One of 99 red baloons goes by...

[coppercone2]

[RJSV]

My information level (is lousy!):
   First few days, it was size of small car...
Then, (in between updates on latest Jan. 6th gotcha), news professional sez, 'SECOND BALLOON is NOT size of three busses, like the first, red one.
Size of three busses ??  That's a lot of potential.

   Certainly, they (Red Chinese) aren't thinking, of testing Joe Biden...anyone with a TV set, and, perhaps with, unfortunately, relatives / friends having elderly dementia,...anyone can recognize the force is not with him...he can't even figure how to manage a 'dignified' walk back off-stage.
Maybe the Chinese realize, how cleverly the American Govt. IS pulling something off,...thats working.

They didn't need a 'test', at least not in the obvious context.  Maybe testing something subtle, on the side,...meanwhile 'pretending' to be sneaky...
Ohyeah

[Gyro]

Now they're saying the last two were baloons, a couple of days ago they were saying they weren't -although I find it hard to see what else they could have been!

The US believes that the flying objects shot down over North American airspace on Friday and Saturday were balloons, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Washington has been on high alert since its military destroyed a suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier this month.

While he didn't say specifically that the two latest objects were Chinese, Mr Schumer told ABC on Sunday that Beijing was likely using a "crew of balloons" that had "probably been all over the world".

Responding to queries about Schumer's remarks, a spokesperson for the US Department of Defense said the latest two objects "did not closely resemble" the original balloon. and were much smaller, Reuters reported.

Three objects have been shot down over North America in the past week.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that the latest object was shot down on Saturday over the Yukon in north-west Canada.

Both Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled to track the object, which Mr Trudeau said had "violated Canadian airspace". It was taken out by a US F-22 fighter jet.

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Trudeau said recovery teams were on the ground trying to find the object and that there was still "much to know".

Separately, on Friday, the American military shot down an object the size of a small car off Alaska.

It happened just under a week after the US destroyed a Chinese balloon over the Atlantic, on 4 February.

Mr Schumer, who said he had been briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, implied that suspected surveillance balloons had been in operation for years and that Congress should examine why it took so long for the US to find out about them.

"The bottom line is, until a few months ago we didn't know of these balloons - our intelligence and our military didn't know," he said.

    What can US learn from Chinese balloon debris?

Asked whether China would have to shut down any surveillance programme using balloons, Mr Schumer said Beijing had been "humiliated".

"I think the Chinese were caught lying, and it's a real step back for them… they look really bad," he said.

"They're not just doing the United States, this is a crew of balloons... they've probably been all over the world," he added.

China has yet to respond to Mr Schumer's comments but has denied the first suspected surveillance balloon - which first entered US airspace on 28 January - was used for spying purposes, saying it was a weather device gone astray.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64614098

[coppercone2]

Well I wonder if roller skate waiters are gonna make a comeback soon

[RJSV]

Is what's his name, Blinken, going to reschedule for a China trip, now that the recent 'small car' imports scandal has died down ?
   Go Blinken, Bliden, Blanken, whatever.
   (Can't believe they actually 'cared' about any civilian casualties fro some shoot-down).
Probably just state: "The (Canadian) border is secure."

[floobydust]

Pic is balloon #2 drama and we're at balloon #4. Imagine the cost to pop these things then tell the press we're clueless about whose they are, what their capabilities are etc.

[TimFox]

Pic is balloon #2 drama and we're at balloon #4. Imagine the cost to pop these things then tell the press we're clueless about whose they are, what their capabilities are etc.

In my reply #44 above, I pointed out:
"According to Wikipedia, the cost of an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile in 2019 was approximately $400k (USD)."

[themadhippy]

In my reply #44 above, I pointed out:
"According to Wikipedia, the cost of an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile in 2019 was approximately $400k

Thats just the tool to do the job,add in the fuel cost,delivery drivers wages etc plus the usual military mark up i bet your closer to a couple of million per balloon

[Gyro]

Somebody needs to come up with a rapid fire ice splinter cannon to shoot these things down, so that the baloon puncturing 'projectiles' melt on the way down when over populated areas.

[PlainName]

The costs of shooting the thing down aren't necessarily as high as you think. Sure, the cost of fuel and flying the plane is a significant sum, but if they weren't shooting anything down they would be doing something to practice, so really it's the cost of the missile. And, again, now and then they may think it necessary to actually test things, and what better chance is there than to actually use it in anger? So they've saved a bit of practice and a bit of testing.

[james_s]

Unless they're actually planning to do testing/training the $400k cost of a Sidewinder missile is pretty substantial. That's the cost of a nice house in some areas that they're using to take down a balloon. Seems like it would make more sense to use the guns to put a few holes in the balloon so it comes down gradually.

