US aircraft shoots down new airborne object over Canada

Post by booleandilemma » Sun, Feb 12, 2023, 1:59 AM UTC

Ancapistani wrote: post #78

randerson wrote: post #69

The US Government shooting down an Unidentified Flying Object sounds like the start of a science fiction film. If there were ever a bad time and place for actual aliens to come visit...

The most interesting thing to me is that the US federal government isn’t calling them “balloons” - or even “lighter than air craft”. It leaves open a lot of conspiracy type theories, and I just don’t see the motivation to do that It “feels” to me like there’s something more than US/China brinksmanship going on.

Post by dinkumthinkum » Sun, Feb 12, 2023, 2:01 AM UTC

ksherlock wrote: post #121

rgbrenner wrote: post #38

I think China erred by sending such a large balloon that was visible to the naked eye, causing the American public to demand it be shot down. There's no hard rule about where national airspace ends and space begins.. a lot of times they fly too high for planes to reach, and under certain circumstances balloons are allowed through national airspace.. so if the balloon isn't causing a problem (like being a hazard to ai…

> There's no hard rule about where national airspace ends and space begins What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? There's no hard rule about when life begins but killing a 5 year old isn't a 22nd trimester abortion, it's murder. 18-60'000 feet is class A, controlled airspace in the US and Canada. When the US sent U2s over the USSR, the rationale wasn't that 70,000 feet was "space", it was that it w…

Post by idlewords » Sun, Feb 12, 2023, 2:02 AM UTC

alsaaro wrote: post #209

Reuters sacrificed common sense for sensationalism, these are drones/balloons, not alien space craft, and everyone knows it. Clickbait!

Post by birdymcbird » Sun, Feb 12, 2023, 2:04 AM UTC

rossjudson wrote: post #208

Sucks to be an alien right now.

Post by beckingz » Sun, Feb 12, 2023, 2:07 AM UTC

yokem55 wrote: post #82

HyperSane wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The F-22 was never called a failure. The main criticism is that we didn't make enough of them.

Well, it has a very niche application. It is absolutely the best at what it does, but an air superiority/dominance fighter is not typically useful in the conflicts that the US has been involved in since the F-22 entered service. The fact that it has been in service for almost 15 years before seeing any air to air action has meant it has been a cost that is tricky to justify.