701–710 of 864 posts
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The thing was visible to the naked eye, and so was its demise. I don’t see any reason to believe there was some agenda at play on the US side. They couldn’t have covered it up if they wanted to.
Really? It's all over the press. I didn't happen to notice the balloon floating in the sky. We don't all have one collective eye. The press and politicians platformed the story.
It doesn't matter what the object was, it's that America's adversaries know they can do it without consequences, and what makes them believe this is what matters about this story. That is the irreversible change it signifies, imo.
It’s been what - a week or two? Since the first balloon made the news. Were you hoping the US would react without thinking through their options? Personally, I want a considered, measured response. We can always add sanctions or start a nuclear war later. Right now it seems important to understand what happened, discuss with other leaders, and figure out a smart response. But yeah a lot of people just want to escalat…
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Can confirm this and that it happen in both Bosnia and the Serbia campaigns. I had family members who were involved [0]. The deception methods that were applied were truly remarkable, they used decoy tanks and sent people out to imprint fake tank tracks into fields. They also understood IR and would shield real troops while leaving coal to burn in empty pillboxes and bunkers There was also the shoot down of the F-117…
I heard the downing of the f-117 was due in large part to them flying the same patterns at the same time every night. Was this true? Or was there more involved in the AA hit?
The shoot down also involved the SAM radar operator violating his own SOP by leaving his radar on longer than they normally do, and firing at a non-PID contact, because they _knew_ the aircraft was going to be there.
Complacency kills.
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Funny story: I was in Spain several years ago and was talking to a guy I met about sailboats. I mentioned I had a boat, and he asked how big. I thought for a second and said "7 meters" so as not to be an ignorant American. He thought for a second and said "huh, 21 feet".
I'm not sure what the situation is in other European countries, but in the UK we use different units depending on the use so most people are use to working with both imperial and metric. Perhaps with the exception of fahrenheit most people here will know what you mean if you use units like feet and will often even prefer thinking in feet over metres for certain things. Personally I default to feet for something like…
But sailboat length is traditionally measured in feet. Same for aircraft altitude.
So sailors and aviators are more likely to use feet (and nautical miles) as measurement.
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I’d hesitate to call this psychological warfare, but it now seems like the American people are paranoid about spy balloons and having their airspace violated. America is the one who brazenly flies and spies over other countries, that doesn’t happen to us . So now our leaders are trigger happy about shooting down any potential new balloons in order to try and save face while looking tough. Meanwhile, I’m sure plenty o…
> it now seems like the American people are paranoid about spy balloons and having their airspace violated Only naive people would think so. 9/11 was 21 years ago. Where have you been? > America is the one who brazenly flies and spies over other countries, that doesn’t happen to us. Satellites have been used by all major powers since pretty much forever. As for other means, do you have insights of those brazen effort…
Syria comes to mind. Russia was invited by Syrian government [0]. US was not, but still invading country and airspace [1].
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[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_military_interventio...
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in...
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Microwaves transmit on a frequency nowhere near missile systems and are not modulated in any way resembling a missile fire control system, but cool story. ECM gear in US warplanes can classify a system based off its emissions and people think they're fooled by a microwave oven?
Not to be too provocative, but hugely expensive precision equipment being fooled by a microwave oven with the door cut off is exactly what I’d expect from the US military.
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Depends on your payload weight. Some random searching found a 300g payload baloon for USD$30[1]. That excludes filling costs and other bits. Anyone stupid enough to do it without following FAA rules (assuming launched in the US) is going to find themselves in some serious trouble. [1] https://www.highaltitudescience.com/collections/all
The helium is generally the biggest cost for a launch. You generally need welding grade helium instead of the party balloon variety which costs more. The price fluctuates a lot because of some complicated economics related to natural gas production, but getting that high can easily set you back $400.
Thank heavens pot is legal in so many states now
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How much does a weather baloon cost? ...compared to a F22 flight, a missle + all the logistics? If it's cheap enough, there will probably be youtubers and tiktokers buying them en-masse just "for the lulz".
The national weather service already launches > 180 weather balloons PER DAY.
https://www.weather.gov/bmx/kidscorner_weatherballoons#:~:te....
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Each one of those sidewinder rockets is half a million dollars. Think about how much healthcare, food, housing, we are burning up with this nonsense.
You’re missing the big picture. The wonderful, open, democratic society that we live in exists only because we secure it against adversaries. China has $1.4B striving, hungry citizens who would love to get a crack at that prosperity. If we let them, they will take it.
I assume that “$” is a oops?
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Geologists were able to reduce the search area for the origin of these balloons using the mineral composition of sand in the sand bags. The airforce then bombed hydrogen generating facilities nearby the suspected launch sites. Section offense and defense https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb
Did we have operatives taking sand samples or was that some over-exuberant librarian who got to say "I told you so" to their bosses?