Surprise!

[GDS_Starfury]

how much elint data can the air force suck out of this thing?

[JasonPratt]

Montana originally shut down air traffic at a nearby airport due to the balloon, so I have trouble believing it's 65,000 feet. It's only the size of a bus, and a phone camera can see it from the ground. (Or that was true at the time the F22s scrambled). Of course its altitude may have adjusted by then; and maybe its altitude is why Raptors (of all things) were scrambled against it. (That and for sake of some practice scrambling plus a ShootX, albeit denied by Biden on authority of his generals supposedly.)

The thread-link from Groggy was listed as unavailable by our site system, but I can confirm it's still there. Will try link again: https://twitter.com/BrynnTannehill/status/1621502728613646339?t=baUTT_hhu5QjG3yuInzceg&s=19

Huh, still says Tweet doesn't exist. I'm reading it right now...

[Tripoli]

how much elint data can the air force suck out of this thing?

Depends.  The US claims it was aware of it and took security precautions along its route.  Possibly it did, and possibly those were effective.  Also, modern ELINT satellites are also capable of collection, so I'm not sure how much more this balloon could collect over a satellite, if that was its purpose.  Presumably, it is capable of taking better photographs than a satellite, simply because it is closer to the ground.  But the relative lack of control makes it less effective than satellites.  I think the relative disadvantages (relative lack of control, lack of covertness of the platform, and relative vulnerability, and political disadvantages) means that it is more of a PR stunt, designed to make the US look weak and vulnerable.  However, I'm not sure that view will play well either internationally or with US domestic public opinion. Other nations see China violating international norms and will start to wonder if they are next.  Right now, the US is having a debate about its military and a possible war with China over Taiwan.  Incidents like this are not going to be viewed positively by the public.  If you ask whether China could possibly be that stupid, I think the answer is yes they can.  Over the past 20 years they have pissed off just about all of their neighbors, and are now working on pissing off most of Africa.

[Tripoli]

Montana originally shut down air traffic at a nearby airport due to the balloon, so I have trouble believing it's 65,000 feet. It's only the size of a bus, and a phone camera can see it from the ground. (Or that was true at the time the F22s scrambled). Of course its altitude may have adjusted by then; and maybe its altitude is why Raptors (of all things) were scrambled against it. (That and for sake of some practice scrambling plus a ShootX, albeit denied by Biden on authority of his generals supposedly.)

The thread-link from Groggy was listed as unavailable by our site system, but I can confirm it's still there. Will try link again: https://twitter.com/BrynnTannehill/status/1621502728613646339?t=baUTT_hhu5QjG3yuInzceg&s=19

Huh, still says Tweet doesn't exist. I'm reading it right now...

I'm assuming it is at weather balloon height, which is frequently above 65,000.  If in fact it is lower, then the only reason we haven't shot it down is political, and IMHO has nothing to do with potential debris damage on the ground.  As far as images taken with cell phone cameras, an unaided cell phone, if stably mounted could likely take a photo.  At 20 miles altiude, a 100 foot long object occupies 0.05 degrees or 3 arcminutes, so I think a iphone 13 could capture it. (For point of reference, the full moon is about 31 arcminutes in diameter, so a 100 foot long object is about 1/10 the size of the full moon).  If you put it behind a pair of binoculars, you can actually take images through it (I pulled this stunt at Yellowstone with an iphone 7, trying to take a photo of a wolf at about 1 mile distance) edit: I just checked, and a 3 foot wolf would occupy about 0.13 arc minutes at a mile distance, roughly about 2.5 times the size of my hypothetical 100 foot target at 20 miles.  Based on this, I can say a iphone 7 could capture, (with proper lighting) the balloon.

[Sir Slash]

Right now, Putin's thinking, "Damn, balloons. Why didn't WE think of that"? 

[Sir Slash]

Pentagon spokesperson just confirmed that the balloon is able to maneuver and has changed it's direction.  He would not say if it is still being controlled by the Chinese or has independent ability to move on it's own. That's Top Secret, we're not allowed to know. He also would not say how they are able to know this, how it's able to move, or where it's at right now but that they are tracking it constantly. But wouldn't say how. But this IS a Spy Balloon despite what the Chi Comms say that it was civilian and for weather research. How they know this he wouldn't say.  Oh, and the Pentagon says it is no threat to us. How? We're not allowed to know. So I feel much better about all now. How about you?

I believe this can only be the new Chinese Food Delivery Service, like Grub-Hub. It's called, 'Ping's Wings'. How do I know this? Sorry, you're not allowed to know.

[Tripoli]

And the Babylon Bee's take on this :
https://babylonbee.com/news/chinese-launch-spy-balloon-aimed-at-unraveling-the-secrets-of-classified-fork-technology

[W8taminute]

I've heard reports that there are more balloons over Hawaii and Guam. 

[Gusington]

This is starting to sound like a familiar tune in a different key.

[steve58]

Anyone have any idea what the payload capacity of such a balloon is?  Just saw an article suggesting this may be a dry run for an EMP-type attack.

[W8taminute]

This is starting to sound like a familiar tune in a different key.

Seriously, right?

Anyone have any idea what the payload capacity of such a balloon is?  Just saw an article suggesting this may be a dry run for an EMP-type attack.

I heard that as well from my news sources.  Trying to cross reference to major news sources but can't seem to find anything. 

[Gusington]

^EMP scares me. Do you have a link, Steve?

[steve58]

^EMP scares me. Do you have a link, Steve?

This is the article I saw:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dry-run-balloons-called-top-delivery-platform-for-nuclear-emp-attack/ar-AA174OkJ

and this link includes the paper written by Stuckenberg:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/balloons-called-top-delivery-platform-for-nuclear-emp-attack

[Gusington]

^'Jesus Christ...China'

[GDS_Starfury]

so maybe Roswell was a russian spy balloon.