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What should we do about the balloon?

What should the US do about the balloon?

  • Total voters
    67
If I had to guess which news cycle would supplant the misplaced government documents scandal, I never would have come up with "A balloon."
 
it would be hilarious if the panic was caused by a weather balloon
 
It could be worse. The balloon could be painted like a M&M.
 
Ask if China will buy some more bonds so the Pentagon can pay for balloons to be made in China.
 
Antiwar said:
Ask if China will buy some more bonds so the Pentagon can pay for balloons to be made in China.
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How's the international justice system working out?
 
It's a distraction. China is under Biden's bed.
 
It’s reported over the Carolinas this morning. Winds aloft must be brisk today!
 
RedFishBlueFish said:
I saw Congressman Jim Hines on Alex Wagner's show last night. He sits on the Intelligence Committee. He all but said that we would capture it. He, of course, didn't say how.

The best idea I've seen in this thread is to shoot holes in it so that it descends enough for helicopters to grapple it.
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How exactly does one fly a helicopter up to a descending balloon to capture it without the rotors impacting the balloon?
 
BlueTex said:
How exactly does one fly a helicopter up to a descending balloon to capture it without the rotors impacting the balloon?
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Go above then down. Or inverted up.
 
President Joe Biden said his administration will handle a suspected Chinese spy balloon traversing the eastern United States.

“We're gonna take care of it,” Biden said, when questioned by CNN’s Sam Fossum on whether he would shoot down the balloon.

Biden has been discussing options with military brass since first being briefed on the balloon Tuesday. His advisers warned against shooting it down over land because debris could land on people or homes.

Biden was speaking at an airfield in Syracuse, New York, where he is visiting family.
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www.cnn.com

February 4, 2023: US shoots down Chinese spy balloon off East Coast

The US military has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon after it drifted off the East Coast near the Carolinas, a US official told CNN. Follow for live news updates.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

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I'm becoming convinced the U.S. Government is going to take this thing down over the Atlantic in (U.S.) Territorial waters.
 
BlueTex said:
How exactly does one fly a helicopter up to a descending balloon to capture it without the rotors impacting the balloon?
Click to expand...
This idea came from earlier in the thread from someone else. But, it seems doable to me.

Shoot holes in the balloon so it slowly deflates and descends, once it gets well below the maximum height for helicopters, a helicopter (or two?) could approach from above and hook the balloon with a grappling hook on a long cable. Helicopter then gently pulls balloon to desired location, perhaps punches larger or more holes in it, and sets it down on the ground.

Probably multiple reasons why this won't work. I'm clearly not an experienced spy balloon catcher. But, haven't seen any better ideas on this thread.
 
RedFishBlueFish said:
This idea came from earlier in the thread from someone else. But, it seems doable to me.

Shoot holes in the balloon so it slowly deflates and descends, once it gets well below the maximum height for helicopters, a helicopter (or two?) could approach from above and hook the balloon with a grappling hook on a long cable. Helicopter then gently pulls balloon to desired location, perhaps punches larger or more holes in it, and sets it down on the ground.

Probably multiple reasons why this won't work. I'm clearly not an experienced spy balloon catcher. But, haven't seen any better ideas on this thread.
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The maximum hover altitude for a high performance helicopter is around 10,000 feet and that is without any external weight...
 
At most a cargo jet with tail hook
 
So...


We think that China, a global super power, has to resort to using civil war tech in the form of a balloon, to spy? And that they would have such an apparatus operate at the whims of the weather? Going wherever the wind blows?

Has the US never lost a weather balloon?
 
KevinKohler said:
So...


We think that China, a global super power, has to resort to using civil war tech in the form of a balloon, to spy? And that they would have such an apparatus operate at the whims of the weather? Going wherever the wind blows?

Has the US never lost a weather balloon?
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An evil spying balloon that is checking the weather and reporting to China

The US now has a balloon gap with China. It needs to spend billions to develop its own stealth balloons and billions to develop a way to take them direct take them down
 
BlueTex said:
The maximum hover altitude for a high performance helicopter is around 10,000 feet and that is without any external weight...
Click to expand...
I mentioned that the balloon would need to descend to well below the helicopter's maximum height. Let the balloon descend 50-60,000 feet then try the helicopter trick.

Again, I'm just making wild-ass guesses as to how this might be done.
 
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