.   .  .   .Flying over the USA! 

So what do you think we should do about them? SHOOT THEM DOWN? And start ???h

They waited until it got over the ocean off Myrtle Beach and they shot it down.

Holy crapola, I did not hear that! 

Good for us!

Now it will be recovered and they'll see if any information can be taken from it.

I'm seeing it said that this is an embarrassment for China. I don't know enough about this kind of thing to know one way or another, but I can't imagine they'd want their spy balloon floating willy nilly over America and everyone in the country talking about it.

(02-04-2023, 04:10 PM);Duchess Wrote: Now it will be recovered and they'll see if any information can be taken from it.

I'm seeing it said that this is an embarrassment for China. I don't know enough about this kind of thing to know one way or another, but I can't imagine they'd want their spy balloon floating willy nilly over America and everyone in the country talking about it.

One would think if it’s supposed to be a “Spy” balloon, it would have been a hell
of a lot smaller, something you cant see from miles away! 
It just asked to be shot down. 

Now that I think about it, I wonder if China was just testing Joey to see if he had the chutzpah to shoot it down.  
Being the big balloon it was, certainly it wasn’t in hiding, it was meant to be seen!  

Damn I-Pad won’t let me add info.  

So if it did contain intelligence gathering info gear,  it certainly was outdated, knowing it may/would be shot down. 

Xi, whiz!

China has 99 Red Balloons . . . and this one . . . not their problem.

From Defense Secretary Austin--

I wonder why they didn't shoot it down, while it was over US territorial waters (West Coast) before it reached land?

They've been tracking this thing for weeks . . . Canadians, too. 

And the one now over South America . . . off course, too?

Guess we'll never know, from the Chinese, what the supposed course this civilian weather balloon was to take.

I just hope it was able to transmit all that "climate data", back home, before we splashed it down!

(02-04-2023, 09:25 PM)Duchess Wrote: From Defense Secretary Austin--

If Trump had been President there wouldn't have been a Chinese spy balloon. Or he would have determined it a love letter from Chy-na and not a threat.

I'm still not sure why we shot it down.  It was a fucking balloon!  Just drifting and minding its own business.

It wasn't considered a "threat" when it was over our landmass.

I'm probably mistaken, but I thought once the "threat" had passed, you could no longer could use "lethal force"?

(I'm just glad the damned thing wasn't filled with Wuhan bats!)

(02-05-2023, 02:47 AM)BlueTiki Wrote: I'm still not sure why we shot it down.  It was a fucking balloon!  Just drifting and minding its own business.

It wasn't considered a "threat" when it was over our landmass.

I'm probably mistaken, but I thought once the "threat" had passed, you could no longer could use "lethal force"?

(I'm just glad the damned thing wasn't filled with Wuhan bats!)

Worse. It was filled with Wuhan spider monkeys and bees.

So many politicians were out there posing with their weapons pointed at the sky. They looked ridiculous. For every one of them who said they'd handle it there was one who said trump would never have let this happen and then the Pentagon came out and confirmed that it actually did happen at least 3 times under trump's administration.

You put the loon, in balloon!

(02-05-2023, 06:58 AM)Duchess Wrote: So many politicians were out there posing with their weapons pointed at the sky. 

I was wondering why some relatives were sharing these pics.  I have an uncle,  who swears up and down that the pics of the balloon being shot down are fake, to appease the maga folk.  I can't get him to believe that China sent out several balloons,  and the one over south America is different than the one we shot down.    Meh!

the way they steer hot air balloons is varying the altitude, the winds go different directions.

I am so confused by the response of people to this balloon.

We are living in the stupidest time.