Military aircraft have spotted the balloon and determined it is not a threat, but its origin and purpose are still unknown, the officials said.
  • atx_aquarian@lemmy.world
    31·
    4 months ago

    Favorite convo from the last balloon:

    “If that pilot (who shot it down) shoots four more of those, do they get to call themselves an ‘ace’?”

    “Uh, I think they just get a big stuffed animal.”

    • tal@lemmy.today
      12·
      4 months ago

      They had observation balloons in World War I. Could see if those counted.

      googles

      It looks like it.

      https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-ace-wwi-pilot-famous-for-shooting-down-enemy-balloons-2023-2?op=1

      "The callsign of the F-22 that shot down the Chinese spy balloon was a nod to Frank Luke Jr., a legendary World War I pilot who destroyed over a dozen German balloons and several aircraft during his brief time in combat as a member of the United States Army Air Service. For his efforts in the skies above the battlefield, Luke became famous as the “Arizona Balloon Buster,” according to the US Air Force.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Luke

      Frank Luke Jr. (May 19, 1897 – September 29, 1918) was an American fighter ace credited with 18 aerial victories, ranking him second among United States Army Air Service pilots after Captain Eddie Rickenbacker during World War I. Luke was the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor and first USAAS ace in a day.

      Between September 12 and 29, Luke was credited with shooting down 14 German balloons and four airplanes:[5] Luke achieved these 18 victories during just 10 sorties in eight days, a feat unsurpassed by any pilot in World War I.[1]

      So four aircraft and fourteen balloons. Five shootdowns to be an ace, so they must count balloons.

    • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
      7·
      4 months ago

      Once they’ve assessed it isn’t a threat they wait for it to be over an area devoid of people before shooting it down. They also have to follow international laws to identify the aircraft and origin to ensure it wasn’t given permission beforehand, but I’m sure the US Airforce stays on top of that.

  • player2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    711·
    4 months ago

    Turns out to belong to an amateur hobbyist:
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-monitoring-high-altitude-balloon-west-rcna140275

    When did weather balloons become national news? Aren’t there always weather balloons floating around the world? Is it just that this one isn’t registered or something?

    The article even states that the infamous “Chinese spy balloon” from last year turned out to have no ability to send information back to China and it wasn’t even from the Chinese government, but from a private company, institution, or individual.

    Source: The Pentagon and Biden quoted in this post’s article.

    • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
      102·
      4 months ago

      Those balloons aren’t being used for the weather. The 2023 balloon was a 61M tall Superpressure Balloon with rudder, propeller, and solar power, a total payload of 910 kg. It could be steered and maneuvered, it left China in a straight line then navigated north to approach the USA from Canada. The manufacturer was a defence contractor. Chinese officials actually demanded the craft be returned, which makes absolutely no sense if it really were a civilian aircraft which caused a huge international incident.

      • player2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        31·
        4 months ago

        Turns out it belongs to an amateur hobbyist:

        https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-monitoring-high-altitude-balloon-west-rcna140275

        Maybe I got the previous balloons mixed up. The article on this post states:

        Though the Pentagon eventually concluded the balloon did not transmit information back to China, its presence put the U.S. military on high alert for other objects in U.S. airspace. Fighter jets shot down several unidentified objects over the U.S. and Canada over the following weeks.

        The military couldn’t find any debris from those objects, and the search was called off due to dangerous weather conditions. Mr. Biden said the unidentified objects were not believed to be connected to China’s spy balloon program.

        “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were mostly balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” the president said. .

  • SeaJ@lemm.ee
    412·
    4 months ago

    Who fucking cares? Is there no other news today?