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I posted this link earlier but it was tracked. Here is a flight path of Canadian fighters checking the balloon out as it crossed towards Montana. https://twitt

I posted this link earlier but it was tracked. Here is a flight path of Canadian fighters checking the balloon out as it crossed towards Montana. https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/1621362998081110016 https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/162136299808111001... The link was in this longer, and good article: 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...

amatecha 4y ago
Oh wow, that's messed up. Kind of irritating to see the thing was being closely tracked all through BC and just... nothing? Nice...
- dendrite9 4y ago
  I mean we only know what we know so far. I admittedly haven't followed this really closely but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a gamble that the public wouldn't notice it. Or maybe it was incompetence or indecision. It was surprising how this balloon spread through the public consciousnesses, kinda like the balloon boy hoax I suppose.
  - amatecha 4y ago
    Yeah, we have no real vision into the actual facts, only what gets told to the public, so it's tough to judge. I can imagine it not even being a surveillance balloon at all (though it probably is). I'm always skeptical around stuff like this, haha
- wkat4242 4y ago
  Maybe they weren't sure at that point that it was unmanned? Shooting it down would have been a whole different story then
cm2187 4y ago
CF18 seem to have a service ceiling of 15km. This thing was about 20km high. Could they shoot it if they wanted?
- dendrite9 4y ago
  Man, I don't know. I'm still effectively a kid who thinks planes are cool but never got too into the specs. There was a a satellite shot down by an F-15 so maybe there was a rough plan if the balloon seemed like a big deal? Or the service ceiling is conservative and downgraded? https://avgeekery.com/that-time-an-f-15-pilot-shot-down-a-satellite-32-years-ago-this-week/ https://avgeekery.com/that-time-an-f-15-pilot-shot-down-a-sa... I was reading about the choice of missile used for shooting it down uses lasers for the fuse instead of radar which might have had issues with the balloon depending on the material. Also this seems be the first F22 kill.
- _w9pt 4y ago
  Yes, if they had standard medium range missiles like the AMRAAM.
  - cm2187 4y ago
    But can missiles hit a balloon? I assumed they were designed to target large hot metallic objects.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]

amatecha 4y ago

Oh wow, that's messed up. Kind of irritating to see the thing was being closely tracked all through BC and just... nothing? Nice...

dendrite9 4y ago
I mean we only know what we know so far. I admittedly haven't followed this really closely but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a gamble that the public wouldn't notice it. Or maybe it was incompetence or indecision. It was surprising how this balloon spread through the public consciousnesses, kinda like the balloon boy hoax I suppose.
- amatecha 4y ago
  Yeah, we have no real vision into the actual facts, only what gets told to the public, so it's tough to judge. I can imagine it not even being a surveillance balloon at all (though it probably is). I'm always skeptical around stuff like this, haha
wkat4242 4y ago
Maybe they weren't sure at that point that it was unmanned? Shooting it down would have been a whole different story then

cm2187 4y ago

CF18 seem to have a service ceiling of 15km. This thing was about 20km high. Could they shoot it if they wanted?

dendrite9 4y ago
Man, I don't know. I'm still effectively a kid who thinks planes are cool but never got too into the specs. There was a a satellite shot down by an F-15 so maybe there was a rough plan if the balloon seemed like a big deal? Or the service ceiling is conservative and downgraded? https://avgeekery.com/that-time-an-f-15-pilot-shot-down-a-satellite-32-years-ago-this-week/ https://avgeekery.com/that-time-an-f-15-pilot-shot-down-a-sa... I was reading about the choice of missile used for shooting it down uses lasers for the fuse instead of radar which might have had issues with the balloon depending on the material. Also this seems be the first F22 kill.
_w9pt 4y ago
Yes, if they had standard medium range missiles like the AMRAAM.
- cm2187 4y ago
  But can missiles hit a balloon? I assumed they were designed to target large hot metallic objects.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]