New Baloon

[mspart]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-tracking-balloon-western-us-military/

The U.S. is tracking a small, high-altitude balloon that is drifting across the country but poses no threat to national security, U.S. officials and the military said Friday.

CBS News first reported that the military was tracking the balloon as it traversed the Western U.S. earlier in the day. NORAD, the military command responsible for air defense over the U.S. and Canada, later confirmed it had detected the object and said it was floating between 43,000 and 45,000 feet. Its presence prompted enough concern that the command sent aircraft to investigate.

"The balloon was intercepted by NORAD fighters over Utah, who determined it was not maneuverable and did not present a threat to national security. NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon," NORAD said in a statement. "The FAA also determined the balloon posed no hazard to flight safety."

One U.S. official told CBS News the balloon was expected to be over Georgia by Friday night. The official said the balloon appeared to be made of Mylar and had a small cube-shaped box, about two feet long on each side, hanging below it. Its origins and purpose remain unknown.

The developments come one year after tensions between the U.S. and China ratcheted to new heights after a Chinese balloon carrying sophisticated spying equipment flew over the continental U.S. for several days.

So they are just going to let it fly across the US?   Wonderful!

mspart

[Le duke]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-tracking-balloon-western-us-military/
The U.S. is tracking a small, high-altitude balloon that is drifting across the country but poses no threat to national security, U.S. officials and the military said Friday.
CBS News first reported that the military was tracking the balloon as it traversed the Western U.S. earlier in the day. NORAD, the military command responsible for air defense over the U.S. and Canada, later confirmed it had detected the object and said it was floating between 43,000 and 45,000 feet. Its presence prompted enough concern that the command sent aircraft to investigate.
"The balloon was intercepted by NORAD fighters over Utah, who determined it was not maneuverable and did not present a threat to national security. NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon," NORAD said in a statement. "The FAA also determined the balloon posed no hazard to flight safety."
One U.S. official told CBS News the balloon was expected to be over Georgia by Friday night. The official said the balloon appeared to be made of Mylar and had a small cube-shaped box, about two feet long on each side, hanging below it. Its origins and purpose remain unknown.
The developments come one year after tensions between the U.S. and China ratcheted to new heights after a Chinese balloon carrying sophisticated spying equipment flew over the continental U.S. for several days.
So they are just going to let it fly across the US?   Wonderful!
mspart

Do you know what ELINT collection and MILDEC are?


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[JimmyBT]

33 minutes ago, Le duke said:

 

Do you know what ELINT collection and MILDEC are?


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I’ll take things that NORAD doesn’t typically respond to for $500 Alex 

[Le duke]

I’ll take things that NORAD doesn’t typically respond to for $500 Alex 

Those are things that the US military can do…


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[JimmyBT]

2 minutes ago, Le duke said:

 

Those are things that the US military can do…


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Which is why NORAD wouldn’t respond if that’s what it was……….

Edited February 24 by JimmyBT

[Le duke]

Which is why NORAD wouldn’t respond if that’s what it was……….

Well, NORAD doesn’t do those things.

For all we know, this could be a US exercise.


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[Ohio Elite]

 

[JimmyBT]

12 minutes ago, Le duke said:

 

Well, NORAD doesn’t do those things.

For all we know, this could be a US exercise.


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Did NORAD send a response team to see what it was????  Yes.  
Why would they if it was a US exercise??  They wouldn’t. 

[Le duke]

Did NORAD send a response team to see what it was????  Yes.  
Why would they if it was a US exercise??  They wouldn’t. 

They might not know. Or, sending interceptors might be part of it. That’s literally how some military exercises work. Enhances realism. If you don’t know it’s an exercise, it’s a better test of capabilities.


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[JimmyBT]

6 minutes ago, Le duke said:

They might not know. Or, sending interceptors might be part of it. That’s literally how some military exercises work. Enhances realism. If you don’t know it’s an exercise, it’s a better test of capabilities.


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Then we would never have known about it because it all would have been a coordinated exercise.  This is obviously the same thing that caused all the commotion a while back.  Please tell me you never held a relevant command position in our military.  

Edited February 24 by JimmyBT

[Le duke]

Then we would never have known about it because it all would have been coordinated.  This is obviously the same thing that caused all the commotion a while back.  Please tell me you never held a relevant command position in our military.  

Given that the descriptions of the balloons and their payloads is distinctly different, saying that it’s “obviously the same thing” is a dramatic statement that is pretty demonstrably false.

And, why wouldn’t “we” know about it? It’s Mylar. Very shiny. Anyone with a pair of high power binoculars could see it, and a decent camera could pick it up well enough, too. But, it’s in US airspace, so exercise or not, if the public has seen it, they’re going to address it.


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[JimmyBT]

1 minute ago, Le duke said:

Given that the descriptions of the balloons and their payloads is distinctly different, saying that it’s “obviously the same thing” is a dramatic statement that is pretty demonstrably false.

And, why wouldn’t “we” know about it? It’s Mylar. Very shiny. Anyone with a pair of high power binoculars could see it, and a decent camera could pick it up well enough, too.


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It’s a balloon that’s not maneuverable and doesn’t pose a threat.  Sounds exactly like a few months ago. 

[Le duke]

It’s a balloon that’s not maneuverable and doesn’t pose a threat.  Sounds exactly like a few months ago. 

Huh?

This one is Mylar, carrying a 2’ cube.

This is last year:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Chinese_balloon_incident

It’s white (not Mylar), carrying a solar array 40’ across and carrying multiple payloads bigger than the entire payload in this incident.




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[JimmyBT]

On 2/23/2024 at 8:41 PM, Le duke said:

Huh?

This one is Mylar, carrying a 2’ cube.

This is last year:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Chinese_balloon_incident

It’s white (not Mylar), carrying a solar array 40’ across and carrying multiple payloads bigger than the entire payload in this incident.




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For all we know it was a ……………… hobby balloon.  I’m sure there were some people that got some exercise tracking it down though. 

[headshuck]

Check. Pop a balloon in election year.

[ionel]

8 hours ago, JimmyBT said:

For all we know it was a ……………… hobby balloon.  I’m sure there were some people that got some exercise tracking it down though. 

Did anyone on here just have a birthday?