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I feel sorry for the pool soul who decided to send up their DIY weather balloon with gopro to get that space shot. Who knows he might even have a video of a F-2

I feel sorry for the pool soul who decided to send up their DIY weather balloon with gopro to get that space shot. Who knows he might even have a video of a F-22 sending a missile over.

poly_morphis 4y ago
That’s funny, because this was my exact thought. How can they distinguish the difference when they say ‘unknown’ object…
- luxuryballs 4y ago
  He would be in trouble but if it turns out that he had notified the FAA and some wires got crossed then that would be pretty wild.
- godelski 4y ago
  They flew a F35 next to the object. "Unknown" is an overloaded term and it isn't binary (known vs unknown). Plus, they said it was the size of a small car (remember the other balloon's payload was the size of a bus). So while you don't know what exactly that payload is and is doing, you do know it isn't just a go pro. You also know it isn't a velociraptor or Felix Baumgartner.
  - wongarsu 4y ago
    The ballon in this youtube video is about the size of a (very) small car, and likely reached the size of a large car as it gained altitude (same gas in ballon, but less air pressure around it equals larger ballon). Granted, that ballon had not just a gopro but also a tray of garlic bread, and went higher up. But using a ballon the size of a small car to launch just a gopro seems incredibly reasonable. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8W-auqg024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8W-auqg024
    - godelski 4y ago
      I assumed they were talking about the payload. FWIW the Chinese balloon's "van size" was specifically the payload size. I think the vast majority of people on this site understand that balloons get "bigger" when rising in altitude. (quotes because the balloon is the same size but looks deflated closer to the ground)
    - Eiriksmal 4y ago
      For posterity, I'm pretty confident Anamanguchi were the first men to send Italian food to space, for the Endless Fantasy music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fdr-Fiv92c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fdr-Fiv92c The raw space pizza footage even has the Gopro's audio from the little speaker looping the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfGvVjEN1u8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfGvVjEN1u8 After it fell back to earth, the local police in New Jersey were nonplussed and thought it might have been a terrorist device. The interview with Anamanaguchi on the topic is well done, but didn't surface after some quick DuckDuckGoing.
ajsnigrutin 4y ago
How much does a weather baloon cost? ...compared to a F22 flight, a missle + all the logistics? If it's cheap enough, there will probably be youtubers and tiktokers buying them en-masse just "for the lulz".
- justapassenger 4y ago
  Add cost of SWAT team raiding your home, getting on the terrorist watch and few other fun things.
- hinkley 4y ago
  I heard rumors that during the bosnian war they were making fake SAM sites using microwave ovens with the door taken off. Get them to fire an air-to-ground missile at a device you got from the junkyard and an extension cord.
  - ajsnigrutin 4y ago
    This was supposedly done during the US bombing of yugoslavia... open microwaves transmit pulsed radiation, automatic systems think it's a radar and bomb the site.
    - chinathrow 4y ago
      What automatic systems are out there bombing such things?
      - oakwhiz 4y ago
        AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile)
      - marshray 4y ago
        AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM
      - 4y ago
steve76 4y ago
[dead]
colechristensen 4y ago
If you're actually responsible you get appropriate approval for time and place for balloon launches. It's not hard and not doing so can get you just enormous fines.
joe_the_user 4y ago
I think anyone sending stuff into the sky with a go-pro has to be reconciled that the chance of loss is pretty high. And if they got footage of the F-22, it's probably worth a lot more than their go-pro.
- YourDadVPN 4y ago
  The footage would be cool, but isn't one of the selling points of the F-22 that it can fire missiles from very far away?
yobbo 4y ago
Or they now have recordings of the targeting radar/whatever from an F-22 and a missile.
kobalsky 4y ago
It's possible that a gopro isn't even detected. The chinese balloon, and I quote the article: "was like two or three buses". That thing was big.
wkat4242 4y ago
A $400k missile and an F-22 sortie costing probably a similar amount. I really hope for their sake the government doesn't try to charge them that cost. It does indeed sound like something like that. The size of a small car would mean a tiny payload as those balloons get huge in the stratosphere. One thing I wonder is why it didn't burst. Weather balloons are meant to burst as soon as they get that high.

