A high-altitude balloon, numbnuts. 

If any old balloon could safely go as high as those go, there'd be far more stories of idiots tying helium balloons to lawnchairs and ending up in space. 

So, what miracle rubber can't be punctured by a bullet?

[tsar4]

This is becoming a thing...

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

Never mind, that's just the Goodyear Blimp

[Gemini]

[Jman]

This is getting fucked up. Are we just hypersensitive now?  Or is this just a show of force after we downed the balloon last week?

We know the F-22 works dammit.

[scoobdog]

On 2/10/2023 at 1:56 PM, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

So, what miracle rubber can't be punctured by a bullet?

Kevlar.

[atomicinumatt]

What the hell is going on in our skies? haha

UFO's are popping up left and right. Be right back while I go fire up The X-Files! I actually love X-Files so what better time to rewatch? Little green men! 

"The truth is out there.."

Edited February 12, 2023 by atomicinumatt

[atomicinumatt]

1 hour ago, Jman said:

This is getting fucked up. Are we just hypersensitive now?  Or is this just a show of force after we downed the balloon last week?

We know the F-22 works dammit.

A UFO in our airspace at 40K feet is kind of a problem. If it is indeed China or Russia, they are getting even more ballsy it seems. 

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

48 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

Kevlar.

Then buy some armor piercing bullets from your local drug kingpin.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

17 minutes ago, atomicinumatt said:

A UFO in our airspace at 40K feet is kind of a problem. If it is indeed China or Russia, they are getting even more ballsy it seems. 

I need to see some pictures of this thing.  Does it have props, like a drone, wings like a traditional plane or is it just another balloon?

[atomicinumatt]

30 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Then buy some armor piercing bullets from your local drug kingpin.

Or just use a larger grain round. 300BLK or 30-06 etc. with like ~110-150 grain, will pierce armor. Most supersonics will too. 

Totally legal.  

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by atomicinumatt

[scoobdog]

31 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

Then buy some armor piercing bullets from your local drug kingpin.

Drug dealers don’t carry around 78 caliber Gatling gun rounds.

[atomicinumatt]

1 minute ago, scoobdog said:

Drug dealers don’t carry around 78 caliber Gatling gun rounds.

An AA gun from the ground would not be able to reach those altitudes haha Maybe the 30mm on an A-10 since it can fly closer to it, but even a Warthog close to the ground would not be able to reach it with conventional ballistics. 

And the 30mm GAU-8 rotary cannon on the Warthog is about as big as they come (the round is the size of your forearm). The whole plane is designed around that auto cannon. It is a masterpiece of engineering.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

28 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

Drug dealers don’t carry around 78 caliber Gatling gun rounds.

They can still puncture cop's vest with whatever they do have.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

16 minutes ago, atomicinumatt said:

An AA gun from the ground would not be able to reach those altitudes haha Maybe the 30mm on an A-10 since it can fly closer to it, but even a Warthog close to the ground would not be able to reach it with conventional ballistics. 

And the 30mm GAU-8 rotary cannon on the Warthog is about as big as they come (the round is the size of your forearm). The whole plane is designed around that auto cannon. It is a masterpiece of engineering.

What were the machine guns on WW2 fighter jets?

[atomicinumatt]

11 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

What were the machine guns on WW2 fighter jets?

Well, planes like the Mustang or Corsair were equipped with .50 cal M2 Brownings. So not auto cannons. And much smaller rounds. 

Though these were not jets, but some that we built, like the Airacomet had auto cannons like the M10, as well as Brownings, but not as common. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by atomicinumatt

[scoobdog]

46 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

They can still puncture cop's vest with whatever they do have.

Balloons are a tad bit thicker than a policeman’s protective vest … and armor piercing rounds, at least real ones, are nearly impossible to find on the streets. 

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

31 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

 and armor piercing rounds, at least real ones, are nearly impossible to find on the streets. 

You would know...

 

[André Toulon]

18 minutes ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

You would know...

 

He does...We kicked it in Inglewood once.

[scoobdog]

6 minutes ago, André Toulon said:

He does...We kicked it in Inglewood once.

Damn straight.

[atomicinumatt]

1 hour ago, Walter Von Moo Moo said:

You would know...

 

I mean supersonics pierce armor and are widely available.  

[Master-Debater131]

 

 

Apparently we shot yet another thing down. WTF is going on anymore. How many of these things are there?

 

[atomicinumatt]

2 minutes ago, Master-Debater131 said:

 

 

Apparently we shot yet another thing down. WTF is going on anymore. How many of these things are there?

 

China? Russia? Aliens? 

Who the hell knows. Either this has been ongoing but is just now being pumped in the media, or the new policy is to shoot down anything that we cannot confirm haha 

[rpgamer]

Sure pokes a hole (lol) in lots of UFO sightings if these are just always floating around.

[Walter Von Moo Moo]

China is now accusing the US of launching balloons over their air space.  White House officials deny it all, saying that China is using deflection tactics.

Okay, so why doesn't anyone just use those multi billion dollar space satellites for spying?  We can put things on Mars now, so there's no reason for balloons from either side.

[Insipid]

 

[1pooh4u]

22 hours ago, rpgamer said:

Sure pokes a hole (lol) in lots of UFO sightings if these are just always floating around.

I thought the same thing “how many ufo sightings were actually these stupid things?”

[The_annoying_one]

6 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

I thought the same thing “how many ufo sightings were actually these stupid things?”

Well, I mean, this did originally happen over Montana….

Just sayin’.

[1pooh4u]

23 minutes ago, The_annoying_one said:

Well, I mean, this did originally happen over Montana….

Just sayin’.

Idk anything about Montana. Too many people on methamphetamines? 

[The_annoying_one]

2 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Idk anything about Montana. Too many people on methamphetamines? 

I don’t know anything about Montana, either. That just sounded like a logical explanation in my weird head. >_>