The Chinese Spy Balloon Saga

DTB2 · Feb 5, 2023

Unfortunately the media reported the balloon before the government did. The Trump loving media must have covered up the 3 during his administration.

Sure they did.

mervyn · Feb 5, 2023

gwb-trading said:
On mere missile put the remains of the weather balloon in 46 feet of water. Exactly where they wanted it for easy recovery.

"An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon."

A real shame that the Trump administration was unable to take down any of the three Chinese balloons during his administration.
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why can we deflate the balloon air and had it land with the equipment intact?

gwb-trading · Feb 5, 2023

mervyn said:
why can we deflate the balloon air and had it land with the equipment intact?
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Because as soon as you deflate the balloon at 60,000 feet the 1000 pound payload comes down to earth at a terminal velocity speed of over 120 mph -- which would leave a pile of debris on hard ground. Taking it down in shallow water ensures cushioning on landing which will stop the gear of interest from disintegrating into small pieces -- and allowing easy recovery in the shallow depth. However all of this has already been explained by military officials.

GoldDigger · Feb 5, 2023

This is happening NOW.

Why do you people keep harping on President Trump?

Whatever happened with President Trump, we weren't
in any wars and we were never under any threat of an
attack from other Nations.

Like we are NOW.

Russia is threatening us, China is threatening us, and
Biden said that he had such great relationships with
those other leaders, which was all lies.

With Biden, we have open borders, so the Chinese
can just march over here from all directions.

For all we know, they are already here since there
are millions of

UNDOCUMENTED NEWCOMERS.

Our military is weakened, we don't have our own oil
and gasoline supplies since Biden wants to go green,
and all the rest of the misguided clusters that he
created, everybody is stressed out and all of this
is caused by Biden's ineptitude.

Not only is he a chronic congenital liar, he is also
a TRAITOR who STOLE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
ever since he was a SENATOR and receiving

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS from CHINA!

He not only STOLE the documents, he kept them
unsecured in places like his CAR GARAGE, where
LAPTOP HUNTER had full access to them also.

But we have weak-minded gullibles who believe
the gibberish CNN and the rest of the FAKE NEWS
tells you, which is why we are in this mess

BECAUSE OF DUMMIES LIKE YOU.

BTW, ICYMI the 2020 presidential election was

RIGGED.

You people turn my stomach!

Cuddles · Feb 5, 2023

GoldDigger said:
This is happening NOW.

Why do you people keep harping on President Trump?

Whatever happened with President Trump, we weren't
in any wars and we were never under any threat of an
attack from other Nations.

Like we are NOW.

Russia is threatening us, China is threatening us, and
Biden said that he had such great relationships with
those other leaders, which was all lies.

With Biden, we have open borders, so the Chinese
can just march over here from all directions.

For all we know, they are already here since there
are millions of

UNDOCUMENTED NEWCOMERS.

Our military is weakened, we don't have our own oil
and gasoline supplies since Biden wants to go green,
and all the rest of the misguided clusters that he
created, everybody is stressed out and all of this
is caused by Biden's ineptitude.

Not only is he a chronic congenital liar, he is also
a TRAITOR who STOLE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
ever since he was a SENATOR and receiving

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS from CHINA!

He not only STOLE the documents, he kept them
unsecured in places like his CAR GARAGE, where
LAPTOP HUNTER had full access to them also.

But we have weak-minded gullibles who believe
the gibberish CNN and the rest of the FAKE NEWS
tells you, which is why we are in this mess

BECAUSE OF DUMMIES LIKE YOU.

BTW, ICYMI the 2020 presidential election was

RIGGED.

You people turn my stomach!
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you're utterly unhinged and living in an alternate reality

FortuneTeller · Feb 5, 2023

Biden keeps proving he is the worst President since Obama.

FortuneTeller · Feb 5, 2023

Cuddles said:
you're utterly unhinged and living in an alternate reality
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Wow! Awesome comeback there Cuddles! lol

FortuneTeller · Feb 5, 2023

gwb-trading said:
Just in -- The DOD confirms that Chinese balloons "transited the continental United States at least three times" during Trump's administration.

And the DOD report about the shooting down the most recent balloon.

F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-S...chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/

President Joe Biden ordered the action on Wednesday, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure no Americans on the ground were harmed.

"The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above U.S. territorial waters," Austin said.

The action was taken in coordination and support of the Canadian government. "We thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through [North American Aerospace Defense Command] as it transited North America," Austin said. "Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Austin said referring to the Peoples Republic of China.

U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace over Idaho. "President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon's path," said a senior defense official speaking on background. "Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overland."

An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.

The balloon fell approximately six miles off the coast in about 47 feet of water. No one was hurt.

Long before the shoot down, U.S. officials took steps to protect against the balloon's collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the Chinese. The senior defense official said the recovery of the balloon will enable U.S. analysts to examine sensitive Chinese equipment. "I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC surveillance balloon's collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon's overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us," the official said. "I can't go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable."

The balloon did not pose a military or physical threat. Still its intrusion into American airspace over several days was an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty. The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration.

While Chinese officials admitted that the balloon was theirs, they said it was a runaway weather balloon. "The PRC has claimed publicly that the high-altitude balloon operating above the United States is a weather balloon that was blown off course. This is false," the official said. "This was a PRC surveillance balloon. This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites."

The mission now transitions to one of recovery. There are a number of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels establishing a security perimeter around the area where the balloon came to Earth. They are searching for debris, said a senior military official also speaking on background.

There is no estimate for how long the recovery mission will take, the military official said, but the fact that it came down in such a shallow area should make recovery "fairly easy".

The military official gave some detail of the engagement. The F-22 fired the Sidewinder at the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet. The balloon at the time was between 60,000 and 65,000 feet.

F-15 Eagles flying from Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, supported the F-22, as did tankers from multiple states including Oregon, Montana, South Carolina and North Carolina. Canadian forces also helped track the overflight of the balloon.

The Navy has deployed the destroyer USS Oscar Austin, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the USS Carter Hall, an amphibious landing ship in support of the effort.
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Keep believing the lies!

gwb-trading · Feb 5, 2023

FortuneTeller said:
Keep believing the lies!
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And let's see what the U.S. Department of Defense said in their statement.

"The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration."

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-S...chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/

FortuneTeller · Feb 5, 2023

With the help of the Canadians. What a joke.