Just thought it was fascinating. Hopefully we can recover it from the ocean.

Likely to devolve into a political exercise and get the Goodnight Irene hook quick. 
 

But yes, I hope we recover it and find out exactly what penetrated US airspace from coast to coast. 

Another one has been spotted over Latin America.

Why wasn't it shot down when it was first detected?  And where is the coverage on

the second balloon?  I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone.

Too much slack in our line..

10 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Why wasn't it shot down when it was first detected? 

Protocol must be followed , ammended Rights have to be considered.

Someone may have become offended if the projectile fired was made of lead.

The mission itself must have a proper title and voted apon...... could take years.

 

37 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Why wasn't it shot down when it was first detected? 

I heard that they were worried it would crash to the ground over the continental US and cause harm or damage.  So as soon as it got over water (today), it was taken down.

 

Only relaying what I heard, I'm not saying it was the right or wrong decision.

If we successfully shoot down the second one on our first try, China owes us a stuffed animal.  

54 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I heard that they were worried it would crash to the ground over the continental US and cause harm or damage.  So as soon as it got over water (today), it was taken down.

 

Only relaying what I heard, I'm not saying it was the right or wrong decision.

Except for the fact that we had an opportunity to bring it down over the ocean before. It crossed the Aleutian Island and we had been tracking it for a while now. It wasn't until after it was public knowledge and there was public outcry that something was finally done about it.

55 minutes ago, Koz said:

Except for the fact that we had an opportunity to bring it down over the ocean before. It crossed the Aleutian Island

Wasn't aware of that.

I thought it was funny they had to ask the public to stop taking pot shots at it. If it came over Alabama it would have been raining lead here.

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Wasn't aware of that.

NORAD can track Santa all over the world on Christmas night. Surely they can track a balloon 90’ long as soon as it’s launched. ?

Video of F-22 taking down the ballon

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=3046771632286354

7 hours ago, Crappiebasser said:

I thought it was funny they had to ask the public to stop taking pot shots at it. If it came over Alabama it would have been raining lead here.

 

I had my .50 cal out,  but it didn't go over my house.   However, it did go directly over the Catawba Nuclear plant.  

A spy balloon doesn’t worry me nearly as much as all the computer hacking that goes on. Like it or not your whole life is on a computer. 

2 hours ago, Ski said:

Video of F-22 taking down the ballon

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=3046771632286354

The first and only air-to-air kill by an F22. Don’t think many people thought the F22 raptor’s first confirmed kill would be a Chinese balloon ??‍♂️

4 hours ago, Woody B said:

had my .50 cal out

I think it was 60,000 feet in altitude. Hope you have a good scope on that thing.

13 hours ago, Glenn said:

I love the double message here between the balloon surveillance and the moderator surveilling this thread…

41 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I love the double message here between the balloon surveillance and the moderator surveilling this thread…

I wasn't too subtle, was I? 

The parking lot at the Pentagon looked like a Tuesday on Saturday morning...

Without getting into specifics, I wouldn't worry too much about this balloon.

9 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

With all the talk of people having guns and being able to to overthrow the government under the guise of the 2nd amendment I am shocked nobody shot it down....oh wait no I am not lol

It was flying around 60,000 feet, a little out of range.

My guess is it's a weather balloon studying upper air currents. If it came from mainland China, it followed the same path as their fossil fuel emissions traveling to the U.S.

I wonder why the spies didn’t take a boat or airplane. Seems silly to float in a balloon to America. 

3 hours ago, deaknh03 said:

It was flying around 60,000 feet, a little out of range.

I can guarantee that more than a few folks think this is a good idea....