Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

taci7c0ff33 OP t1_j82eaxw wrote

I was just amazed how little this was covered on Reddit while being full blast everywhere else.

42

[deleted] t1_j84p0u2 wrote

What? The balloon has been front page since it first popped up.

36

chantsnone t1_j851q00 wrote

Inflation is a big topic these days

12

I_Dont_Work_Here_Lad t1_j8ah8ow wrote

The story just blew up honestly. I’m sure by the end of today it’ll float right up to the top.

1

piasenigma t1_j88rngu wrote

What? It been top news in evey news subreddit.

1

OmarLittleFinger t1_j81xmwp wrote

Is the attention to this balloon because of how absurd it is at the same time?

27

TheValgus t1_j821goi wrote

Its because they violated our airspace and lied about what they sent in.

Pretty hostile shit.

122

Diligent-Kangaroo-33 t1_j84wbi1 wrote

Balloons "hostile shit" you are drinking too much of the kool-aid. What's next Balloons are weapons of mass destruction ??

−41

backcountrydrifter t1_j84xfdk wrote

Raise your lens.

A balloon with an EMP charge on it could cripple 1/3 of the US power grid.

As a SIG-INT ISR tool it could intercept and divert critical defense communications.

N.B.C. Warfare isn’t really my area of expertise, but anything aerosolized at that altitude would be a highly effective weapon.

Xi Jinping said “I will control the internet” and he has a 14 year head start.

There is a lot more going on here than a stray balloon.

https://open.spotify.com/show/62dyKz8nKOOCjoU3E5ECdn?si=aUyQMg5VTLqD1REEZWRokg

19

AdminsAreLazyID10TS t1_j86iurk wrote

Lul, just letting the full jingo flap in the breeze. This is just as absurd in the other direction as pretending these are just weather balloons.

−12

thefugue t1_j82gh6z wrote

To some extent, yes.

At the start of last week, the idea of a balloon based spy technology was absurd and absolutely news worthy. In the worldview of the average person it would have been worthy of a punchline about Cuba or North Korean espionage.

19

genericrich t1_j84dfds wrote

You do this before a war to get a baseline of what you can gather with a balloon.

In the war, the satellites will all get shot down. It will be hard if not impossible to put up new ones after that. Look up Kessler syndrome.

So now you can fly your cheapie spy balloons over the ravaged USA to see what the Americans are up to next, and compare it to what you learned before the war.

−8

decomposition_ t1_j84j4es wrote

Source: trust me bro

12

genericrich t1_j865dcx wrote

Oh, sorry, I wasn't aware Reddit was the place you had to cite your sources for speculation about how folks aren't seemingly aware of how useful a balloon is for surveillance, and under what scenarios they might be critical.

Will leave the basic googling to you. Look into how cheap and useful balloons are, and why you might want to use them to understand and prepare for a conflict your military has been tasked with getting ready for, regardless of whether or not you intend to really fight a war.

−1

WestSixtyFifth t1_j84or2r wrote

China isn't going to war with the US and the West. Don't be ridiculous. They depend on importing way too much shit and there's only one earth. They can't find a replacement West.

They're just pushing the boundaries of what they're allowed to get away with. They know they're squarely the second power in the world, and that the US isn't going to escalate things without Americans being harmed. So they can pretty much do anything, like fly a spy balloon over 40 countries, and across the entire continental United States. With minimal, if any consequences.

9

genericrich t1_j8649zy wrote

News Flash: Militaries whose governments may not want war nevertheless plan for war. We have plans for invading Belgium, updated annually, for example. Not because the USA wants to invade Belgium, but because we want to be ready to do so if we need to.

Making the US agitated serves very little purpose, other than escalate tensions. You don't build and fly sophisticated spy rigs hanging from balloons without a plan, and China is known for long-term planning. It's not ridiculous notion to suggest that an otherwise nonsensical surveillance platform might have a use in a post-war scenario with the USA.

−3

rusty_programmer t1_j87rzs1 wrote

Lmao did you just casually drop some secrets to prove an argument? I wasn’t aware of our invasion plans being public except in certain places.

1

[deleted] t1_j823wlx wrote

[deleted]

−16

andoesq t1_j8277n4 wrote

I dunno, I saw in that article the referred to doing U2 flybys...

Which is a spy plane from 1954.

I guess absurd is relative? The US spies on an absurd Chinese balloon with (absurdly) a 1954 plane?

−18

SomeDEGuy t1_j82locf wrote

New models from 80s, with an upgrade a decade ago.

We have a limited number of planes that can do flybys at extremely high altitude.

Plus, if we did have a secret plane that could do it, we'd not want to reveal that and just use a u2, sinces it's flight performance is fairly well known.

16

apalebear t1_j81zwof wrote

I think Americans focus heavily on the visible and obvious, especially when it's initiated by other countries.

−29

thefugue t1_j82gnsw wrote

Everyone does. The CIA had a project where they were trying to install spy equipment in a cat’s body in the 70s or 80s. A lot of spy craft takes advantage of what people refuse to take seriously. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.

13

skrilledcheese t1_j82y1me wrote

Good old project "Acoustic kitty"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty

>Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.

It never stops spy agencies from trying weird shit though.

Case in point, CIA project "Midnight Climax", which involved prostitutes and LSD... for reasons.

6

Inquisitive_idiot t1_j857yot wrote

That’s completely unacceptable.

$20 million dollars and they couldn’t at least come up with:

> “pussy whisperer”

Why even bother at this point 🤦🏽

2

jayrocksd t1_j822bfj wrote

The attention is because it isn't any different than the US flying a U-2 over China.

