To be concerned about the balloon discovered hovering over Montana

[MeetPi]

The balloon is said to be a Chinese spy balloon up to three football fields long. In the last few minutes, another balloon has possibly been spotted over Canada - where the first balloon apparently came through to the US.

Purportedly President Biden wanted to shoot the balloon down, but the Pentagon convinced him otherwise, as this could prove a risk to people on the ground.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/02/pentagon-chinese-spy-balloon

@Augend23
My thoughts exactly. Makes not an iota of sense. All seems very 50s Sci fi to me.

They also operate at much lower altitudes. There isn't much weather to study at 80k feet above sea level.

an aircraft can’t go higher than 50,000

Concorde used to cruise at Mach 2 at 60,000 feet. Military aircraft like he F-22 Raptor can reach 65,000.

Tell that to the Chinese spokesperson as that's what they're claiming 😂

I’ve been thinking that then read this….twitter.com/thekimulation/status/1544527308282896385?s=61&t=EA3XsIA8UD4LXYz1D767cA

they are really complex….

What is it about your life that makes you think you're worth spying on?

Unless the Chinese particularly like spying on deer, trout and mountains.... I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Mate, you're not following the news are you? It flew over missile sites.

You mean like the hundreds of spy satellites the US have in orbit currently in a synchronous mesospheric geo-orbit over China/Russia?

Or the same satellite systems the Chinese/Russians also have in orbit?

Or maybe the stratospheric flyovers the US Air Force conduct regularly with a fleet that maintains more than 30 U2 spy planes??

Thinking that high altitude level spying doesn't go on between military superpowers all day every day is a little naive.

What will you worrying achieve?
None of us normal folk, worldwide, have any influence on events.
The fault is ours, the electorate, permitting unqualified oinks to get jobs that give them wealth and power at our expense.
Who in their right mind thinks a footballer or singer or YouTube influencer should be paid more than the nurse keeping you alive, or the bin man removing your rubbish to reduce pollution and disease?
What skill set have actors, for example, got to run a country like USA? None.
Don't worry, we are all going to hell in a hand cart, probably a self-driving one, soon.

You mean like the hundreds of spy satellites the US have in orbit currently in a synchronous mesospheric geo-orbit over China/Russia?

Say what?

The "Synchronous" bit I get ( various types relevant such as geo synchronous and Sun Synchronous)..other than that Last thing I heard the mesosphere was part of the Earth's mantle...and "geo-orbit?" Orbit around the Earth.....?

maybe the stratospheric flyovers the US Air Force conduct regularly with a fleet that maintains more than 30 U2 spy planes??

Actual overflight over most potentially hostile countries by U-2s stopped being viable in the very early 60s.

Biden is considering shooting this one down too.

Another object has been shot down over Alaska.

This one was smaller - about the size of a car - and supposedly cylindrical rather than balloon-shaped. It's come down over an icy, uninhabited area of Alaska, making retrieval easier.

www.reuters.com/world/us/us-says-it-shot-down-object-over-alaska-size-small-car-2023-02-10/