Now that the Chinese “spy balloon” has crossed the entire United States, the Air Force *finally* got the order from Biden to shoot the thing down. Looks like a fighter launched a missile… a missile that doubtless cost way more than the balloon. Happened over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina… you know, the far side of the country from where it entered.
F-16s are on the case! Chinese Spy Balloon your time has come!! pic.twitter.com/ePxOLMy1tv
— Chris Combs (iterative design enjoyer) (@DrChrisCombs) February 4, 2023
— Sam Guichelaar (@SamGuichelaar) February 4, 2023
Full video pic.twitter.com/Qwq8CJbHej
— jared Stalvey (@jaredstalvey) February 4, 2023
#ChineseSpyBalloon shot down!!! pic.twitter.com/2CsMZlmZCq
— Real USC (@RealUSC) February 4, 2023
6 responses to “The barn door has closed”
Shot down only when it would be difficult or impossible to recover the payload.
Just in case it had a bioweapon that might thaw out—hit it over water…Andromeda Strain style.
The missile tore just along the bottom of the balloon. Perfect.
Some balloons can be quite resistant.
https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/telex/videos.html
The “Battle of Los Angeles” resulted from one of these things…with spent ack-ack everywhere.
Higher up…tears don’t always vent fast.
Crazy conspiracy theory #623. It wasn’t gathering intel on missile sites, nor was it a ‘meteorological balloon’, but instead was waiting to be shot down, listening to the Raptor’s sensors and radar . . .
Not the first time I’ve heard that. Since the first time someone might know there’s a Raptor about is when they get lit up, it might be handy to have all the emissions data. But if the F-22 used a Sidewinder, there might not have been any emissions at all. With luck, the only electronics emission from the F-22 was a powerful CB-frequency transmission of “America Fuck Yeah!”
I think Covid might have been a payload for earlier ones.
Kill, replace.
What’s this about it first being called an Aerostar Thunderhead balloon…HBAL617 or N257TH ?
This true?
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/10uljtl/balloons_similar_to_the_one_that_was_shot_down/