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Suspected Chinese spy balloon found over northern U.S.
“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told NBC News. “We continue to track and monitor it closely.” Secondary story with pictures: https://www.kulr8.com/news/report-suspected-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-billings/article_cb4d11b6-a328-11ed-83cb-fbf1388f61fe.html (www.nbcnews.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Two things. First, don’t you think the payload would incur less damage landing in water than on land? Second, I think we should package up the balloon remnants and send it back to China with a note “Did you lose this”?!
It's funny that no one picked up the balloon, (on the radar) until Montana. I think it was first seen from a radar operation, operated in partnership with the Department of National Defence (RCAF), a detector at Stoney Mountain, Anzac, Alberta close to CYMM (CASFM). (This was built in 1956 and was decommissioned in 1965. The weather/RCAF has kept up a dome in this area since.) A new weather dome was put up to look over the 250 km level and it can look out over 1000 km on a clear day. The earth's curvature and the distance of the radar kept the balloon 1.7 degrees above the earth (31 km). Canadians saw it first (blind luck) now everyone wants a piece.
The balloon has been slowly dispersing the Coronavirus
What's new. The Right has been doing that for 3 years.
I have questions as to what the government perceives as a Spy Balloon targeting specific high-value surveillance sites. Is this balloon powered? Does it have maneuvering capabilities? I thought that balloons were subject to the prevailing winds. Are they going to call Tom Cruise to go shoot it down?
Here is how Wired says that Google's Loon did it:
Loon’s balloons navigate by moving up and down, looking for the air currents that will take them where they need to be. To do that, they are not “hand-flown,” or manually directed by human beings. Instead, they follow complex algorithms that Candido’s team has spent years honing, a computer-borne approach to the world that produces flight paths that seem anything but elementary.
Looking, I see a few public datasets that would be helpful. Such as, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. I would be surprised if the Loon project has not shared at least some of their scientific data. It does appear that the Chinese aircraft has a much larger solar surface area than the Loon balloons, so they may have a power budget for more active maneuvering fans.
Loon’s balloons navigate by moving up and down, looking for the air currents that will take them where they need to be. To do that, they are not “hand-flown,” or manually directed by human beings. Instead, they follow complex algorithms that Candido’s team has spent years honing, a computer-borne approach to the world that produces flight paths that seem anything but elementary.
Looking, I see a few public datasets that would be helpful. Such as, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. I would be surprised if the Loon project has not shared at least some of their scientific data. It does appear that the Chinese aircraft has a much larger solar surface area than the Loon balloons, so they may have a power budget for more active maneuvering fans.
DOD says that it is "monitoring" the balloon. Since when did the role of DOD become "monitoring"? That's like keeping an eye on a thief that is already in your house.
Maybe DOD has forgotten that its name is Dept of DEFENSE? Maybe they need a refresher course in their role / the division of labor? "Monitoring" belongs to NSA and others. Or, maybe DOD would like to request a name change from US Dept of Defense to US Dept of Monitoring?
All of the best defense technologies and equipment (funded for by citizen taxpayers to the tune of 816 billion dollars in 2023) are of no value if there is a failure of mission and command / implementation. The US Air Defense System should have immediately identified the incursion, notified the citizenry, and neutralized the "airship".
Maybe DOD has forgotten that its name is Dept of DEFENSE? Maybe they need a refresher course in their role / the division of labor? "Monitoring" belongs to NSA and others. Or, maybe DOD would like to request a name change from US Dept of Defense to US Dept of Monitoring?
All of the best defense technologies and equipment (funded for by citizen taxpayers to the tune of 816 billion dollars in 2023) are of no value if there is a failure of mission and command / implementation. The US Air Defense System should have immediately identified the incursion, notified the citizenry, and neutralized the "airship".