Pentagon decides not to shoot down Chinese spy balloon over US

[WLJ]

Biden admin getting rocked by news of massive mishandling of classified docs + new info on the Hunter Biden mess.
Squirrel! Look a Chinese spy balloon and we're going to do something Trump refused to do, we're going to shoot it down.

Still not convinced this was anything more than a weather balloon, I mean squirrel

[Hawkmoon]

Still not convinced this was anything more then a weather balloon, I mean squirrel

Supposedly, while the "airship" was transiting a number of our sensitive military installations, our military took measures to prevent the balloon from obtaining any sensitive information.

I would love to know what those "measures" were.

[RocketMan]

Supposedly, while the "airship" was transiting a number of our sensitive military installations, our military took measures to prevent the balloon from obtaining any sensitive information.

I would love to know what those "measures" were.

Probably something to do with making sure the preferred pronouns of the people at the various military bases the balloon flew over were easily detectable.

[Perd Hapley]

https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/02/05/trump-others-deny-chinese-spy-balloons-flew-across-the-u-s-during-trump-administration-n528585

As Biden is prone to do, he did nothing. He left it up to the Pentagon to decide when and where to shoot it down. As far as I know, Biden didn’t suggest that the military shoot the balloon in its leg.

[Perd Hapley]

Biden admin getting rocked by news of massive mishandling of classified docs + new info on the Hunter Biden mess.
Squirrel! Look a Chinese spy balloon and we're going to do something Trump refused to do, we're going to shoot it down.

Still not convinced this was anything more than a weather balloon, I mean squirrel

Eh, if corporate media wanted to protect the Bidens (and at this point, it seems like they might be happy to get rid of him) I think they could have found a news story that was less of an embarrassment for them.

[WLJ]

Eh, if corporate media wanted to protect the Bidens (and at this point, it seems like they might be happy to get rid of him) I think they could have found a news story that was less of an embarrassment for them.

Seeing too many articles making Biden out to be some sort hero in this

[cordex]

Seeing too many articles making Biden out to be some sort hero in this

He lost his son Beau in balloon combat with the Chinese, and you're questioning his heroism?

[Perd Hapley]

He lost his son Beau in balloon combat with the Chinese, and you're questioning his heroism?

I now want to see this movie.

[Northwoods]

He lost his son Beau in balloon combat with the Chinese, and you're questioning his heroism?

[Perd Hapley]

Maybe this was Biden allowing China to establish a precedent that they get to incur our airspace if they like. If President AnyRepublican, in 2025, encounters any Chinese overflights, he'd have to be an ultra-MAGA  crazy fascist to even think about shooting them down before they're done with their spying.

[MillCreek]

[bedlamite]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1622346407029129216

[WLJ]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1622346407029129216

Is that for real?

[bedlamite]

Is that for real?

I don't know, but at this point nothing would surprise me.

[Northwoods]

Is that for real?

How fitting that it was posted by “Clown World”.

[WLJ]

I don't know, but at this point nothing would surprise me.

That's the problem nowadays, it might be real no matter how stupid it looks. Why satire is largely dead, it can't stay ahead of the stupid anymore.

[Perd Hapley]

Is that for real?

Every search result seems to come back to that same twitter handle, so I doubt it.

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11719221/Chinese-spy-balloon-carried-EXPLOSIVES-destroy-itself.html

And the Pentagon admits that there have been previous balloon incursions, including during Trump's preidency. And we didn't know about them:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-military-failed-to-detect-prior-chinese-incursions-general-says/ar-AA17bb2B

So how the heck could something with a payload "the size of a jetliner" NOT be spotted by NORAD?

[Hawkmoon]

Oh, wait!

It was all just a mistake.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/total-miscalculation-china-goes-into-crisis-management-mode-on-balloon-fallout/ar-AA17bu3p

[HeroHog]

Looked to me like that missile hit the payload of the "weather balloon" dead center instead of taking out the balloon itself so we could collect the gear and see what was really up. Now, the evidence is destroyed!

[Angel Eyes]

Frank Luke wouldn't have waited days to take action.  He'd jumped right into his SPAD and taken care of business

I'm fairly certain a SPAD's service ceiling is well shy of 60,000 ft.

[HeroHog]

"Just shoot it down with one of them .50 BMG anti-plane sniper rifles!"

[MechAg94]

Do you think the jet could have just fired a burst of gun fire into the balloon so the whole package would just come down? 

[RocketMan]

Do you think the jet could have just fired a burst of gun fire into the balloon so the whole package would just come down?

There have been previous attempts to shoot down errant high altitude weather balloons from fighter aircraft.  Despite it seeming to be a simple task, it really hasn't worked all that well.  Below is a link to one occasion where CF-18s (Canuck F-18) expended over 1000 rounds of 20mm and weren't successful in bringing down a balloon.

https://www.businessinsider.com/runaway-weather-balloon-fighter-jets-history-2023-2?op=1

[WLJ]

Can't compare this to balloon busting in WW-I where the balloons were at relatively low altitudes and filled with flammable hydrogen. They were however usually well protected by AA on the ground so attacking one was considered highly dangerous often to the point of being almost suicidal which is why shooting one down was considered a feat.