"The balloon" shot down

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We had the opportunity to take it down when it crossed the Gulf of Alaska. That is a sign of timidness.
We also can scramble to hide anything in plain sight, like we've always been able to. Seeing if and how they steer this thing is important intel.
 
My friend collided with another fighter jet some 10yrs ago. Both ejected, planes disintegrated going down. Part of an airplane hits some old lady on some farm in the middle of nowhere. Her arm had to be amputated. Next closest house was some 25km away.

Once you've witnessed an air tragedy/crash, things are never quite the same regarding all things aviation...
 
I just read a news report that claimed the missile was an AIM-9X Block 2 that used data link from the launch F-22 for guidance for at least part of the flight path, if not all. I have no prior knowledge either classified or unclassified of the capability of this missile, or the accuracy of the report.
If, as a country, we have any hair on our covered regions, when we receive the Chinese diplomatic protest we will respond with not an apology, but with a bill for $400k for the cost of the missile. And then impose serious sanctions until the bill is paid.
The speculation seems to be the PRC had very poor timing and this just another diplomatic complaint the US can use against China and paint them as the aggressors to the Asian rim. In quieter events people seem to ignore, the US military is returning to the Philippines in a big way and Filipino invitations for such are based on arrogant PRC provocations. So, in the end, the balloon thing seems like belligerent idiocy to a point, I mean intel balloons are so 1948. That 400K may have been better spent than one can imagine...

But the PRC can also rightfully say you've sent stuff over our airspace:
1280px-The_Lockheed_D-21.jpg
 
I just read a news report that claimed the missile was an AIM-9X Block 2 that used data link from the launch F-22 for guidance for at least part of the flight path, if not all. I have no prior knowledge either classified or unclassified of the capability of this missile, or the accuracy of the report.
If, as a country, we have any hair on our covered regions, when we receive the Chinese diplomatic protest we will respond with not an apology, but with a bill for $400k for the cost of the missile. And then impose serious sanctions until the bill is paid.

So the chinese will destroy spy satellites flying over their mainland? Give it a rest already
 
I agree that it should have been shot down over the ocean because not only would there be a debris field but who knows what toxic or biological agent the Chinese put on it. However, it should have been shot down over the Pacific once it reached U.S. territorial waters, BEFORE it had a chance to traverse the entire continent gathering information. You can bet we were tracking it long before it reached our shores.
 
Mods, a serious thank you for allowing this thread to continue to exist. I understand the challenges of not stepping on areas that shouldn't be stepped on. But I also appreciate the post from people who actually had scientific information to contribute to this thread, and also the humor contributors were entertaining. Throwing locks on threads prematurely degrades the interest and the quality of the Bob is the Oil Guy threads. And having the patience to keep threads like this alive makes this site much more enjoyable.

Seriously, thank you for your patience and allowing threads like this to exist when it requires you to spend some time editing out some post that do not belong on The Bob is the Oil Guy website.
 
There have been ASAT programs around for a very long time (early 80s). Of course, having them and using them are two different things.



I know there are, but that's not the point.

The point is, Make all the noise you want to look good to your voters, but tone it down to real levels when dealing with the chinese as the US isn't exactly free from blame when it comes to spying and overflying other nations.
 
Bizarre beyond imagination. I have 100 unanswered questions. And apparently not the first time we've been infiltrated recently.

I'm not going to get into politics, but people need to really start thinking critically about all of our world events if we can be infiltrated by basically WW1 technology that floats around with impunity for a week. And we aren't even given the real full story. Wake up, America!
Just think what we are doing.
 
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