BadMoonRisin said:

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redcrayon said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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redcrayon said:

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Rapier108 said:

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redcrayon said:

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We can't just shoot stuff down and endanger civilians. That debris can kill people and destroy property.

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When it was over Montana, there are virtually nothing for it to fall on. Should have been blasted out of the sky right then and there.

Actually, should have shot it down over the Aleutian Islands.

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Why would we do that when we had disabled it's ability to gather and transmit data?

You can't predict where the debris will land. This isn't that simple.

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Actually, we can. Ever heard of physics?

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I guess you should call the Pentagon and let them know that you are better at physics than they are. I'm sure they'd love your assistance since they're all idiots.

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Lmao. We put a man on the moon more than 50 years ago and now we can't figure out how to pop a balloon.

Got it. Then why do we pay these ******s trillions of dollars a year for national defense? Can we get a refund?

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My kids won't eat without the defense budget. Please think of the children.

Hahaha well played

you've constaza'ed the day. quit on a high note.

redcrayon said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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redcrayon said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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redcrayon said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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redcrayon said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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redcrayon said:

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Rapier108 said:

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redcrayon said:

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We can't just shoot stuff down and endanger civilians. That debris can kill people and destroy property.

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When it was over Montana, there are virtually nothing for it to fall on. Should have been blasted out of the sky right then and there.

Actually, should have shot it down over the Aleutian Islands.

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Why would we do that when we had disabled it's ability to gather and transmit data?

You can't predict where the debris will land. This isn't that simple.

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Actually, we can. Ever heard of physics?

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I guess you should call the Pentagon and let them know that you are better at physics than they are. I'm sure they'd love your assistance since they're all idiots.

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I see. So you've heard from the pentagon that they weren't able to predict where the debris would land?

The only thing in that balloon that's hard to track is the helium. Everything else is heavier than air and will fall.

You have its position, initial velocity, and the military should know what range of velocities the debris would spread from the impact point. You figure out a range of terminal velocities of the likely debris, and then you take into account the winds that the debris would fall through.

I'm sure the pentagon has plenty of smart people who can figure that out.

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The military advised not to shoot it down over the continental US for the reasons I stated. I'll trust they know more than you do.

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Stop deflecting. We're talking about your statement that you can't predict where the debris would land.

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I'm not deflecting. I'm repeating what they said about why they didn't want to shoot it down over the continental US. Maybe they were lying. Maybe they know more about what kind of debris or contaminants would come down. Again, if you know more, send them an email. I'm sure they get more than a few per week.

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I think we can assume there are people within the DoD who know basic physics. Whether they're concealing what they know about that or not is not surprising and is deflecting from your original statement that we can't know where the debris would fall. I've just listed the things you'd have to consider to calculate that. None of which is unknowable. Is there anything else that's unknowable that I should have included?

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What the balloon was carrying. What we could shoot it down with. Other unknown unknowns.

They knew more than you and didn't think it was worth endangering civilians lives or property. Not hard. But maybe they were lying. Email them and ask.

Going out to dinner. Everyone enjoy your surveillance-free evening. Oh, wait....

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Again, I'm not talking about other factors that went into the decision to shoot it down that you keep trying to deflect with. I'm talking about your statement:

Quote:

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>>>>> "You can't predict where the debris will land. This isn't that simple." <<<<<

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"What the balloon was carrying."
I mentioned the helium, which will be harder to predict for obvious reasons. But we don't care about the helium. I really can't think of anything else that's lighter than air that we'd care about. Can you? If it's heavier than air then you can use the factors I stated above to figure out where it would land.

"What we could shoot it down with."
Since the Pentagon shot it down, they would obviously know what they could shoot it down with.

"Other unknown unknowns."
Well we have lighter than air materials and heavier than air materials. Can we at least assume all unknown unknowns fall into one of those two categories?

At least it did not make it all the way across the US

Mathguy64 said:

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I can't decide what's better. The Gastonia PD telling its rednecks not to take potshots at the balloon or the Gastonia PD thinking it's rednecks can read.

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Maybe its you that cant read. Its not 1964 any more. Maybe it'll fly over Duke, UNC, or better yet the Research Triangle and get zipped by a laser. But no, a moron is in the White House.

redcrayon said:

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Rapier108 said:

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redcrayon said:

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We can't just shoot stuff down and endanger civilians. That debris can kill people and destroy property.

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When it was over Montana, there are virtually nothing for it to fall on. Should have been blasted out of the sky right then and there.

Actually, should have shot it down over the Aleutian Islands.

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Why would we do that when we had disabled it's ability to gather and transmit data?

You can't predict where the debris will land. This isn't that simple.

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With all the brilliant minds we have in this country, computers, etc…….we couldn't have popped that damn thing in Eastern Washington and predicted where it would fall within 20 miles in the vast expanses of Montana or the Rocky Mountains?

B-1 83 said:

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redcrayon said:

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Rapier108 said:

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redcrayon said:

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We can't just shoot stuff down and endanger civilians. That debris can kill people and destroy property.

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When it was over Montana, there are virtually nothing for it to fall on. Should have been blasted out of the sky right then and there.

Actually, should have shot it down over the Aleutian Islands.

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Why would we do that when we had disabled it's ability to gather and transmit data?

You can't predict where the debris will land. This isn't that simple.

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With all the brilliant minds we have in this country, computers, etc…….we couldn't have popped that damn thing in Eastern Washington and predicted where it would fall within 20 miles in the vast expanses of Montana or the Rocky Mountains?

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I find that some people like to revel in not knowing and get perturbed when someone comes along and rains facts on their parade.

Burdizzo said:

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doubledog said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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The only thing in that balloon that's hard to track is the helium. Everything else is heavier than air and will fall.

