What is this car sized object which America has shot down?

[T & P]

I can't remember which articles there were (one at least was posted here, I'm sure?), but I think an image is emerging that suggests the Chinese have been exploiting a weakness in US security, whereby the Americans' radars, scanners and other surveillance equipment had been programmed to ignore slow-moving small objects and flag up just traditional fast moving aereal targets. It might be that only after the first, much larger balloon was detected that NORAD decided to tweak the search parameters of their surveillance radars to include such objects, and they are now being picked up.

If so, there's a good chance there have been plenty of previous ones that have floated past the US completely undetected.

 

[Flavour]

I can't remember which articles there were (one at least was posted here, I'm sure?), but I think an image is emerging that suggests the Chinese have been exploiting a weakness in US security, whereby their radars, scanners and other surveillance equipment had been programmed to ignore slow-moving small objects and flag out just traditional fast moving aereal targets. It might be that only after the first, much larger balloon was detected that NORAD decided to tweak the search parameters of their surveillance radars to include such objects, and they are now being picked up.

If so, there's a good chance there have been plenty of previous ones that have floated past the US completely undetected.

that seems extremely likely yes

 

[pbsmooth]

you have to assume the news has been released for a reason. aliens being shot down presumably wouldn't be released like this.

 

[surreybrowncap]

 

[magneze]

i for one welcome our new alien balloon overlords

This is pulsing to the beat of the mix I'm currently listening to.

 

[2hats]

i for one welcome our new alien balloon overlords

​

​

 

[The39thStep]

 

[WouldBe]

bullshit from both sides

US defends decision to shoot down 3 unidentified objects

The White House is defending the shootdowns of three unidentified objects in as many days even as it acknowledges that officials had no indication the objects were intended for surveillance in the same manner as the high-altitude Chinese balloon that traversed American airspace earlier this month.

apnews.com

As the winds predominately blow from west to east any balloon launched by the us would have to travel all the way round the world to get to China with no guarantee it would get there.

 

[T & P]

White House has just said the Chinese have been at it ‘for many years’, and that nobody (or ‘the Trump Administration’ as they put it) was aware of it.

China has been spying on US and allies via balloon for years, White House says

Surveillance program dated back to at least the Trump administration, which was oblivious to it, says John Kirby

www.theguardian.com

 

[Spymaster]

Sensible piece here.

 

[_Russ_]

As the winds predominately blow from west to east any balloon launched by the us would have to travel all the way round the world to get to China with no guarantee it would get there.

You do know the US has bases rather closer...dont you?

 

[WouldBe]

You do know the US has bases rather closer...dont you?

Yes but if the wind blows from west to east the 'nearest' place to launch a balloon from would be the east coast of the us.

 

[HAL9000]

You do know the US has bases rather closer...dont you?

Yes but if the wind blows from west to east the 'nearest' place to launch a balloon from would be the east coast of the us.

or RAF Lakenheath

 

[T & P]

What I am most intrigued by at this point is the massive difference in the amount of information released by the US authorities between the first incident (confidently described as a balloon, and China named as the chief suspect from the off), and the other three.

They have simply been described as ‘objects’, with one high rank Pentagon brass more or less stating they were unclear as to how the objects were sustaining themselves in flight. It sounds as if they weren’t using a balloon, line the first one.

Perhaps they’ve encountered a new-technology aerial vehicle the Chinese have conjured up, and are too flabbergasted and embarrassed to admit to the public they don’t what they fuck they’re dealing with?

On paper it sounds a little bit far fetched, but then again I can think of no better explanation for the continuing secrecy and lack of information from the US government, in particular when compared with the much greater transparency about the first incident.

 

[tommers]

What I am most intrigued by at this point is the massive difference in the amount of information released by the US authorities between the first incident (confidently described as a balloon, and China named as the chief suspect from the off), and the other three.

They have simply been described as ‘objects’, with one high rank Pentagon brass more or less stating they were unclear as to how the objects were sustaining themselves in flight. It sounds as if they weren’t using a balloon, line the first one.

