3 ms·

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.

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.