US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast • Hacker News Board

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

#301

Post by cjg_ » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 10:56 PM UTC

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…

More or less the premise of this 2021 article: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40054/adversary-drones...

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

#302

Post by lame-robot-hoax » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 10:57 PM UTC

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.

Ordinance doesn’t last forever. Might as well use them if you’ve got them.

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

#303

Post by krapp » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 10:57 PM UTC

bmitc wrote: post #17

moose_man wrote: post #11

Probably not a great sign of things to come.

Probably didn't help that an Air Force general was openly and loudly proclaiming that war is inevitable. I looked up some speeches of his, and he is off the rails, like the German general in All Quiet Along the Western Front .

Warmonger tries to sell a war. Film at eleven.

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

#304

Post by smcl » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 10:58 PM UTC

mulmen wrote: post #272

tsimionescu wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your own government has a much higher ability to affect your life than China does, so what you're saying is completely irrational. Not that it's OK for the Chinese to spy on us, mind you, or to claim that they don't have nefarious purposes.

I'd rather be spied on by a western democracy than China. Our intelligence agencies are out of control but there's still better mechanisms for reigning them in than China.

What mechanisms do you recommend for reining in, say, the NSA or GHCQ? Were either reined in at all after the Snowden leaks, or was it business as usual after things calmed down a bit?

I think we have to accept that these intelligence agencies are effectively untouchable and here to stay. With that in mind I think it boils down to: who can do the most harm by spying on you:

- a country thousands of miles away which you probably have no connection to and don't visit

- the country you live in

I said in another comment but it bears repeating - I don't want anyone spying on me, but I am losing no sleep over Chinese intelligence, I am an extremely uninteresting target for them. If a Chinese agent is watching me die repeatedly in Elden Ring, looking at webcam footage of me gawping at my monitor while I scroll HN, or checking the stupid FB messages I send to my friends they'll realise pretty quickly I'm not worth the bandwidth or the storage space. A local agency might be interested in those FB messages, especially if I was politically active, vocally against the government and I was trying to organize protests or strike action.

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

#305

Post by pvaldes » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 10:58 PM UTC

pvaldes wrote: post #273

Ninjinka wrote: post #4

I mean maybe I'm just not up to date on recent history, but when was the last time we shot down anything in our our airspace prior to last week?

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

#306

Post by robswc » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 11:00 PM UTC

oceanplexian wrote: post #259

cm2187 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big balloon from earlier this month was more like a satellite hanging from a balloon. Not sure it was that cheap. The problem is what can you fly that has a cannon and can reach those altitudes. Apparently only the F22 and F15 could, and that was their very limit.

That’s definitely not their limit since they can shoot down satellites at the altitude of the International Space Station. And that’s the stuff we’re allowed to know about.

Could they shoot down the ISS, if they wanted? Isn't that thing moving insanely fast? haha. Not a space guy but always found it interesting.

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

#307

Post by Supermancho » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 11:01 PM UTC

newZWhoDis wrote: post #295

nostromo wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those UFOs were lens flares. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEjV8DdSbs Turns out we like to spend gobs of money even when we're just chasing our shadow.

Mick Wests videos on the topic have been thoroughly debunked by fighter pilots and experienced aviators. He also completely ignores the eyewitness testimony and radar data. He’s one of the least credible debunkers you can find.

> Mick Wests videos on the topic have been thoroughly debunked by fighter pilots and experienced aviators.

I have never seen a counter-analysis. Can you explain why you think this? It's not common knowledge that the observations of Mick West has been "debunked"...at least not as commonly known or easy to find as the Mick West analysis or the source videos.

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

#308

Post by giantrobot » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 11:01 PM UTC

newZWhoDis wrote: post #295

nostromo wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those UFOs were lens flares. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEjV8DdSbs Turns out we like to spend gobs of money even when we're just chasing our shadow.

Mick Wests videos on the topic have been thoroughly debunked by fighter pilots and experienced aviators. He also completely ignores the eyewitness testimony and radar data. He’s one of the least credible debunkers you can find.

Love your references for these claims. They're so thorough.

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

#309

Post by orwin » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 11:03 PM UTC

LarryMullins wrote: post #276

zeven7 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> or for some reason the Navy is deliberately misleading the public, or at the very least allowing some of their personnel to mislead the public and playing coy about it But why?

Maybe they think it's funny. Maybe it's to confuse their adversaries, or a ploy for more funding from Congress. Maybe they're allowing some pranksters to have their fun because they want to encourage an environment of open reporting where pilots aren't afraid to report strange things.

The last one never came to my mind but is the most likely explanation I now have. I truly thank you for the insight.

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

#310

Post by LarryMullins » Fri, Feb 10, 2023, 11:03 PM UTC

gattilorenz wrote: post #219

nonethewiser wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Soleimani and a number of Iraqi military officers were taken out by a US drone. Good. Right?

Wasn’t Soleimani Iranian? Are you at war with Iran? Did he receive a fair trial?

It needs to be said; the list of Iranian terrorist attacks against America is very short. The list of Iranian terrorist attacks in America is even shorter. Most of the antagonism against Iran in America is motivated by Iran's relationship with other countries (Israel), not things they've done to America. I can't say that I feel any personal animosity towards Iran, I wish America would let Israelis handle Israeli affairs and stop getting into grudge matches with other countries on their behalf.