Chinese Spy Balloon

94,637 Views | 1075 Replies | Last: 28 days ago by lb3
Rapier108
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Artorias said:

Sorry if this has already been asked in the 30 pages of this thread, but this seems really weird, does it not?

I am guessing China has plenty of satellites covering the US giving them information. Why would they float a series of balloons that are easily dispatched over the US? What am I missing here?
The balloon was after SIGINT rather than photographs.

This is why during much of its flights across the US, it was being shadowed by RC-135U Combat Sent and RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft.

And as the pictures above show, we were also monitoring it with the U-2.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill
74OA
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Here's a good look at the balloon's payload. The thing had four ducted propellers.

MASSIVE
Ducks4brkfast
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Wish they would release a super super high res version.
cbr
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
According to Ziehan, he poked around his contacts and concluded the following:

the ballon was a ham-handed intelligence attempt to figure out what they could learn about our ICBM bunkers

it was bungled by the chinese and even their diplomatic core didnt know what was going on

we tracked it the whole way, were not worried about intel problems, and wanted to recover the equipment so waited to shoot it down over shallow water

ziehan has pretty good sources i expect, and also seemed to believe this.

that said, you have to remember that ziehan is a mouthpiece, and is either not going to get full information, or will not share information not authorized by his sources. so take it with a grain of salt.

Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?

Krombopulos Michael
How long do you want to ignore this user?
cbr said:


that said, you have to remember that ziehan is an mouthpiece idiot and is either not going to get full information, or will not share information not authorized by his sources. so take it with a grain of salt.


FIFY....
nortex97
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
The damn thing did figure 8's in the sky over sensitive sites while transmitting in real time back to Beijing.

Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?


Are we back?
TheCurl84
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Yeah I can't tell anything from that.

But I wouldn't be surprised. I mean you know the Chinese aren't afraid of any response. They know we won't do a thing.
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?


Reddit saying was launched by a company called Raven Aerostar.

Seems like a false alarm. All hands stand down, lol.
Pizza
How long do you want to ignore this user?
TheCurl84 said:

Yeah I can't tell anything from that.

But I wouldn't be surprised. I mean you know the Chinese aren't afraid of any response. They know we won't do a thing.
Anyone who chooses to ride a bicycle in the street is a threat to themselves, and others. If a vehicle strikes you accidentally, YOU are at fault; and the laws of physics supercede all else when you're in the path of a 2 ton killing machine. Know your place, stay off the road.
AggieVictor10
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Weak old ****ing biden wont do **** either.
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?


We back baby!

WE BACK!
Build It
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
nortex97 said:

The damn thing did figure 8's in the sky over sensitive sites while transmitting in real time back to Beijing.




The Chinese own Biden. No way he's ordering the shoot down until he/they transmitted all the data they needed.
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?
God only knows what's going on with all this but it's been entertaining.
PrestigeWorldwideAg12
How long do you want to ignore this user?
One reportedly spotted off coast of Hawaii per Newsmax.
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?

damiond
How long do you want to ignore this user?
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2023/06/29/dod-chinese-spy-balloon-did-not-collect-transmit-data-over-the-us/


xiden covering tracks
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?


Canada released a photocopy of a printed out email after journalist demands info on the object a US F-22 shot down over the Yukon in Feb '23.
Rapier108
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I can count small objects using Google Earth, and that photo looks like it was taken with a 140 year old camera. Yes, it is a copy of a printed out e-mail, but still looks like absolute crap regardless. My 20 year old DSLR would take an image a thousand times better.

Also, because people will think it is an alien craft, they would not be so primitive that our weapons could shoot them down.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill
Stat Monitor Repairman
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Still wild that during a random week in February 2023 the nation was captivated over a spy ballon meandering across the CONUS.

Then theres so much outrage over it they send up fighters to shoot down unknown objects in Alaska, Michigan the Yukon. Then the whole issue goes away as fast as it came with no clear explanation ever given for what the hell was going on.
GE
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Holy **** the spy balloon thing was only a year and a half ago. So much has been happening that feels ancient
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Stat Monitor Repairman said:



Canada released a photocopy of a printed out email after journalist demands info on the object a US F-22 shot down over the Yukon in Feb '23.

Obviously one of the toilet seat shaped ships from "The Phantom Menace"

Rapier108
How long do you want to ignore this user?
The Chinese spy balloon was just that, and Biden fouled it up completely.

Maybe one of the other things they shot down was another spy balloon as well.

Most were probably harmless balloons and they were trying to look tough after the complete failure to blow the first one out of the sky as soon as it was detected.

I'm betting that photo was taken by someone looking nearly straight up at it, so we're getting a trick of light and shadow. It could easily be balloon with some kind of payload and that is what is blocking part of it and making it look like a toilet seat.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill
lb3
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Stat Monitor Repairman said:



Canada released a photocopy of a printed out email after journalist demands info on the object a US F-22 shot down over the Yukon in Feb '23.
That's just an out of focus image taken with a reflector telescope. The object in the middle is the secondary mirror and its support arm.
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.