So China is flying a balloon over Montana apparently..

[1pooh4u]

7 minutes ago, The_annoying_one said:

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

Let’s just make shit up about Montana

Montana is the balloon state

Montana is named after famed QB Joe Montana

Montana’s GDP is officially crystal meth 

[The_annoying_one]

2 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Let’s just make shit up about Montana

Montana is the balloon state

Montana is named after famed QB Joe Montana

Montana’s GDP is officially crystal meth 

Everyone in Montana is related

Even the horses want to get the hell out of Montana

What happens in Montana stays in Oklahoma

 

Spoiler

That last one doesn’t make any sense, does it? 😅

 

[Gemini]

I think the Chinese thought they could get find a way to watch Yellowstone without having to sign up for a tv provider. Silly Chinese. it doesn't work that way.

[1pooh4u]

1 hour ago, The_annoying_one said:

Everyone in Montana is related

Even the horses want to get the hell out of Montana

What happens in Montana stays in Oklahoma

 

  Reveal hidden contents

That last one doesn’t make any sense, does it? 😅

 

Montana once beat Wyoming in a game of fisticuffs 

[The_annoying_one]

8 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Montana once beat Wyoming in a game of fisticuffs 

Montana is now the capital of Wyoming

[ghostrek]

You know the cool thing about all these objects getting shut down We might have someone with five kills soon  Yay a balloon Ace first time in over 100 years

[1pooh4u]

10 minutes ago, ghostrek said:

You know the cool thing about all these objects getting shut down We might have someone with five kills soon  Yay a balloon Ace first time in over 100 years

A balloon ace is a thing?

[1pooh4u]

1 hour ago, The_annoying_one said:

Montana is now the capital of Wyoming

Montana, it’s @TrigunBebop approved 

[ghostrek]

1 minute ago, 1pooh4u said:

A balloon ace is a thing?

Yeah back in World War I some aces shot down more balloons than other airplanes Observer balloons for reconnaissance and direction of artillery fire existed  Now if you live near Arizona Luke  Air Force Base is named after the first aviation Medal of Honor winner And he was a balloon buster that why the other day over South Carolina the two F-22s had to call signs of Frank 1 and  Frank 2

[1pooh4u]

Just now, ghostrek said:

Yeah back in World War I some aces shot down more balloons than other airplanes Observer balloons for reconnaissance and direction of artillery fire existed  Now if you live near Arizona Luke  Air Force Base is named after the first aviation Medal of Honor winner And he was a balloon buster that why the other day over South Carolina the two F-22s had to call signs of Frank 1 and  Frank 2

I didn’t even know we been flying balloons over countries for that long.  

[The_annoying_one]

13 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Montana, it’s @TrigunBebop approved 

Montana: Come For the Nothing, Stay For the Nothing

[1pooh4u]

4 minutes ago, The_annoying_one said:

Montana: Come For the Nothing, Stay For the Nothing

Montana: We Got Mormons and Mountains and a Goat Named Jeff 

[The_annoying_one]

1 hour ago, 1pooh4u said:

Montana: We Got Mormons and Mountains and a Goat Named Jeff 

Montana: Come Meet Our Governor, Jeff the Goat

Also, you and I are probably banned from Montana at this point. 😂

Edited February 14, 2023 by The_annoying_one

[rpgamer]

Giving away all of Montana's secrets. The least China could do is send you balloons for the trouble.

[Doom Metal Alchemist]

5 hours ago, 1pooh4u said:

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

I mean the U.S. government LITERALLY said, "Hey, you know that UFO that crashed in Roswell? Well it was actually a spy balloon."

[katt_goddess]

2 minutes ago, Doom Metal Alchemist said:

I mean the U.S. government LITERALLY said, "Hey, you know that UFO that crashed in Roswell? Well it was actually a spy balloon."

Technically not a lie.

It just happened to be a spy balloon from Proxima Centauri...

[1pooh4u]

41 minutes ago, Doom Metal Alchemist said:

I mean the U.S. government LITERALLY said, "Hey, you know that UFO that crashed in Roswell? Well it was actually a spy balloon."

Seriously?  When was this? 

[1pooh4u]

1 hour ago, The_annoying_one said:

Montana: Come Meet Our Governor, Jeff the Goat

Also, you and I are probably banned from Montana at this point. 😂

Montana:  Where They Banned Pooh and The_Annoying_One because their DNA only showed a .00005% relationship 

[Jman]

I’m genuinely unsure if these sightings make more or less sense after the past few days.

