Surprise!

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

[JasonPratt]

Right. And now they've got Namor pissed at them.    I bet they wish they could go back and hide again.

Just don't piss off the Silver Surfer.

Come to think of it, pissing off any of the original Defenders is a bad idea! (Dr. Strange, Silver Surfer, Submariner, Hulk.)

"Your ability to manipulate power is impressive. But I am power." -- Surfer about to lay down a righteous smiting upon a new Hulk villain of the time

[steve58]

Balloon de jour spotted near Hawaii.

https://www.newsweek.com/pilot-reports-large-white-balloon-floating-near-hawaii-1782282

[Sir Slash]

Reminds me of the ending of the original, 'The Thing' movie where the guy tells everyone, "Keep looking up, keep looking up". 

[Tripoli]

Sixth Grader Swears His Science Homework Was Blown Up By A Sidewinder Missile https://babylonbee.com/news/sixth-grader-swears-his-science-homework-was-blown-up-by-a-sidewinder-missile  BRANSON, MO — A young local student was forced to defend his integrity after his science project — a homemade weather balloon designed to collect atmospheric data — was destroyed by a Sidewinder missile fired from a strafing F-22 fighter jet.

"It wasn't my fault, I swear!" said Jared Gingles when questioned about his story. "I built the balloon, I tested it to make sure it worked, and when I was doing the final steps of the assignment, my homework was blown out of the sky by military aircraft."

Though Jared had never been a problem student, his teacher found his outlandish excuse difficult to believe. "I've been a schoolteacher for over 30 years," said Carla Riley. "I've heard just about every excuse there is, but this one about the United States Air Force shooting down a sixth-grade science project really takes the cake."

Despite skepticism from the school's faculty, Jared was adamant that he was telling the truth. "Why would I possibly make up something like that?!" he asked incredulously. "If I was going to make up an excuse for not doing my homework, I would at least make it sound more believable than that!"

At publishing time, Jared had been granted another chance to complete his homework project, though the new assignment — doing a report on a fully functioning food processing plant — was proving somewhat difficult.   

[SirAndrewD]

I believe the 6th Grader.  It was an AIM-9X.  If they're anything like they are in DCS they'll get tone if a hummingbird passes gas.

[Sir Slash]

Sixth-Graders are the new Ninth-Graders. They should be allowed to run for office.

[JasonPratt]

At publishing time, Jared had been granted another chance to complete his homework project, though the new assignment — doing a report on a fully functioning food processing plant — was proving somewhat difficult.   

That was great!

[steve58]

Closeup photo of the Chinese balloon taken by the U-2 pilot

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1628503718164566016

[Sir Slash]

Have they figured out how it was able to maneuver?

[GDS_Starfury]

yes

[Windigo]

yes

no

[Staggerwing]

Hard to tell from the pic if it has any maneuverability but it could be done with either a weak propulsion system on the 'payload' structure or by raising and lowering the balloon to different elevations with different prevailing winds using release valves to lower and lifting gas reserves to raise. Could be a combo. Those solar cells should provide enough power to electric motors for very minimal maneuverability. My money's on the changes in elevation since the wind directions at different elevations can be somewhat predictable.

[Crossroads]

I had no idea how huge the balloon was. For the lack of a graphic in any English article (there must be ones) here's a picture from our local paper. Pictured together with the balloon are the Helsinki cathedral and the tower of Helsinki Olympic Stadium



Fully manoeuvreble, propeller, rudder, the lot.

[Gusington]

Crossroads is Finnish?? Who knew...