What could rule that out in your mind then? Seems to me that if it had hardware that didn't serve any purpose with regard to weather data collection, calling it

What could rule that out in your mind then? Seems to me that if it had hardware that didn't serve any purpose with regard to weather data collection, calling it a weather balloon is, at the very least, an incomplete description, if not intentionally deceptive branding. Especially when said hardware has very clear use cases for intelligence collection.