CHINESE SPY BALLOON! RUN AND HIDE!

The_Foxer

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A 2009 research paper by U.S. Air Force Major Kevin Massie found such objects don't immediately descend when hit by bullets, citing a 100-meter weather balloon that remained aloft for six days in 1998 after being shot by 1,000 rounds from Canadian F-18 fighter jets.
Are we sure they gave them the 'real' bullets? The Canadian forces are pretty cheap with their ammo. Most of the time the pilots just practice saying 'ratatatatatatat'
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Can a High Altitude Balloon hover? Without some sort of propulsion, to combat the wind?
View attachment 17175
That depends - if it's a LIBERAL balloon it'll have it's own internal supply of hot air to blow.
OK, now THAT's an act of war!
While Beijing insisted on Friday that the balloon was simply a meteorological device that had strayed off course, the US government was confident that the balloons were being used for surveillance. Both the balloon discovered over the US and another spotted transiting Latin America carried surveillance equipment not usually associated with standard meteorological activities or civilian research, officials said -- specifically, both featured collection pod equipment and solar panels located on the metal truss suspended below the balloon itself. The US also observed small motors and propellers on the balloons, leading officials to believe Beijing had some control over its path.
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US officials said the balloons were part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons that have been spotted across five continents over the last several years.
There is a second over Latin America -- according to a CNN update on my phone.
 

Taxslave2

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Are we sure they gave them the 'real' bullets? The Canadian forces are pretty cheap with their ammo. Most of the time the pilots just practice saying 'ratatatatatatat'
A few years back I came across a bunch of army boys in the bush, lost. They had white painted wooden rifles. Probably good thing they didn’t have real guns since they were only about 300 meters from where they were to meet up.
 
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The_Foxer

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A few years back I came across a bunch of army boys in the bush, lost. They had white painted wooden rifles. Probably good thing they didn’t have real guns since they were only about 300 meters from where they were to meet up.
There used to be an old cartoon show that kind of made fun of the mounties and mash at the same time, and they had all the mounties at target practice talking about how poor their funding is going 'bang! bang! - and then one gun actually fired and the rest of them are like "JEZUZ Davie - you shot YOUR BULLET! Now what the hell are you going to do if a bad guy shows up!?!? And the offender is getting carted off by the military police yelling "I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER ME!!! I"VE JUST HAD IT WITH ME FOR SO MANY YEARS..... MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL!!!"
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Washington has called the balloon a "clear violation" of U.S. sovereignty and notified Beijing about the shootdown on Saturday, a U.S. official said.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin first announced the shootdown, saying the balloon was being used by China "in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."
1675730220173.jpegResponding to the downing, China said the action violates international norms and it reserves the right to take further action in response.

"The U.S. in insisting on the use of force is an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice," according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday morning.
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Tecumsehsbones

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Yo, we SHOWED those Chinese muh-fuhs that our superbadass, fifth-generation, supersonic fighters can take out an unpowered, unarmed balloon!

You are warned, China!
 

Blackleaf

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See? That's what I meant!

I think you should petition the IAU to name the planet "Bolton."

Good idea, old pal.

There's a website where, for a fee, you can name a star after a loved one. Somewhere out there, in the vastness of our galaxy the Milky Way, there is a star called George Battersby, named after my grandfather. We got it him as a Christmas present in 2011 when he was dying. So there may be somewhere I could rename this planet Bolton. It's much better than the name it has now.