[Doom Metal Alchemist]

Just now, 1pooh4u said:

Seriously?  When was this? 

This was quite a while ago.

Back in 1947 when it happened the government said it was a UFO, but quickly retracted that statement and claimed it was a weather balloon. Years later interest in it came back up, and I think it was somewhere in the 90s they said that both the UFO and weather balloon explanations were cover-ups for the REAL explanation: It was a spy balloon disguised as a weather balloon.

[The_annoying_one]

5 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Montana:  Where They Banned Pooh and The_Annoying_One because their DNA only showed a .00005% relationship 

Montana: The Biggest State With The Smallest Brains

Wait…we’re only .00005% friends?

[1pooh4u]

8 minutes ago, The_annoying_one said:

Montana: The Biggest State With The Smallest Brains

Wait…we’re only .00005% friends?

No no I mean like actually blood related 😆

[The_annoying_one]

4 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

No no I mean like actually blood related 😆

Oh, ok. Sorry. I’m a little slow today. 😅

[1pooh4u]

Just now, The_annoying_one said:

Oh, ok. Sorry. I’m a little slow today. 😅

Nah I said it stupid.  I couldn’t think of the right word and settled on a “close enough” 😆

[The_annoying_one]

2 minutes ago, 1pooh4u said:

Nah I said it stupid.  I couldn’t think of the right word and settled on a “close enough” 😆

I do that ALL THE TIME. 😂

[Master-Debater131]

 

 

Lol. We went from letting China fly a balloon over the entire country to shooting down commercial crafts.  Im not going to criticize the move to shoot this stuff down. After the blowback on the China balloon, and the general confusion around the new objects, its the right call.

 

That said, if this whole incident doesnt perfectly describe American policy I dont know what does. "Do nothing, do nothing, do nothing, still do nothing, HOLY SHIT OVERREACT!!!"

[scoobdog]

1 hour ago, Master-Debater131 said:

That said, if this whole incident doesnt perfectly describe American policy I dont know what does. "Do nothing, do nothing, do nothing, still do nothing, HOLY SHIT OVERREACT!!!"

That's kind of how any democratic system would operate, though.  When you have voters to cater to, being preemptive even if its done correctly, is typically rewarded with mistrust.

[Gemini]

That's the worst version of "Around the World in 80 Days" I've ever seen.

[Top Gun]

And I thought the first 5 minutes of Up were tragic...

[Jman]

Keep watching the skies…

You know, before whatever you’re looking at eats a Sidewinder.

[ghostrek]

There's some people considering these things are actually extraterrestrial craft of some kind which I find troublesome

 

But if these are aliens can rename space force to Starfleet Finally  Can we you know do thatI mean they stole the symbol of Star Trek anywaysJust be appropriate

[ghostrek]

But we need to sit down and all seriousness and say these are most likely some kind of new form of drone or something

[scoobdog]

::sits down::

Yup, it’s a drone.

::stares at outstretched finger::

[ghostrek]

21 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

::sits down::

Yup, it’s a drone.

::stares at outstretched finger::

ok

 

[Gemini]

2 hours ago, Jman said:

Keep watching the skies…

You know, before whatever you’re looking at eats a Sidewinder.

Keep looking up, indeed.

 

[tsar4]

These other balloons...has anyone kept an eye on [as] lately?  Remember Boston.

[Doom Metal Alchemist]

49 minutes ago, tsar4 said:

These other balloons...has anyone kept an eye on [as] lately?  Remember Boston.

BECAUSE of Boston, I don't think AS is going to attempt anything like that ever again.

[Master-Debater131]

 

 

Well, this changes things a bit. If its true then its pretty bad. We knew that this thing was going to spy on us, and we let it drift over the entire US. Pretty hard to defend that decision.

[katt_goddess]

3 hours ago, tsar4 said:

These other balloons...has anyone kept an eye on [as] lately?  Remember Boston.

They were supposedly working on something but drone flights are very planned in advance. Nothing they'd do would catch any federal agencies off guard.

1 hour ago, Master-Debater131 said:

 

 

Well, this changes things a bit. If its true then its pretty bad. We knew that this thing was going to spy on us, and we let it drift over the entire US. Pretty hard to defend that decision.

We can't blow things up immediately off a foreign coast. That would allow others to do the same thing. However, this may mean that we were working on a backhack longer than publicly reported.