Perhaps they’ve encountered a new-technology aerial vehicle the Chinese have conjured up, and are too flabbergasted and embarrassed to admit to the public they don’t what they fuck they’re dealing with?

On paper it sounds a little bit far fetched, but then again I can think of no better explanation for the continuing secrecy and lack of information from the US government, in particular when compared with the much greater transparency about the first incident.

I think everybody saw the first one. People were shooting at it.

 

[T & P]

I think everybody saw the first one. People were shooting at it.

Sure, but regardless of the others not being spotted, why wouldn’t the US government describe the others as balloon-based? They have already hinted that they have no idea how they were sustaining flight, and described the second one as cylindrical. It sounds to me as if they’re clueless as to what they’re dealing with and don’t want to admit as much- not yet at least.

 

[krtek a houby]

Cylinder/cigar shaped was a description often used to describe UFO sightings in the past. Going back years.

Probably extradimensional or time/space incursions.

 

[DotCommunist]

I find it difficult to get excited about balloons. Oh no the national airspace violating, time and space defying alien balloons. Grow up an build a proper craft. Its not aliens, its not heavily armed dirigibles from far off lands. Absolute nonsense.

 

[xenon]

Sure, but regardless of the others not being spotted, why wouldn’t the US government describe the others as balloon-based? They have already hinted that they have no idea how they were sustaining flight, and described the second one as cylindrical. It sounds to me as if they’re clueless as to what they’re dealing with and don’t want to admit as much- not yet at least.

As that article Fez909 posted earlier suggest, they might be deliberately playing dum too. As the US is in all likelyhood still up to similar with their own drones, balloons

 

[WouldBe]

or RAF Lakenheath

Or possibly somewhere in Turkey. Still a long way and over unstable areas of the middle East.

 

[Indeliblelink]

This is a couple of years old but quite an interesting [& long] article.

Adversary Drones Are Spying On The U.S. And The Pentagon Acts Like They're UFOs

The U.S. military seems aloof to the fact that it's being toyed with by a terrestrial adversary and key capabilities may be compromised as a result.

www.thedrive.com

 

[JimW]

Thinking on, it's probably all fairly innocent. They most likely just wanted some nice aerial views of the MidWest and had to get them this way because Google is blocked in China, including satellite view.

 

[krtek a houby]

I find it difficult to get excited about balloons. Oh no the national airspace violating, time and space defying alien balloons. Grow up an build a proper craft. Its not aliens, its not heavily armed dirigibles from far off lands. Absolute nonsense.

Probably turn out to be NASA or branch of military trying out their toys without alerting the other agencies.

Or Elon Musk pissing about.

 

[Spymaster]

Probably turn out to be NASA or branch of military trying out their toys without alerting the other agencies.

Other than aliens that's probably the least likely scenario.

They're surveillance machines. From China.

 

[_Russ_]

I wouldnt be surprised if the US agencies knew the so called UFO sightings from Fighter jets the last few years were actually Chinese aircraft pretty much from the start of the wave, but decided telling Trump probably wasn't a good idea
Chinese airship/balloon development is widely known about
The big lift type designs they show look very similar to a recent failed (again) British design though im uncertain of the timeline to judge who copied who and of course similar objectives usually result in similar designs.

 

[Bingoman]

It's all gone really quiet with no sighting since sunday

 

[2hats]

Oh I wouldn't necessarily say so...

​

 

[Spymaster]

Oh I wouldn't necessarily say so...

View attachment 363168 View attachment 363169​

Are any of thse unknown or otherwise suspect?

 

[_Russ_]

Are any of thse unknown or otherwise suspect?

Of course not they is all squitting out Mode S or ADSB

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I wouldnt be surprised if the US agencies knew the so called UFO sightings from Fighter jets the last few years were actually Chinese aircraft pretty much from the start of the wave, but decided telling Trump probably wasn't a good idea

They may have briefed Trump. He was quite famous for not reading briefs and then flying off by the seat of his pants. They had to shorten the daily briefings and put in more pictures just to get him to pretend to read them. The man wanted to nuke a hurricane, ffs.