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[Starver]

Balloons? Only heard of the two, and nothing else currently in my usual snapshot at the news after an all too brief check, but I imagine there were/are more. I can imagine there being one or several (if not many), but not just the two.

(Perhaps a trio might be logical, at a stretch, for purely geometric reasons. And if it was indeed for measuring differential wind-patterns, by conducting ranging measures as the butterfly wafts them off on diverging courses off on slightly different headings and lagging/advancing by differing amounts according to given start-points and/or holding-altitudes.)

[Dostoevsky]

About a week ago there was a DIRE REVELATION that there was evidence of a third balloon somewhere in the world RIGHT NOW.

And as of today there's a Washington Post article (paywalled I imagine) that there's actually a fairly substantial network of them across 5 continents. Unclear how many, but it's been going on for a while and it's higher tech than 'balloon' sounds. Supposedly the wreckage of this one - and one that crashed near Hawaii last year, apparently - are helping better understand that scope of the operation, as they take data from balloon sightings in prior years that now seem to match being spy balloons.

[King Zultan]

OH GOD, the balloons are multiplying!

[dragdeler]

Spoiler: it is getting obvious (click to show/hide)

[Starver]

By the way, probably not directly related[1], this might be a girl to keep an eye on!

[1] I'm sure there's a Best Korea thread I can necro, but I couldn't find it... Went back into 2016, so I'm convinced I missed it well within the first half of my backtrack through General. So I thought I'd mark the news here as the closest 'near miss', subjectively.

[Frumple]

Y'know, it wouldn't surprise me if someone in the jewish space laser crowd was screeching china was controlled by (communist!) aliens, in regards to those balloons. Parody has died, run over by a clown car of qultists

[1] I'm sure there's a Best Korea thread I can necro, but I couldn't find it... Went back into 2016, so I'm convinced I missed it well within the first half of my backtrack through General. So I thought I'd mark the news here as the closest 'near miss', subjectively.

It was either loud whispers or metal slime hunt that made that thread, if you'd rather try to narrow it down that way.

E: Yeah, it was MSH. Wasn't hard to find, last post was just last year, it's just that the thread title tended to be odd.

[jipehog]

There's not really much doubt about what this is - it's a Electronics Intelligence (ELINT) device intended to pick up communications, that is supposed to be moored in international waters (the balloon gets the payload over the horizon and increases the reach, but keeps it low enough to pick up signals better than an ELINT satellite would) that came loose and is now drifting along weather patterns.

Moored as in tattered with a cable? Like USA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethered_Aerostat_Radar_System

From what I skimmed over, these Balloons might be part of Chinese effort to develop untattered and much higher altitude aerostats for various purposes. Has there been any insights on this?

[Lord Shonus]

Tethered, not tattered (tattered means "torn up" in English, which doesn't appear to be your first language), but that's the understanding I was operating on at the time - there was a Chinese spy ship that routinely operates such balloons off the coast of Alaska when the balloon was first sighted. The sightings of other similar balloons across the globe raises doubts on it being an accidental release.

[King Zultan]

At this rate the entire world will be under siege by Chinese balloons.

[Starver]

At this rate the entire world will be under siege by Chinese balloons.

Jiǔshíjiǔ gè hóng qìqiú...

[MrRoboto75]

Bart, I don't want to alarm you, but there could be a balloon or balloons inside the house!

[jipehog]

that's the understanding I was operating on at the time

Some more recent news: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/09/china/china-balloon-near-space-development-intl-hnk/index.html

[Dostoevsky]

The US shot down another object in Alaskan airspace, unspecified whether it is that most pernicious of dastardly objects, a balloon, or not. Whatever it is, it was roughly the "size of a small car" and was at 40,000 feet. DOD argues it was a hazard to air traffic, which isn't that unreasonable a statement since 40,000 is pretty close to civilian air traffic.

[The_Explorer]

...maybe its just me...

but who the heck cares lol. Wow a balloon ooooo. Like I don't get the big deal. This is something from like the 1800s technology lol. This is equivalent hoopla of the hunter biden laptop story. no one except republicans care lol. Sure I know it was revealed to be transmitting communications and map data...they can enjoy the endless swaths of wilderness pictures I guess and whatever little they got that is actually useful...like...ok...

and this is coming from someone who thinks china is an entirely different level of threat than russia, and I still don't get it lol. If this was the 1800s or early 1900s or something I'd be probably going "wow thats advanced technology, a balloon used to spy this is a serious threat"

but uh...its a balloon in 2023

(though, I know balloons can drop weapons and whatever else (or be filled with stuff)...like I guess briefly thinking about it, they can be a threat. But...this is still like early 1900s worry to me. Its a dang dumb primitive as heck balloon. I mean maybe I'm not seeing the bigger picture...but...its a balloon xD)

[Dostoevsky]

For all my snark about it, the mere fact of it being a balloon doesn't say too much about it. I mean planes are over a century old at this point, right?

Setting aside whatever this new thing is (a UFO!) the balloon aspect is merely the elevation method. It can have an advanced tech suite attached to it (these recent Chinese ones sound like they might be on par with some US intel gathering planes) both for taking photos (not too different from satellite quality, though being able to linger over a position does have advantages) or for intercepting data/communications.

Sure a balloon can't go nearly as fast (or maneuver nearly as tightly) as a plane, but if it's able to avoid attention (which apparently these Chinese ones have had success with up until recently) then that's plenty good.