[Master-Debater131]

8 minutes ago, katt_goddess said:

They were supposedly working on something but drone flights are very planned in advance. Nothing they'd do would catch any federal agencies off guard.

We can't blow things up immediately off a foreign coast. That would allow others to do the same thing. However, this may mean that we were working on a backhack longer than publicly reported.

We cant blow it up off of their coast, but we can if it drifts close to Hawaii or once it got close to Alaska. Then we are perfectly within our rights to blow it up.

The backhack theory is one that makes the most sense to me. As they are spying on us, we are doing the same thing to them. If we gathered no intel from this incident then it would be a total failure on our part.

[Insipid]

This news shouldn't be surprising. Don't ever forget the fact that there are more American military personnel in Japan than in any foreign country, and this has been the case for over 30 years since the Gulf War. They are always watching China, North Korea, and Russia.

[scoobdog]

2 hours ago, Master-Debater131 said:

 

 

Well, this changes things a bit. If its true then its pretty bad. We knew that this thing was going to spy on us, and we let it drift over the entire US. Pretty hard to defend that decision.

Seeing as the US Military was tracking it from launch... perhaps the more logical conclusion is that they knew where it was going and made sure no intelligence was visible from it?  What you're describing is incompetence on par with the Russian military.

[Master-Debater131]

2 hours ago, scoobdog said:

Seeing as the US Military was tracking it from launch... perhaps the more logical conclusion is that they knew where it was going and made sure no intelligence was visible from it?  What you're describing is incompetence on par with the Russian military.

I would hope so, but I also have very little faith in our government. All the secrecy around this hasnt helped. I get why they are being quiet about it, but that just makes it seem worse when we get leaks like this to the media.

[Raptorpat]

I thought I saw something somewhere several days ago about them wanting to recover the wreckage in the shallow water off the east coast rather than the super deep water off Alaska, but I have no idea where I read that so I can't really stand by it.

[scoobdog]

8 minutes ago, Master-Debater131 said:

I would hope so, but I also have very little faith in our government. All the secrecy around this hasnt helped. I get why they are being quiet about it, but that just makes it seem worse when we get leaks like this to the media.

That may be more of a product of a warped perception of the media than any legitimate concerns about the US Military.

[Master-Debater131]

7 minutes ago, scoobdog said:

That may be more of a product of a warped perception of the media than any legitimate concerns about the US Military.

Oh I trust the US Military. They are very good at what they do.

Its basically everything else about our government that I dont trust.

 

And to Pats point, I read the same thing in a few places. Once it was over the US it made a lot of sense to take it down off of Carolina.

[katt_goddess]

4 hours ago, Master-Debater131 said:

We cant blow it up off of their coast, but we can if it drifts close to Hawaii or once it got close to Alaska. Then we are perfectly within our rights to blow it up.

The backhack theory is one that makes the most sense to me. As they are spying on us, we are doing the same thing to them. If we gathered no intel from this incident then it would be a total failure on our part.

Both Hawaii and Alaska would have been bad for exactly what Scoob pointed out - deep waters. And Alaska is pure tundra right now hence the difficulty of getting that silver blob that got blasted. But being aware of its existence from supposed launch definitely allowed time to figure out the frequencies being used for transmittals and to backhack them.

And there's a very good reason for why all the politicians aren't being told absolutely every little detail possible - you have literal morons in Congress this very second that are security risks. They think nothing of going off and yammering about anything they hear in confidence if they think they can use it for political and personal points. 

[Lemming]

What people fail to understand is that shooting down a balloon with a wing mounted aim 9 sidewinder would require a heat signature. There are many more pieces of weaponry, amraam, sparrow, toe, and if the thing had small nuclear reactor on board and an antenna, you could probably use high altitude anti radiation missiles to bring it down. O, what genius would have thought of this haha *cough england zeplens ww1* but incendiary rounds from a nose mounted minigun would be quite effective against something filled with lighter than air gases. Luckily the footage shows a short range probably radar guided projectile hitting the balloon. I think the defense ministry acted smartly. 

[ghostrek]

It said I saw these flying saucer today land  the aliens walked up to me and asked to use my cell phone to use to make a phone call about  about a balloon getting in their way and they can't fly around it

[Lemming]

Incendiary rounds from a vulcan on an Apache, depleted uranium, tactical nuclear misslies, what else? You looking down the rifles spiral in most cases. But it works.