Is it even legal to release a party baloon in class D airspace?
It's illegal everywhere in Texas
https://1023thebullfm.com/texas-bans-outdoor-balloon-release...
A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
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Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
>their job is to control the border Thank god they’re here defending us from rogue party balloons. Where would we be without their vigilance?
I think it's clear they were mistaken, I don't really think the sarcasm is adding to the conversation.
The problem isn’t the mistake, it’s the recklessness.
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really making you wonder why does DHS have direct access to this hardware?
It's pretty directly relevant to "homeland security", anti-terrorism, etc. I wouldn't say that's the problem. Make no mistake, the actual drone terrorism is coming. I guess you could say that only the actual military should handle it, but... Why?
I may have foolishly accepted the premise of incompetence in posing my question. Basically it seemed to me like the complaint was untrained/experienced (incompetent) people were deciding/deploying the fancy laser munition. That seemed worth of rebuke. After some brief searching I'm less clear about who took what action.
It seemed more like giving police forces (or allowing them to buy) APCs, armored Humvees, etc. Less trained/experienced people using things made for a different use case, ultimately exposes the people to more risk. Instead of say coordinating with the DOD to deploy the system and personnel accepting requests or being the decision maker for "take action" after some level of expertise in the area of evaluating targets and whatever else need be considered has also contributed to the process.
I don't know how it does work, let alone have enough context to imagine how it should. While I do agree "things to deter drones are appropriate border defense tools," the rest of the details painted a picture that seemed less reasonable.
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#64> Who among us hasn’t, at some point, mistaken a party balloon for a cartel drone? Let him cast the first stone.
Firstly, how is the world's most powerful military afraid of "cartel drones"? Don't they already have some sci-fi laser/EW gizmos to take care of those considering how much taxpayer dollars go to the defense sector? Secondly, contrary to popular belief, cartel leaders are smart enough to know not to directly mess with and attract the wrath of the US military when that's not good for their core business.
Don't they already have some sci-fi laser/EW gizmos to take care of those
Isn't that the problem? Someone (but apparently DHS, not the military though there were military staff present, maybe?) had one of those sci-fi laser gizmos and used it without authorization or proper notifications.
I don't think we'll ever learn the real details about exactly what happened, the audit trail (if there was one) is probably in shredder baskets by now
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#65Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#66"99 Luftballons", Mariachi remix.
99 ministros de guerra Fósforos y bidones de gasolina Se creían gente muy astuta Ya olfateaban un gran botín Gritaron: “¡Guerra!” y querían poder Hombre, ¿quién lo hubiera pensado? Que alguna vez llegaría tan lejos Por culpa de 99 globos
That doesn't rhyme at all though.
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really making you wonder why does DHS have direct access to this hardware?
Lasers are not particularly controlled by regulation. Most people in the US can own a class 4 laser if they want. Also, most laws that do restrict weapons specifically exempt government law enforcement anyway.
Okay, but they're not like styropyro on YouTube here... presumably the DHS people are using the whatever government weapons contractor made device, which is going to come with more nuance, controls, targeting system, etc. than whatever someone might buy off the shelf or cobble together independently.
I think it might have actually been DOD people operating the system even, but there's conflicting reporting and I'm not sure. Either way it seems like there was at the very least some kind of coordination failure.
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#68Is it even legal to release a party baloon in class D airspace?
Yet another 5 year old doing covert ops?
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#69More alarmingly, the laser weapon was deployed before the FAA actually shut down the airspace: https://apnews.com/article/faa-el-paso-texas-air-space-close... I'd say these trigger-happy clowns chasing tough-guy optics are going to get innocent people killed, but then they already have -- multiple times.
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> "The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -if all records told the same tale -- then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.' And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory."
Re: A party balloon shut down El Paso International Airport; estimated cost –$573k
#70The rate of return on this is phenomenal. A 53" balloon costs $9.99. You could shut down all large and medium hubs in the US for $629.37/day. The asymmetry is astounding and I'm surprised we don't defend against this kind of attack more efficiently.
I think the general assumption is that the US government is competent enough to know the difference between a party balloon and a real threat, but apparently it is not. At least not under the current admin.
America's war on balloons has been ongoing for some time: