The American government seems to be frozen to inaction over the Chinese spy balloon. What say you?

The American government seems to be frozen to inaction over the Chinese spy balloon. What say you?


Reports are that they are afraid to shoot it down because of danger from the fallout.  Maybe if it drifts over one of the great lakes or the ocean they will.  That's my hope

Reports are that they are afraid to shoot it down because of danger from the fallout.  Maybe if it drifts over one of the great lakes or the ocean they will.  That's my hope


I was also wondering if maybe they don't want to shoot it down because they are tracking it to see exactly what this thing is doing, where it is going, what it can do, etc. Or possibly there is some way to jam it or something so it is actually sending disinformation back to China. "Shooting it down" was my first instinct too, but In this technological day and age there is a million ways this story can go. "This isn't your father's war", as the saying goes.

It would be of greater benefit to US intelligence to try to capture and dismantle it.

It would be of greater benefit to US intelligence to try to capture and dismantle it.


Correct. Once it has "run it's course", at least to some degree. Of course, one would suspect the Chinese definitely thought of this and have prepared it to be examined. So there's really a lot more to this than meets the eye.

When I saw this on the news yesterday, my first was, a weather balloon as in Roswell back in 1947.

I do not know the size of the balloon, but could it have been scooped up by nettings attached to aircraft?

When I saw this on the news yesterday, my first was, a weather balloon as in Roswell back in 1947.


I thought of Roswell too. We still don't know that was a weather balloon just because they say it was. And who knew there were still "weather balloons" in 2023?

BTW, I thought of it was Google taking footage for Google Earth, Maps, etc.

We should probably wait for it to get past the East Coast before we try to bring it down. The ChiComs could have loaded it up with COVID-20 for all we know.  :o :o :o

It's convenient that this balloon was tracked for a week and now Republicans are drumming up outrage over Biden's "weakness" towards China, give me a break ::). Both parties have been agitating aggression towards China, it's the latest neocon obsession, the Ukraine debacle is not popular with the populist right but people like Tucker Carlson have been constantly whining about China for years and now they can get a hard on. 

The American government seems to be frozen to inaction over the Chinese spy balloon. What say you?




Maybe they should let it go to see where this balloon would be headed towards.

BTW, I thought of it was Google taking footage for Google Earth, Maps, etc.

I don't think it would be Google doing that sort of thing.

I just saw on the news, they blew that sucker away… over the Atlantic Ocean.

Reports are that they are afraid to shoot it down because of danger from the fallout.


Fallout as in, like, plutonium?  (*)  Or metaphorical fallout?


I do not know the size of the balloon, but could it have been scooped up by nettings attached to aircraft?


I wondered about that, too.  It's about 60,000 feet up in the stratosphere and traveling much slower than any jet aircraft.  It would be difficult to intercept it in any way other than with other balloon(s).


We should probably wait for it to get past the East Coast before we try to bring it down.


That's a narrow window.  You'd have to get it before it leaves US airspace.  I don't think you can shoot it down once it reaches international airspace; it might be seen as an act of war or at the least create a diplomatic row.  In any case, it would be pointless; the balloon would already have accomplished whatever possible malicious intent they had.


The ChiComs could have loaded it up with COVID-20 for all we know.  :o :o :o


There are much, much, much easier and stealthier ways to introduce a pathogen into the country.  It would make absolutely no sense to do it this way.



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(*)  On a side note, plutonium-238 for RTGs is very rare.  The US is quickly running out of it.  I'm sure NASA would be very keen to get their hands on some of it.

UPDATE (I hadn't seen this before I posted):


I just saw on the news, they blew that sucker away… over the Atlantic Ocean.



That's a narrow window.  You'd have to get it before it leaves US airspace.  I don't think you can shoot it down once it reaches international airspace; it might be seen as an act of war or at the least create a diplomatic row.

It looks like they got it in that narrow window.

Coast Guard and navy ships are scouting out the debris, and given that it flew mostly over red states, I doubt that it gathered much intelligence

It's convenient that this balloon was tracked for a week and now Republicans are drumming up outrage over Biden's "weakness" towards China, give me a break ::). Both parties have been agitating aggression towards China, it's the latest neocon obsession, the Ukraine debacle is not popular with the populist right but people like Tucker Carlson have been constantly whining about China for years and now they can get a hard on.


