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The WSJ has more detail: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-spy-balloon-seen-over-u-s-this-weekofficials-11675376397 https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-spy-

The WSJ has more detail: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-spy-balloon-seen-over-u-s-this-weekofficials-11675376397 https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-spy-balloon-seen-over-u... According to a Pentagon source, the balloon offers "limited additive value" over satellites. More interesting excerpts: >The incident, which occurred in the last two days, marked the latest aggressive Chinese intelligence gathering maneuvers in recent years. U.S. defense officials said the balloon loitered over the U.S. longer than in previous similar incidents, which made this “different.” <snip> > Mr. Biden was presented with options and proposed that the high-altitude balloon be shot down after it was spotted and reported by civilians in a commercial airliner, U.S. officials said. The Pentagon feared civilian casualties, and opted not to shoot down the balloon, U.S. officials said. <snip> > The balloon “was traveling at an altitude well above the commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Gen. Ryder added. <snip> > The balloon was observed flying over Montana after flying over Canada and the Aleutian Islands, one U.S. official said. It was large enough for its debris to cause damage, and while the U.S. considered shooting it down over a sparsely populated area of Montana, the U.S. opted to not shoot it down. It also flew over sensitive sites, a senior defense official told reporters Thursday.

floxy 4y ago
Any attempts to capture it? Is it flying too high for fixed wing aircraft?
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  Gun pod on a U2.
  - mr_toad 4y ago
    F15s can fly that high.
    - case0x00 4y ago
      I don't think so. I don't know what altitude its at but I imagine aerodynamic control surfaces would not be that effective. F-22 would be better, which is what we deployed.
    - LarryMullins 4y ago
      Heck, F-15s can shoot down satellites.
      - zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago
        Seriously???
        wiml 4y ago
        Back in the 1980s: https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/antisatellite-missile/nasm_A19900064000 https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/antisatellite-...
        convolvatron 4y ago
        That project was cancelled after 5 tests, at least one successful. Since satellite destruction is a pretty interesting tactical option, what does that imply?
        justsomehnguy 4y ago
        What it moved to SM Block 3 on the naval platforms.
        sorry_outta_gas 4y ago
        Isn't that what that UAV space shuttle is for now, just to orbit around and muck up sats?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
andrewflnr 4y ago
It's not possible to give it a slow enough leak that it comes down gently? A sufficiently large balloon is basically a parachute even if it's not inflated, right? It would be great to catch it and see what's inside...
- beedeebeedee 4y ago
  I think that's the issue- bullet holes will only cause a small leak, and then the balloon will slowly descend in an unpredictable place (i.e., might blanket a small town)
nygardkillsquad 4y ago
>According to a Pentagon source, the balloon offers "limited additive value" over satellites. Uh... no? Mainly because satellites are known -- black sites like Area 51 reguarly put away the "good stuff" when they known a spy satellite is overhead. That's not possible for random Chinese balloons we only find out about when some commercial pilot phones them in.
pengaru 4y ago
> According to a Pentagon source, the balloon offers "limited additive value" over satellites. Why wouldn't we prioritize simply acquiring the thing for analysis of what sort of optics and other capabilities they're floating through our air-space? Who cares what "limited additive value" we presume it to have over satellites. It's a huge psyops value, and a huge opportunity to demonstrate we can trivially acquire and reverse such items if they'd like to send us more of their state of the art surveillance gadgets to take apart. By not doing so we imply that's not something we're capable of. Not a good look at all.
- willis936 4y ago
  Or something we don't care to. "That is a cute toy you have."
  - bhawks 4y ago
    Scrambling F22s and multiple stratotankers for refueling took that card off the table.
    - willis936 4y ago
      How did it do that? It demonstrated swift aerial response until a potential threat is assessed. Once assessed as not a threat, note the cuteness of the toy.
      - nly 4y ago
        Gives the bored lads at the air force base something to do
      - pengaru 4y ago
        Will you keep digging this hole if the same low-cost trolling of the US military recurs with a similarly disproportionately expensive response? How many times?
- jl6 4y ago
dendrite9 4y ago
I thought the Drive's article was pretty good including details of a Canadian flight to (presumably) check on the balloon as it went over the Okanagon roughly. Similar balloons appear to have been photographed in Hawaii, India (Andamans), Japan. A different type was recently photographed over the Philippines and there is a comment about use over Guam. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinas-spy-balloon-over-montana-is-part-of-a-larger-more-troubling-pattern https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinas-spy-balloon-ove... https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/1621362998081110016 https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/162136299808111001...

