Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

apnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

721–730 of 864 posts

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

#721

Post by Linosaurus »

tomcam wrote: post #708
LastTrain wrote: post #626

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The national weather service already launches > 180 weather balloons PER DAY.

That sounded way too high to me. Turned out… That number is way too low. https://www.weather.gov/bmx/kidscorner_weatherballoons#:~:te... .

From your source it’s pretty’s exact, for the US.

> Twice a day, every day of the year, weather balloons are released simultaneously from almost 900 locations worldwide! This includes 92 released by the National Weather Service in the US and its territories.

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

#722

Post by bell-cot »

nikcub wrote: post #605
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was supposedly done during the US bombing of yugoslavia... open microwaves transmit pulsed radiation, automatic systems think it's a radar and bomb the site.

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…

> Gen. Wesley Clark was a huge advocate of the doctrine that you could win wars with air power alone and never have to sacrifice ground troops - that thinking changed after '99

Delusions about winning wars with only air power are very close to a century old now. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber_Mafia ) But they seem hugely appealing to parts of human psychology - so "proved horribly wrong, yet again" doesn't do much to cure them.

That said - Gen. Clark was a career Army officer, not Air Force. And "we don't need an army to win" ideas have, ah, limited appeal to career Army folks. My read is that he was a good officer, stuck under a political leader (Pres. Bill Clinton) extremely reluctant to commit ground forces. Clark knew not to contradict his boss, and did what he could within the imposed constraints.

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

#723

Post by mikequinlan »

westhom wrote: post #517
snake_doc wrote: post #345

F-22 entered service 2005 Air to air kills since entered service: 2005-2022: 0 2023: 2

Wonder how they picked who the lucky pilot is to get the first F-22 air to air kill. Draw straws?

Throw darts at a balloon.

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

#724

Post by tablespoon »

sornaensis wrote: post #703
mysterydip wrote: post #639

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Yes, the same flight plans, routes and timetables, were re-used, so when spotters saw the aircraft take off they had a very good idea of where it would come from. 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.

> non-PID contact

What is that, exactly?

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

#725

Post by ajsnigrutin »

mysterydip wrote: post #639
nikcub wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Since it was supposedly "invisible", there was a lot of joking that it was hit by accident saying: "sorry, we didn't see it".

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

#726

Post by throwaway4good »

13of40 wrote: post #552
yosito wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans will measure with anything except the metric system.

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".

It is sailing lingo to use feet and (nautical) mile.

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

#727

Post by butler14 »

reaperducer wrote: post #44
MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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? The Cold War was a lot scarier than what we have now. In the back of your mind, every day you thought that today could be the day we all get wiped out. I'm not too worried about Russia or China starting anything nuclear these days. Russia invade Scandinavia? Sure. China invade Taiwan? Absolutely. But I'm not worried that they'll nuke someone else from a distance.

You know parts of Scandinavia are protected by the UK, right?

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

#728

Post by dingaling »

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?

On the contrary there was the infamous Battle of Palmdale in 1956 wherein the USAF failed to shoot-down a rogue drone

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-sep-11-me-then1...

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

#729

Post by sundvor »

mysterydip wrote: post #639
nikcub wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I believe so, but also because they decided to still fly missions on a day where the Prowler EW platform was inoperable. Due to the extreme predictability of the route, along with no countermeasures, and intelligence on the matter, they were able to burn through.

This is the article I read about this some time ago; good detail here! They quote complacency as a factor, arrogance would be another good word - in grossly underestimating the sheer determination on the other side.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/an-in-depth-analysis-of-how-...

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

#730

Post by refurb »

sandworm101 wrote: post #459
irrational wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estevan_Point_lighthouse Much like this story, many Japanese planners did not appreciate the vast size of the American west. A hundred random firebombs were basically irrelevant compared to the many thousands of yearly lighting strikes that also regularly cause fires. Who knows how many Japanese balloons are out there hanging from some tree undiscovered.

The other good story about remoteness

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Station_Kurt

German sub drops off a team in 1943 to install a weather station on Newfoundland.

Wasnt discovered until 35 years later only because some scholar found reference to it in the German archives.

Post reply on HN