Funny you should mention it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/02/04/yes-chinese-spy-balloons-flew-over-the-us-when-president-trump-was-in-office-too/amp/

Fallout as in, like, plutonium?  (*)  Or metaphorical fallout?

I wondered about that, too.  It's about 60,000 feet up in the stratosphere and traveling much slower than any jet aircraft.  It would be difficult to intercept it in any way other than with other balloon(s).

That's a narrow window.  You'd have to get it before it leaves US airspace.  I don't think you can shoot it down once it reaches international airspace; it might be seen as an act of war or at the least create a diplomatic row.  In any case, it would be pointless; the balloon would already have accomplished whatever possible malicious intent they had.

There are much, much, much easier and stealthier ways to introduce a pathogen into the country.  It would make absolutely no sense to do it this way.



----------------------------------------------------------
(*)  On a side note, plutonium-238 for RTGs is very rare.  The US is quickly running out of it.  I'm sure NASA would be very keen to get their hands on some of it.

For the size of it, we may never knew now?

The Chinese government has admitted a balloon spotted over Latin America on Friday is from China - but claimed it is intended for civilian use.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64537098

The Chinese government has admitted a balloon spotted over Latin America on Friday is from China - but claimed it is intended for civilian use.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64537098

Someone should just pop it!

I believe China's account that it was a weather balloon, our government is lying so much it's unbelievable, it's obvious they were monitoring this "spy ballon" ;D from the time it left China and when it got over US land started talking about it to drum up xenophobia. They suspect the fatmerican public is so stupid they can tell them anything and it works ::).

I thought after the whole weapons of mass destruction Iraq hoax Americans would wise up but nooooo >:(.

I believe China's account that it was a weather balloon, our government is lying so much it's unbelievable, it's obvious they were monitoring this "spy ballon" ;D from the time it left China and when it got over US land started talking about it to drum up xenophobia. They suspect the fatmerican public is so stupid they can tell them anything and it works ::).

I thought after the whole weapons of mass destruction Iraq hoax Americans would wise up but nooooo >:(.


Ok, to play the devil's advocate, what evidence do you have that the US gov't is lying and the Chinese are telling the truth?  Or is it only our gov't that engages in falsehoods? 

Paranoia strikes deep...

Ok, to play the devil's advocate, what evidence do you have that the US gov't is lying and the Chinese are telling the truth?  Or is it only our gov't that engages in falsehoods? 

Paranoia strikes deep...


The Chinese official explanation makes more sense, they have advanced satellite imagery, both countries already spy using that technology, why would they use such outdated tech that could be that easily detected.

The Mitch guy hinted at this in an earlier post about the "spy balloon" carrying some pathogen, I'm just using something akin to occam's razor.
lol at the "paranoia" claim, the paranoia is coming from the hysterical reaction among the media and segments of the public about China's imminent threat, this is projection on your part ::).

This specific story was used to stir up outrage against China among the American public, US neo cons have been setting their eyes on China for years. You use to have a Che Guevara pic, why are you such an apologist for US imperialism?

The Chinese official explanation makes more sense, they have advanced satellite imagery, both countries already spy using that technology, why would they use such outdated tech that could be that easily detected.

The Mitch guy hinted at this in an earlier post about the "spy balloon" carrying some pathogen, I'm just using something akin to occam's razor.
lol at the "paranoia" claim, the paranoia is coming from the hysterical reaction among the media and segments of the public about China's imminent threat, this is projection on your part ::).

This specific story was used to stir up outrage against China among the American public, US neo cons have been setting their eyes on China for years. You use to have a Che Guevara pic, why are you such an apologist for US imperialism?


I'm not apologizing for anything, especially US imperialism.  Why are you ignoring Chinese imperialism, or doesn't that count?  You also seem oblivious to Russian imperialism.  So let me put it this way -  Of the three important imperialists in the world today I think, 1st the US is the least oppressive, and 2nd, I live here.  Orwell's 1984 actually predicted the current balance of power in it's most dire form, ie perpetual war.  Lets hope we never reach that level

I heard on the news last week, that China had admitted to sending ten balloons. What happened to the others?

I have just recall images from the 1960s television series "The Prisoner", does anything look familiar here?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Rover_%28The_Prisoner%29.jpg

Being chased along a sandy coastline?