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US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

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Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#101

Post by specialp »

api wrote: post #59

So what’s the deal with these balloons? Provocation? Do they think nobody will notice?

It could be to gradually increase reaction expectations so it would not be surprising if China shot down one of the USA's drones. Or perhaps escalate by using their previously demonstrated ability to blow up satellites. The balloon was a very public microaggression that forced the USA to respond in a very public way. China tried the public "oops it was a weather balloon" to give the USA a chance to back off the public response (but know that China was still provoking them). But it was too brazen to accept.

The USA is already on their doorsteps by having bases in almost all the neighboring countries, and conducting operational freedom exercises by flying and sailing through disputed areas.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#102

Post by brindidrip »

I noticed some odd things while watching the press conference. Pat Ryder had a potential Freudian slip and said that it was taken down because it "posed a threat to civili..." and he enunciated the "li" as if he were going to say "civilization," but he then paused and corrected himself to say "civilian." Another odd thing was when Pat Ryder answered a question about why the President's decision to take down the object was necessary. Pat mentioned something like, "Presidents usually make decisions when certain threats in our airspace pose a danger to civilians on the ground."

It's extremely odd to me that they were able to identify the object by sending our own airmen to visually confirm it, but if that's the case, wouldn't they be able to definitively conclude that it wasn't a balloon? Pat kept it ambiguous and kept insisting that it was some sort of object.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#103

Post by snozolli »

MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #23
moose_man wrote: post #11

Probably not a great sign of things to come.

I'd say it feels like a return to the era of cold war tensions but I wouldn't know, I was born around when the Berlin Wall fell. What say you older HNers, is this what it was like?

I would say the tensions seem similar, but the consequences seem different.

In the 80s, it felt like you might find yourself vaporized or living in a nuclear apocalypse hellscape at any moment, likely due to a misunderstanding or malfunction.

These days it seems like we're more likely to just be in a long-term adversarial position with likely proxy wars.

I feel like the WWII and Cold War eras were more about existence, whereas these days the aggression is more about how much more bounty do we want. Look at the Chinese land grabs around disputed islands versus Japan. They don't need them, but it would be nice to have them.

The whole thing just seems like a bunch of unnecessary, ego-driven B.S. on every side.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#104

Post by LarryMullins »

foobarbecue wrote: post #36
moose_man wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Cold War had expectations, guardrails, rules. Those don't exist in the current setup. China didn't even pick up the emergency hotline in the first balloon crisis.

So... it's worse?

The Cold War wasn't uniform of course, there were periods of greatly increased tension and periods of relative relaxation (e.g. Détente.) What we have now is somewhere in the middle, I'd say on the peaceful/Détente side of the scale.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#105

Post by themodelplumber »

r3trohack3r wrote: post #95

There was a fun theory on UFOs I saw recently. The general premise is this: U.S. adversaries realized they couldn't compete with the U.S. on spending. So they got creative and loaded the equivalent of Pringles cans up with a bunch of sensors, hooked them up to either a balloons or relatively cheap unmanned aircraft, and sent them through U.S. airspace to collect intelligence. They'd occasionally get caught (perhaps o…

Funny, though tbh it seems like there are cheaper ways to cause the US to spend gobs of cash. I even hesitate to mention some ideas that immediately come to mind that would be easier/more efficient to really nail than the Pringles can idea.

Plus many of the more prominent base-personnel sightings land quite a bit far from that particular ballpark. Take a look into the Rendlesham Forest incident for example.

The problem with "summing up UFO contact" is that the variety of encounters is absolutely insane. Compare Rendlesham to Varginha, etc.

It really starts to bring out the "inter" in the more colorful inter-dimensional contact theories.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#106

Post by Zetobal »

petre wrote: post #33

> An F-22 fighter jet shot down the object using an A9X missile What a waste if $200k, shooting Chinese baloons. These shold be zapped using lasers.

There is always stock that has to be used up before they go bad and the pilots and machines need flying time no matter what. It's not as bad as it sounds and the rockets have their warheads removed.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#107

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

dTal wrote: post #98
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting catch. Still, it's known that the previous object was a balloon, so I'd say it makes more sense to expect those words are shorthand for "previous object (which was a balloon)". This new object may still be a balloon, but those words aren't admission of that.

Not many other types of non-maneuverable flying craft.

Fair point; I doubt it's anything like a bottle rocket or whatever else. I guess it doesn't really matter either way since it's likely to be revealed what it was.

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#108

Post by next_xibalba »

I've wondered if these incursions are intentional on the part of the Chinese to provoke a precedent setting response to airborne (and beyond) surveillance.

"They shoot down our surveillance balloons, giving us precedent to shoot down their high altitude drone planes or satellites in the future."

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#109

Post by riku_iki »

mikewarot wrote: post #84
riku_iki wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my speculation is that the main goal of Chinese covid lockdown was to train and simulate mass policing of population in case of upcoming war.

My understanding is their vaccine doesn't work at all, they don't have a strong emergency medical care system, thus it was the only real option for them.

they could buy western vaccine

Re: US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

#110

Post by dctoedt »

MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #23
moose_man wrote: post #11

Probably not a great sign of things to come.

I'd say it feels like a return to the era of cold war tensions but I wouldn't know, I was born around when the Berlin Wall fell. What say you older HNers, is this what it was like?

> What say you older HNers, is this what it was like?

I'm old enough to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis — to borrow from Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie Wag the Dog, "This? THIS is NOTH-ing!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jR4gld-nUA

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