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Why are they calling it an object. It seems like a huge deal what kind of "object" this was. Was it another balloon? Missile? Private plane? How could they
by ALittleLight 4y ago
Why are they calling it an object. It seems like a huge deal what kind of "object" this was. Was it another balloon? Missile? Private plane? How could they not know, and if they do know, why would they not say?
Edit - this video isn't loading for me, but I've just watched what I assume is the same briefing on Twitter. They have a pilot assessment that the object was unmanned - but they can't tell us balloon, missile, drone? I'm not understanding how a pilot could see the thing, communicate ("I'm looking at an unmanned object, should I shoot?") and somehow not convey what the object was. I appreciate the speed of this briefing, but I would prefer they wait at least until they know what they are saying. In the briefing below the guy says NORAD has been tracking it for a day - and they still don't know what it is? I guess that rules out missile, at least.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- LinuxBender 4y ago"Object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight" and "Object the size of a small car" [1] according to General Ryder No details beyond this yet due to classification restrictions. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=544hoprTeTw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=544hoprTeTw
- sammalloy 4y agoJohn Kirby of the National Security Council said he would not call it a balloon, according to NBC News. What was it then?
- post_break 4y agoA drone of some sort, something with an engine if they used a heat seeking missile.
- operatingthetan 4y ago"Heat seeking" is a bit of a misnomer. It uses thermal imaging to determine contrast against the background and then heads to the center of the detected object. No engine required. This is the same missile they used last week.
- Rebelgecko 4y agoDidn't they use a heat seeking missile on the balloon in Carolina?
- jandrewrogers 4y agoThe US doesn't have any heat-seeking missiles. They use multi-spectral imagers that can see in the infrared spectrum among others.
- LarryMullins 4y agoMaybe it was a balloon but Kirby is being curmudgeonly and thinks it should be called an "Unmanned Buoyant Aircraft (UBA)" or something like that. These national security types love wordy terms and acronyms. Maybe he thinks calling a balloon a balloon makes it sound too trivial or something.
- LinuxBender 4y agoWe will not know until the DoD provide the public report on this information. Everyone is speculating so I would wait for the official report.
- lamontcg 4y agoMedium Altitude Long Endurance UAV drone.
- lamontcg 4y ago(based on further reporting it sounds a lot more balloon-like)