Why Haven't We Shot Down Spy Balloon?

[Mountain Man]

Wasn't your President wise?
To wait until the falling debris could not hurt anything or anyone?
And then he directed the balloon's destruction.
Quite wise?

Supposedly Joe wanted to shoot it down as soon as it entered airspace over the continental US, but the military refused to follow his orders.

[rogue06]

I assume the CIA would have heard about it from spies in China. The FBI, DHS etc would not have the assets overseas to know about it. They didn't "detect" them - they found out about them. That's what the CIA does. But to not tell the president or military is a big problem.

Apparently the balloons have been growing bigger over the years (carry more equipment?) making them easier to spot and detect.

I heard yesterday that the ones in South America aren't spy balloons but commercial ones. They are loaded down with things like LIDAR in order to search the area for minerals and such.

LIDAR would be useful on a spy balloon going over missile silos.

[Machinist]

I am not convinced in the least that all the information that the Chinese have accumulated through Tik Tok and with this balloon is going to amount to a hill of beans. They're probably pouring in billions, but their return is going to be pennies.

[rogue06]

Yes, let's have some silly UNUSUAL cartoons, Rogue!!! Step it up, man!

ROGUE POWAZ ACTIVATE!! smiley rogue powas activate.gif


Form of silly unusual cartoons!!!!

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[rogue06]

Wasn't your President wise?
To wait until the falling debris could not hurt anything or anyone?
And then he directed the balloon's destruction.
Quite wise?

You don't know much about Montana do you?

The state is largely open country with a population density of 7 people per square mile.

You could drop it there with nearly zero risk and not lose any of it in the ocean.

Bonus effect! It wouldn't drift over top secret installations because it would be crashed upon the ground.

[rogue06]

Supposedly Joe wanted to shoot it down as soon as it entered airspace over the continental US, but the military refused to follow his orders.

They countermanded his orders.

Who really is in charge in D.C.?

[Mountain Man]

They countermanded his orders.

Who really is in charge in D.C.?

I'm not even convinced Joe really gave the order. I think that narrative was just damage control from the White House.

[rogue06]

I'm not even convinced Joe really gave the order. I think that narrative was just damage control from the White House.

Then yet another thing nobody bothered to think through and they went with it because it sounded good at the moment.

[shunyadragon]

Supposedly Joe wanted to shoot it down as soon as it entered airspace over the continental US, but the military refused to follow his orders.

Supposedly? source for this speculation

[shunyadragon]

They countermanded his orders.

Who really is in charge in D.C.?

They? Speculation?

[rogue06]

Just to keep shuny happy

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[rogue06]

And today's winner of the No $#%@ Sherlock contest is...

Source: Chinese Balloon Had Tools to Collect Communications Signals, U.S. Says

The Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. military over the Atlantic Ocean was capable of collecting communications signals and was part of a fleet of surveillance balloons directed by the Chinese military that had flown over more than 40 countries across five continents, the State Department said Thursday.

The United States used high resolution imagery from U-2 flybys to determine the balloon’s capabilities, the department said in a written announcement, adding that the balloon’s equipment “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons.”

The agency said the balloon had multiple antennas in an array that was “likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications.” Solar panels on the machine were large enough to produce power to operate “multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” the department said.

The agency also said the U.S. government was “confident” that the company that made the balloon had direct commercial ties with the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military, citing an official procurement portal for the army. The department did not name the company.

[...]


Source

© Copyright Original Source

Yesterday I heard it reported that whenever the balloon got close to sensitive areas that jets with electronic jamming equipment prevented it from transmitting data to China.

Now that's well and good but exactly how would that prevent it from storing the data and transmitting it later when the signal wasn't jammed?

[Cow Poke]

Wasn't your President wise?
To wait until the falling debris could not hurt anything or anyone?
And then he directed the balloon's destruction.
Quite wise?

I don't think you have even the tiniest grasp of the term "flyover country". There are VAST areas of the US over which a balloon coming down might - at most - scare a prairie dog.

Also, expert high-altitude balloon experts have said that ONE golf ball sized hole would have caused it to gently descend with no need to send it crashing to the earth.

[Sparko]

Apparently the balloons have been growing bigger over the years (carry more equipment?) making them easier to spot and detect..

Yes. it's almost like they want us to detect them to gauge our reaction.

China has apparently sent an even bigger balloon now and it lights up at night!

I used my spyglass to get this picture of it last night!




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[Sparko]

And today's winner of the No $#%@ Sherlock contest is...

Source: Chinese Balloon Had Tools to Collect Communications Signals, U.S. Says

The Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. military over the Atlantic Ocean was capable of collecting communications signals and was part of a fleet of surveillance balloons directed by the Chinese military that had flown over more than 40 countries across five continents, the State Department said Thursday.

The United States used high resolution imagery from U-2 flybys to determine the balloon’s capabilities, the department said in a written announcement, adding that the balloon’s equipment “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons.”

The agency said the balloon had multiple antennas in an array that was “likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications.” Solar panels on the machine were large enough to produce power to operate “multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” the department said.

The agency also said the U.S. government was “confident” that the company that made the balloon had direct commercial ties with the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military, citing an official procurement portal for the army. The department did not name the company.

[...]


Source

© Copyright Original Source

Yesterday I heard it reported that whenever the balloon got close to sensitive areas that jets with electronic jamming equipment prevented it from transmitting data to China.

Now that's well and good but exactly how would that prevent it from storing the data and transmitting it later when the signal wasn't jammed?

Probably didn't have storage, just acted as a relay. That way if it were captured it wouldn't give away what it was collecting.