[RJSV]

Those service members generally have 'safety' but that's relative, especially in an F22.  I bet the odds of death or injury are higher than, say, a freeway commute.  So there's that, plus familys.  Also, the whole rhythm or pace of the events are not in the direct control, of the higher-ups...rather the timing is controlled by (balloon senders).

[PlainName]

That's the cost of a nice house in some areas

Ever seen the size of the defence budget?

[xrunner]

Serious question: Where do the balloons and equipment they carry end up after they finish the fly-over of the designated territory?

[pqass]

Serious question: Where do the balloons and equipment they carry end up after they finish the fly-over of the designated territory?

An inconvenient truth:  "It's raining junk ..." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/balloon-weather-environment-canada-radiosondes-ewaste-toxic-batteries-1.4897720
At least the balloon is biodegradable.

[xrunner]

An inconvenient truth:  "It's raining junk ..." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/balloon-weather-environment-canada-radiosondes-ewaste-toxic-batteries-1.4897720
At least the balloon is biodegradable.

I had no idea they launched 62 balloons per day. That's a lot of balloons! And to not pick up all the electronics ... I was under the impression we didn't need (so many) balloons in modern times due to advanced wx satellites. OK I was mistaken.

Environment Canada has for years encouraged Canadians to reuse, recycle and reduce, but its weather service routinely dumps electronic waste — including batteries — across the landscape, making no efforts to recover the material.

Every day, 62 weather balloons carrying battery-powered circuit boards burst at high altitudes and drop their loads to the ground, discarded and forgotten.

That works out to 22,630 dumps of 'e-waste' each year, distributed widely, with each balloon carrying either six AA alkaline batteries or two potentially toxic lithium batteries.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/balloon-weather-environment-canada-radiosondes-ewaste-toxic-batteries-1.4897720

[floobydust]

Pic is balloon #2 drama and we're at balloon #4. Imagine the cost to pop these things then tell the press we're clueless about whose they are, what their capabilities are etc.

In my reply #44 above, I pointed out:
"According to Wikipedia, the cost of an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile in 2019 was approximately $400k (USD)."

I took the price lightly because apparently they're using no warhead, but likely the cost is the electronics. Heat tracking IR likely useless on a balloon, it must be locked using the F-22 radar system. But I see AIM-9X have many options. 
Raytheon to build 565 AIM-9X Block II infrared-guided air-to-air missiles

Silly china puts "weather" balloon(s) down wind, as if there's anything relevant to china weather and what weather data do they share?
I think the Jet Stream at 60,000ft is the 1,000hPA? https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/700hPa/overlay=temp/orthographic=-98.37,26.89,424/loc=-134.772,69.280

[RJSV]

   Quoting the news, casually:
   "They've figured out the FREQUENCY, and so now, hopefully, the US NORAD can see those balloons, as the balloon frequency has been...dialed in...".

What kind of $#@#$&*+ fools do they think...ohhfff I guess, they gots the frequency (tech stuff).

[coppercone2]

[coppercone2]

I think they meant to say 'signature'

And maybe its possible they did have to change the frequency of the radar to work with the balloons better. Fascinating if not technobabble.

We should have seen this mylar threat coming. I started getting overrun with mylar bags from electronics distributors, in hindsight it was obvious that the threat does not end there. I had to invest heavily in boxes and organizers to counter it. Real cold war spending there on over priced charcoal and plastic boxes.


BTW its not a bad thing, think about how bored the national guard were. Finally some action.

[james_s]

Serious question: Where do the balloons and equipment they carry end up after they finish the fly-over of the designated territory?

An inconvenient truth:  "It's raining junk ..." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/balloon-weather-environment-canada-radiosondes-ewaste-toxic-batteries-1.4897720
At least the balloon is biodegradable.

I'm surprised to hear they're using AA or lithium batteries. The radiosonde I found at a surplus place years ago had a battery that you just add water to activate, I think it was nothing more than some zinc plates.

[TimFox]

Unless they're actually planning to do testing/training the $400k cost of a Sidewinder missile is pretty substantial. That's the cost of a nice house in some areas that they're using to take down a balloon. Seems like it would make more sense to use the guns to put a few holes in the balloon so it comes down gradually.

There's a training version of the sidewinder that costs about $210 k (same source as before, Wikipedia).

[BravoV]

What ever the developing story goes, just buy Raytheon's stock !   

Glorious days ahead for MIC ! 

[helius]

What kind of $#@#$&*+ fools do they think...ohhfff I guess, they gots the frequency (tech stuff).

So, Kenneth, what is the frequency?

[Ed.Kloonk]

What kind of $#@#$&*+ fools do they think...ohhfff I guess, they gots the frequency (tech stuff).

So, Kenneth, what is the frequency?

42 Hz.