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And there is a good chance that they bought that Helium from the U.S. Let that sink in.

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Helium doesn't sink, silly.

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Liquid Helium does sink...

Lol at paying taxes for this ****…

My issue with the ""not a threat" or that it was otherwise disabled and not gathering sensitive intel / data, then why not come out and just say that at minute 1 of this thing coming to light?

Only reason to be vague and cagey for this length of time is to hide something. Whether that is hiding our inability to secure our own airspace or hiding that this thing was a threat to US soil had it been shot down, doesn't particularly matter.

Its yet another example of leftist elitist and trust us we know better approach to transparent government.

Just not buying the current story at all. If the current story is the actual story, the leadership in our military and at the Pentagon are completely inept.

LOL. Tiktok is censoring any videos of the spy balloon.

Anyone that really is in the know about this would be posting on Texags just a friendly PSA

Having Chinese food tonight in honor of the balloon

DannyDuberstein said:

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Let it float over the entire country and shoot it down at the end of its journey. This is a joke, right? It was either shoot-down worthy or it wasn't. If it is shoot-down worthy, you hit that thing way out west

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No, you see, we made the balloon a double agent over Alaska, so it was only broadcasting The Kardashians and Batchlorette re-runs, which over course makes us looks imminently invadable.

Just where we want them.

fixer said:

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Now China knows it can keep aircraft over the US and nothing will be done until they are off the coast.

Brilliant

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Wait, we actually shot it down after it hovered over our country for days, gathering info?

Muy said:

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fixer said:

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Now China knows it can keep aircraft over the US and nothing will be done until they are off the coast.

Brilliant

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Wait, we actually shot it down after it hovered over our country for days, gathering info?

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They waited to shoot it down over water.

They must be taking "don't be a litterbug" seriously.

Somebody ask Chat GPT to write a Hollywood blockbuster screenplay based on the Chinese spy balloon incident. Post what it says here.

My thoughts are that letting Chinese balloons wander around over the Continental US is a REALLY BAD IDEA, regardless if we think its just collecting data that we aren't that worried about.

I don't think we can know China's intentions with perfect knowledge. EMP weapons? Biological weapons? Nuclear weapons or radiation bombs? Who knows? How can we take this kind of risk just because we THINK we know what the balloon is doing and its relatively harmless?

Seems incredibly ignorant to me. It should have been taken out in Alaska, but any future balloons need to be taken out as soon as we detect them in our airspace. This seems obvious to me and its hard to understand the rationale for letting them do this.

UntoldSpirit said:

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My thoughts are that letting Chinese balloons wander around over the Continental US is a REALLY BAD IDEA, regardless if we think its just collecting data that we aren't that worried about.

I don't think we can know China's intentions with perfect knowledge. EMP weapons? Biological weapons? Nuclear weapons or radiation bombs? Who knows? How can we take this kind of risk just because we THINK we know what the balloon is doing and its relatively harmless?

Seems incredibly ignorant to me. It should have been taken out in Alaska, but any future balloons need to be taken out as soon as we detect them in our airspace. This seems obvious to me and its hard to understand the rationale for letting them do this.

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The rationale is 10% to the big guy.

Those chickens are coming home to roost.

captkirk said:

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eric76 said:

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fka ftc said:

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My issue with the ""not a threat" or that it was otherwise disabled and not gathering sensitive intel / data, then why not come out and just say that at minute 1 of this thing coming to light?

Only reason to be vague and cagey for this length of time is to hide something. Whether that is hiding our inability to secure our own airspace or hiding that this thing was a threat to US soil had it been shot down, doesn't particularly matter.

Its yet another example of leftist elitist and trust us we know better approach to transparent government.

Just not buying the current story at all. If the current story is the actual story, the leadership in our military and at the Pentagon are completely inept.

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Just out of curiosity, what was Trump's reaction to them when he was President?

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Thanks for your usual whataboutism and gaslighting

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Either you can't answer the question or the answer is inconvenient because of your bias.

Biden ordered it shot down. Good for him. If Trump ordered them shot down when he was President, good for him.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Somebody ask Chat GPT to write a Hollywood blockbuster screenplay based on the Chinese spy balloon incident. Post what it says here.

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INT. COCKPIT OF F-14 TOMCAT - DAY

Maverick, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot, is flying his F-14 Tomcat over the east coast. Suddenly, his radar detects an incoming object.

MAVERICK
(into radio)
Mayday, mayday, we've got a possible hostile incoming from the east.

GROUND CONTROL
(over radio)
Maverick, this is ground control. Confirm identity of incoming object.

MAVERICK
(into radio)
Ground control, I'm picking up a weather balloon on my radar. But something doesn't feel right.

GROUND CONTROL
(over radio)
Understood, Maverick. We've just received intelligence that a Chinese spying balloon may have been deployed over the east coast. Proceed with caution.

Maverick takes a deep breath and focuses on the task at hand. He brings the F-14 Tomcat into a steep climb and heads straight for the incoming object. As he gets closer, he can see that it is indeed a Chinese spying balloon.

MAVERICK
(into radio)
Ground control, I've got visual confirmation. It's definitely a Chinese spying balloon.

GROUND CONTROL
(over radio)
Maverick, you are authorized to take it down. Good luck.

Maverick pulls the trigger, and the F-14 Tomcat's missiles streak toward the balloon. The balloons explode in a brilliant flash, sending debris raining down from the sky.

MAVERICK
(into radio)
Ground control, the balloon is down. Repeat, the balloon is down.

GROUND CONTROL
(over radio)
Good job, Maverick. Return to base for debriefing.

Maverick flies back to base, his heart still racing from the adrenaline of the mission. He knows that he's just prevented a major security breach and that he's once again proven himself to be one of the best pilots in the world.

FADE TO BLACK.