US Shoots Down Chinese Suspected Spy Balloon

[Major Tom]

The US military has shot down a Chinese high-altitude balloon after it drifted off the East Coast near the Carolinas, the Pentagon confirms. China has expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the decision, accusing the US of “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.”

Edited February 5, 2023 by Major Tom

[Dave Hounddriver]

It was gone.  Practically out of US area.  Just wait a while and its gone.  Why shoot it down then and cause an international incident?  Perhaps shooting it down over some farmland in Kansas would have been justified.

[Major Tom]

It didn’t just fly over the US mainland.It also flew over Alaska and Canada. Shooting it down over Kansas may have been avoided by the US government because it was over nuclear missile silos, and that might’ve caused something more dangerous than an international incident.

After the downing, Biden said that he had ordered the balloon shot down “as soon as possible” on Feb. 1, but it was unsafe to do so at that time. “I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down,” Biden said. “The best time to do that was when it got over water.”

Edited February 5, 2023 by Major Tom

[JJReyes]

The payload was the equivalent of 3 motor coaches.  They waited until it was over open water to shoot it down to retrieve the debris.  US intelligence wants to know what equipment was being used and the type of information it was gathering.  Maybe it was just counting Canadian wildlife as a potential source of food to feed China's population.

[Major Tom]

30 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

Maybe it was just counting Canadian wildlife as a potential source of food to feed China's population.

That begs the question of why the Canadians did not shoot it down.

[GeoffH]

50 minutes ago, Major Tom said:

That begs the question of why the Canadians did not shoot it down.

Do the Canadians still have any airworthy fighter aircraft?

(those classic Hornets are getting pretty old) 

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Major Tom said:

That begs the question of why the Canadians did not shoot it down.

As a Canadian, I do not think most of us are paranoid about a Chinese weather balloon.  But we also don't have any hidden Nuclear Weapons . . . .  or do we?

Edited February 5, 2023 by Dave Hounddriver

[Major Tom]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

As a Canadian, I do not think most of us are paranoid about a Chinese weather balloon.  But we also don't have any hidden Nuclear Weapons . . . .  or do we?

Was it really a just weather ballon from China?… are you sure?

Officially, Canada hasn’t had any nukes since 1984, BUT unofficially who really knows?

Edited February 6, 2023 by Major Tom

[Snowy79]

Turns out it wasn't a spy balloon.

[Major Tom]

2 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

Turns out it wasn't a spy balloon.

[Maybe it wasn't but] it may have gathered intelligence about military doings on the surface below, but that was a mere bonus.

If I’m right, Beijing’s chief reason for floating a balloon over North America was to see whether it would elicit a response from the U.S. government and military, as well as from the American people.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/that-downed-chinese-balloon-wasn-t-exactly-for-spying-it-was-a-trial-balloon/ar-AA176AwP