Air Force Just Shot Something Down in Alaskan Air Space - 2/10/2023

[DuckRyder]

There's also the movie, Star Trek, the Voyage Home. Where if I recall, using the Klingon Bird of Prey and earth's gravity pull, slung itself into time travel.

Isn't that the one where they landed it in the ocean and caught a whale or something...

 

[MolaKule]

Yes, it’s Pico balloons. There’s going to be a lot of interest in this. The clubs have been around for some time. Ham radio crossed with small balloons.

...There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts’ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.

“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.

The descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down Feb. 10-12 match the shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type..."

The latest information I have from the Amateur Radio community is the latest balloon was launched by a guy in IL.

There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts’ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.

“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.

The descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down Feb. 10-12 match the shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type.

Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF | Aviation Week Network

Although the club is not pointing fingers, there are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts community.

aviationweek.com

One of the UFOs shot down last weekend by the US Air Force with a $400,000 missile may have simply been a $12 balloon belonging to an Illinois enthusiast club, a report said.

The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade told Aviation Week on Thursday that it fears one of its diligently tracked gasbags that recently went missing was the mystery object taken out by the military over Canada on Saturday.

The Pico Balloon — a silver-coated, cylindrically shaped object — reported its last position at 38,910 feet off the west coast of Alaska on Friday.

By Saturday, based on the balloon’s projected path, it would have been over the central part of the Yukon Territory around the same time a military Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same area of Canada, the outlet reported.

The NIBBB — a group of enthusiasts dedicated to creating, releasing and tracking homemade balloons — declared its K9YO device “missing in action” on Saturday.

 

[Pablo]

"abundance of caution" = "we are trying to fool you"