I feel sorry for the pool soul who decided to send up their DIY weather balloon with gopro to get that space shot. Who knows he might even have a video of a F-22 sending a missile over.

poly_morphis 4y ago

That’s funny, because this was my exact thought. How can they distinguish the difference when they say ‘unknown’ object…

luxuryballs 4y ago
He would be in trouble but if it turns out that he had notified the FAA and some wires got crossed then that would be pretty wild.
godelski 4y ago
They flew a F35 next to the object. "Unknown" is an overloaded term and it isn't binary (known vs unknown). Plus, they said it was the size of a small car (remember the other balloon's payload was the size of a bus). So while you don't know what exactly that payload is and is doing, you do know it isn't just a go pro. You also know it isn't a velociraptor or Felix Baumgartner.
- wongarsu 4y ago
  The ballon in this youtube video is about the size of a (very) small car, and likely reached the size of a large car as it gained altitude (same gas in ballon, but less air pressure around it equals larger ballon). Granted, that ballon had not just a gopro but also a tray of garlic bread, and went higher up. But using a ballon the size of a small car to launch just a gopro seems incredibly reasonable. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8W-auqg024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8W-auqg024
  - godelski 4y ago
    I assumed they were talking about the payload. FWIW the Chinese balloon's "van size" was specifically the payload size. I think the vast majority of people on this site understand that balloons get "bigger" when rising in altitude. (quotes because the balloon is the same size but looks deflated closer to the ground)
  - Eiriksmal 4y ago
    For posterity, I'm pretty confident Anamanguchi were the first men to send Italian food to space, for the Endless Fantasy music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fdr-Fiv92c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fdr-Fiv92c The raw space pizza footage even has the Gopro's audio from the little speaker looping the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfGvVjEN1u8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfGvVjEN1u8 After it fell back to earth, the local police in New Jersey were nonplussed and thought it might have been a terrorist device. The interview with Anamanaguchi on the topic is well done, but didn't surface after some quick DuckDuckGoing.

ajsnigrutin 4y ago

How much does a weather baloon cost? ...compared to a F22 flight, a missle + all the logistics? If it's cheap enough, there will probably be youtubers and tiktokers buying them en-masse just "for the lulz".

justapassenger 4y ago
Add cost of SWAT team raiding your home, getting on the terrorist watch and few other fun things.
hinkley 4y ago
I heard rumors that during the bosnian war they were making fake SAM sites using microwave ovens with the door taken off. Get them to fire an air-to-ground missile at a device you got from the junkyard and an extension cord.
- ajsnigrutin 4y ago
  This was supposedly done during the US bombing of yugoslavia... open microwaves transmit pulsed radiation, automatic systems think it's a radar and bomb the site.
  - chinathrow 4y ago
    What automatic systems are out there bombing such things?
    - oakwhiz 4y ago
      AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile)
    - marshray 4y ago
      AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM
    - 4y ago

steve76 4y ago

[dead]

colechristensen 4y ago

If you're actually responsible you get appropriate approval for time and place for balloon launches. It's not hard and not doing so can get you just enormous fines.

joe_the_user 4y ago

I think anyone sending stuff into the sky with a go-pro has to be reconciled that the chance of loss is pretty high. And if they got footage of the F-22, it's probably worth a lot more than their go-pro.

YourDadVPN 4y ago
The footage would be cool, but isn't one of the selling points of the F-22 that it can fire missiles from very far away?

yobbo 4y ago

Or they now have recordings of the targeting radar/whatever from an F-22 and a missile.

kobalsky 4y ago

It's possible that a gopro isn't even detected. The chinese balloon, and I quote the article: "was like two or three buses". That thing was big.

wkat4242 4y ago

A $400k missile and an F-22 sortie costing probably a similar amount. I really hope for their sake the government doesn't try to charge them that cost. It does indeed sound like something like that. The size of a small car would mean a tiny payload as those balloons get huge in the stratosphere. One thing I wonder is why it didn't burst. Weather balloons are meant to burst as soon as they get that high.