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I saw a joke that the CCP has trolled us into shooting down an alien space craft.
Having shot down the Centaurian ambassador, the humans had inadvertently started the first of the great galactic wars. Sadly, they would not be around long enough to take part.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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> Either it was shoot down, or would have been later The jets were scrambled in such a hurry to intercept Flight 93 that they weren’t loaded with ammunition. I’m afraid that the plan was to collide the fighters with the plane if necessary. It was a suicide mission. [1] However, we have plenty of evidence that the passengers resisted and in the course of that the plane crashed. 1. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/fighter…
[1] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-onl...
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Maybe Japanese fire balloons during WWII? "One of the most unusual military actions of World War II came in the form of Japanese balloon bombs, or “Fugos,” directed at the mainland United States. Starting in 1944, the Japanese military constructed and launched over 9,000 high-altitude balloons, each loaded with nearly 50 pounds of anti-personnel and incendiary explosives. Amazingly, these unmanned balloons originated…
More than 500 Americans and more than 2000 Japanese died fighting in the Aleutian islands during WW2. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/battle-of-attu-60-years.htm
Is there a reason F-22s are being used to take these balloons down? Is it to take advantage of a training opportunity? I would think less advanced aircraft may be more cost effective to operate.
Two kills in two weeks? What an amazing 334 million USD aircraft. We should have more!
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That’s funny, because this was my exact thought. How can they distinguish the difference when they say ‘unknown’ object…
They flew a F35 next to the object. "Unknown" is an overloaded term and it isn't binary (known vs unknown). Plus, they said it was the size of a small car (remember the other balloon's payload was the size of a bus). So while you don't know what exactly that payload is and is doing, you do know it isn't just a go pro. You also know it isn't a velociraptor or Felix Baumgartner.
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 publi…
So what’s the deal with these balloons? Provocation? Do they think nobody will notice?
IMO, the balloons are an excuse to raise tensions with China.
Unfortunately, tensions are already quite high in China, due to state media being the only source of propaganda. The state and most tv-watchers have therefore decided that America is the cause of all their problems.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having shot down the Centaurian ambassador, the humans had inadvertently started the first of the great galactic wars. Sadly, they would not be around long enough to take part.
At least it wasn't the Minbari.
Part of me thinks they wanted to shoot down the first balloon, but the president was kind of incapacitated and unable to give the order. That's the only thing I can think of for why they didn't shoot the first one down when it was over Alaska, but they shoot this one down when it is.