floxy 4y ago

Any attempts to capture it? Is it flying too high for fixed wing aircraft?

kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
Gun pod on a U2.
- mr_toad 4y ago
  F15s can fly that high.
  - case0x00 4y ago
    I don't think so. I don't know what altitude its at but I imagine aerodynamic control surfaces would not be that effective. F-22 would be better, which is what we deployed.
  - LarryMullins 4y ago
    Heck, F-15s can shoot down satellites.
    - zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago
      Seriously???
      - wiml 4y ago
        Back in the 1980s: https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/antisatellite-missile/nasm_A19900064000 https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/antisatellite-...
        convolvatron 4y ago
        That project was cancelled after 5 tests, at least one successful. Since satellite destruction is a pretty interesting tactical option, what does that imply?
        justsomehnguy 4y ago
        What it moved to SM Block 3 on the naval platforms.
        sorry_outta_gas 4y ago
        Isn't that what that UAV space shuttle is for now, just to orbit around and muck up sats?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

andrewflnr 4y ago

It's not possible to give it a slow enough leak that it comes down gently? A sufficiently large balloon is basically a parachute even if it's not inflated, right? It would be great to catch it and see what's inside...

beedeebeedee 4y ago
I think that's the issue- bullet holes will only cause a small leak, and then the balloon will slowly descend in an unpredictable place (i.e., might blanket a small town)

nygardkillsquad 4y ago

>According to a Pentagon source, the balloon offers "limited additive value" over satellites. Uh... no? Mainly because satellites are known -- black sites like Area 51 reguarly put away the "good stuff" when they known a spy satellite is overhead. That's not possible for random Chinese balloons we only find out about when some commercial pilot phones them in.

pengaru 4y ago

> According to a Pentagon source, the balloon offers "limited additive value" over satellites. Why wouldn't we prioritize simply acquiring the thing for analysis of what sort of optics and other capabilities they're floating through our air-space? Who cares what "limited additive value" we presume it to have over satellites. It's a huge psyops value, and a huge opportunity to demonstrate we can trivially acquire and reverse such items if they'd like to send us more of their state of the art surveillance gadgets to take apart. By not doing so we imply that's not something we're capable of. Not a good look at all.

willis936 4y ago
Or something we don't care to. "That is a cute toy you have."
- bhawks 4y ago
  Scrambling F22s and multiple stratotankers for refueling took that card off the table.
  - willis936 4y ago
    How did it do that? It demonstrated swift aerial response until a potential threat is assessed. Once assessed as not a threat, note the cuteness of the toy.
    - nly 4y ago
      Gives the bored lads at the air force base something to do
    - pengaru 4y ago
      Will you keep digging this hole if the same low-cost trolling of the US military recurs with a similarly disproportionately expensive response? How many times?
jl6 4y ago

dendrite9 4y ago

I thought the Drive's article was pretty good including details of a Canadian flight to (presumably) check on the balloon as it went over the Okanagon roughly. Similar balloons appear to have been photographed in Hawaii, India (Andamans), Japan. A different type was recently photographed over the Philippines and there is a comment about use over Guam. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinas-spy-balloon-over-montana-is-part-of-a-larger-more-troubling-pattern https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinas-spy-balloon-ove... https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/1621362998081110016 https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/162136299808111001...