WTF?? Is this a joke?

[Thumper]

Saw this from ABC News …. and what is a “ground stop”? Did it land to pick up supplies? 🤣

https://l.smartnews.com/xufYz/fhPPA1

And here’s NBC News.

https://l.smartnews.com/XFHKt/r4m7e9

[johnboy]

Don't think it's a joke at all. It's a test and so far it seems like you're failing. What's going to happen with the next one cause there is apparently another one on the way. Hard to imagine that the CCP would allow an American surveillance system (if that's what it is) to hover FOR DAYS over one of their premier nuclear weapons installations.

[Thumper]

Yep, I’ve been following the story. The Chinese have admitted it’s a “weather balloon” that blew off course! WTF?? And when have the Chinese EVER told the truth about ANYTHING? The description says it’s about the size of three busses! Hell, it could be ANYTHING, yet Biden sits on his ass and let’s it float around.

His excuse for not having it shot down? It might fall on somebody!!! It’s over frigging MONTANA! Dang, he has a good point, how could we EVER find a desolate area over Montana?! News flash Joe, it’s not like it’s flying over Manhattan. What’s it gonna fall on? A pronghorn maybe?

I’m glad ol’ Sleepy wasn’t at the reins during 9/11. How does he know it’s a weather balloon? Because the Chinese said so? As one Congressman asked, how do we know it didn’t come with a new virus package from Wuhan? Let this one fly unchallenged, maybe the next one will carry a bomb. Who knows when it comes to China? Will the next one be from N. Korea? Russia? This is insane. It’s in OUR airspace.

It’s like the border, if we simply walked across the border in any other country, we’d be shot or imprisoned. Here they get a free physical and a welcome to America greeting card. If we flew ANYTHING like this into another country’s airspace, it would be shot down immediately. Of course, if we flew one over China, they’d shoot it down, then take the remains and reverse-engineer the danged thing, then try to sell it back to us. This is nuts.

Hey Johnboy, you’ve seen what OUR nutbag has done. It’s just south of your border. What do you think YOUR nutbag would do if this thing were to change course and head due North? I really don’t know which one is the goofiest, yours or ours?

[johnboy]

We both have a major problem. This balloon actually came over the pole and across western Canada and apparently NORAD says there is another one on the way. Also read a report that there is a 'balloon' near Hawaii. Didn't some people do something to Hawaii back in the '40's? Ever hear about EMP? Can't believe this is getting a pass in the media.

If this is just an off course weather balloon as the CCP says then tell them to ground it and you'll send their weather gear back. They don't want to do that then bring it down.

[Thumper]

I just checked, Montana is the third least densely populated state in the country (behind Alaska and Wyoming). And Biden is worried if it’s shot down, the debris may hit somebody on the ground??? Ha ha ha! Gosh, what it were a fighter jet … or a bomber …. or a missile/rocket? WTF?

I also read it’s flight pattern is controlled, not simply drifting in the prevailing winds. I’m at a loss for words.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I’ve watch somepeople putonetogether once and held a rope for a half hour whilethey fiddle farted around but it was on
y for a parade downtown and they never let it more than ten feet off the ground. I’ve never ridden in one but didn’t know they could be controlled in the way you’re describing, Jim.

BKB

[Thumper]

That was pretty much my understanding P-hole. News articles are all over the map with their coverage and I’ve been reading tons of articles. Tonight I read one that said the balloon shows the flight path can be controlled. I just read another article a few minutes ago that said it’s drifting in the wind. SOMEBODY is spreading fake news. Who’da thunk it?

[BarryBobPosthole]

That Celestial balloon is over Charlotte right now.

If Larke were home he'd be limbering up one of his long guns.

BKB

[johnboy]

This incident gets stranger by the moment. What is really going on here?

[quercus alba]

jobi.jpg

[BarryBobPosthole]

Gyna ballon fall down, go BOOM!

BKB

[Thumper]

Yep, I guess we waited for it to clear the coast of N. C. before we took it down. Ummm, wouldn’t you think if it were some sort of spy aircraft, it would have been constantly transmitting info back “home”? Once it clears the continent, mission accomplished, so China could care less. This whole thing is just weird to me. I wonder if we’ll recover the debris to see what it REALLY was? Spy balloon, weather balloon or just a hoax by a bunch of Chinese frat boys? Who knows? Isn’t a balloon basically a drone without a motor? Where do we draw the line? Oh well, I guess China now knows if they send a bomber into our airspace, we won’t do anything for fear of damage from the debris field. WTF?

[DeputyDog]

They have a satellite network so it doesn’t make sense for it to be much use for intelligence gathering. The theory I saw that kinda makes sense is that it was a test for some type of EMP attack.


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[Thumper]

I see now where China is protesting the fact we shot it down! Ha! I’m running out of WTF’s on this subject. Has the world gone totally f’ing crazy?

[Thumper]

Ummm, REALLY?? An F-22 normally carries 20mm guns. Was it REALLY necessary to pop a frigging balloon with a $400,000 Sidewinder missile? Couldn’t they have just thrown a few darts at it and popped that puppy?

[DeputyDog]

I thought the same thing. It doesn’t seem like they were too concerned about seeing what was really going on with it so let’s just blow it up over the water so there is less chance of salvaging anything useful.


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[Thumper]

Well, I think they just popped the balloon and the cargo hit the water. But, they shot it down just off-shore where the water depth is only 85 feet. The Navy ships and their divers are recovering the pieces now. They have a perimeter set up around the debris field and will analyze whatever they recover. It’ll be interesting if it turns out to be a weather balloon.

I read where China fired their meteorological big wig for f’ing up. Of course, that’s probably just part of the ruse. Who know?. This could get interesting.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Relax. They’re just checking out all the midwestern farmland they own.

BKB

[Chicken Dinner]

I guess we can go back to losing our minds over gas stoves now.


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[Penguin]

I guess we can go back to losing our minds over gas stoves now....

I have to admit that this one I just don't get. I mean you'd have to believe that this thing had some kind of self destruct or emergency-descend on it. Right? So the Chinese govt was probably just doing it to see our reaction/decision making structure. I don't know much about these things but I'm guessing there isn't a hell of a lot that this balloon sees that all of those expensive satellites wouldn't see.

Maybe I'm just naive, but if I were POTUS I'd have just called Xi up and told him we were going to take it out. Had a good laugh about how these things work out and invite him for dinner at one of those fancy steak houses in DC.

Will

[Thumper]

Well, after examining photos before the big shoot-down, they finally figured it out!




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[Chicken Dinner]

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