−31

TintedApostle t1_j823hen wrote

It is in that the capability of the U2 is known. The intent of a balloon and its payload is not.

18

jayrocksd t1_j825jld wrote

The capability of the Chinese balloon and the U-2 aren't well known. The intent of flying a U-2 over a foreign country is pretty obvious. The U-2 observing the Chinese balloon was able to determine the balloon was doing intelligence gathering as well, so the intent is also obvious.

It is also an incontrovertible fact that doing either in foreign airspace without permission is a violation of international law assuming the payload of the balloon weighs more than 5kg (approximately 40 bananas.)

5

TintedApostle t1_j826iz7 wrote

Actually the open skies treaty said otherwise until Trump withdrew from it. China was never party to the treaty.

−5

jayrocksd t1_j82adry wrote

Open Skies required notification, certification and pre flight inspection.

Edit: and China was never a signatory.

9

TintedApostle t1_j82ahes wrote

and so satellites were positioned to do the covert work.

2

Vostok_Gagarin t1_j823j67 wrote

And when that was happening those were shot down so it’s funny they act surprised lol

3

[deleted] t1_j81w35v wrote

[deleted]

14

enonmouse t1_j8205ad wrote

Most sensitive sites are in the middle of nowhere and have have big buffer zones around them, in part to make doing that difficult. You also cant see a lot because of line of sight.

I am sorry my dude, i dont think you are cut out for espionage.

33

nothrfathed t1_j84y62i wrote

Not only that, but most if not all communications are encoded. Makes it more of a challenge to actually sense any value. OTOH, maybe it was simply a test of their improved decoding tech. Anyone think it strange all the noise makers don't seem to think about roots of security???

1

erichhaubrich t1_j82361t wrote

The fact that there might be a better way to collect certain types of information does not mean that less-effective and even riskier and more expensive methods of collection will not also be exploited, even if just to disrupt and cause havoc.

Also: Some data cannot easily be collected from the ground, and some communications/data stuff involving a balloon like this one could get pretty creative and go unnoticed by safeguards on land-based networks.

Ground Station to Balloon to Satellite Network to Chinese Government Balloon Enthusiast could be a scenario.

It could also be nothing to worry about.

Either way, I'm glad we have smart folks working on this.

8

sleepingwiththefishs t1_j8352ag wrote

It seems anachronistic simply because one assumes everyone was using satellites and space planes.

11

Diligent-Kangaroo-33 t1_j855czl wrote

More then likely it's down loading all the intelligence information from all the Chinese built laptops and cell phones. Just think all the Chinese made apple products downloading into this balloon. Afraid of china but gotta keep buying all that cheap Chinese products..

9

KeenK0ng t1_j87910g wrote

Pretty sure they were downloading from those Nike shoes.

3

kingkeelay t1_j88p8cl wrote

Or from those banned cellular network transmitters that haven’t been replaced yet.

1

Thunderhamz t1_j826eon wrote

It pops if you send guided missile at it, that is all.

6

MonkeMayne t1_j84nth6 wrote

Is this the one they shot down yesterday or the OG Chinese balloon shot down by Myrtle Beach?

1

zaidakaid t1_j84vitz wrote

We don’t know if the one over Alaska was a balloon or not, details aren’t out on that one. Only that it’s a UFO, officials corrected the journalist that called it a balloon by saying it’s currently being referred to as an object.

3

MonkeMayne t1_j84xdnr wrote

So holdup. You’re saying this could be a tic tac like craft?

3

QueenZoe6586 t1_j86n69k wrote

It was literally described as silver, cylindrical, and the size of a car, floating without obvious propulsion

4

zaidakaid t1_j84xjux wrote

I have no idea what that is, but maybe idk?

I was more saying that we shouldn’t call it something specific when we don’t know exactly what it is yet.

1

MonkeMayne t1_j84xp6b wrote

I hear that. Can you imagine if it’s an actual alien craft, that would be one hell of an event haha.

2

zaidakaid t1_j84xwz2 wrote

Could be, or it could be some kind of spy plane, or a mini-blimp drone.

1

Meat-brah t1_j820cr8 wrote

Maybe the CIA should try this. I heard their informants are having issues abroad.

Edit: why the downvotes? They admitted they are losing too many informants internationally.

NYT article

−20

ViciousCombover t1_j83090u wrote

You’re downvoted because anything construed as appearing negative towards the US is seen as defending China. Absurd, I know.

Every major power spies on everybody else, even their allies. People just feel extra gung-ho since all the Ukraine stuff started recently.

3

erichhaubrich t1_j823h0v wrote

I bet the CIA has done plenty of weird shit with balloons. Those dudes are some out-of-the-box thinkers, for sure. 🤨

−3

the_donnie t1_j82y5e2 wrote

Heck yeah partner. Them Chinese ain't so bad. Best watch out for that there CIA though

−7

erichhaubrich t1_j838zgo wrote

BTW: The CCP are extremely fucking bad. They are the biggest threat to global security we face by a very large margin, and are a bigger threat to our national security than anything we faced during the Cold War.

5

erichhaubrich t1_j8380ll wrote

You may have missed my previous (entire history of) posts.

I have zero tolerance for any adversary of the United States.

Xi, Putin, Kim and any other authoritarian regimes are the enemies of democracy and global security. Fuck every single one of them and all of their friends. I do not see a path to friendship with China, Russia, or DPRK at least until their current regimes are gone.

What I said was that the CIA has probably done some crazy shit with balloons. An example might be extracting operators using weather balloons and big hooks on planes.

I would not put them past doing some less productive shit with balloons as well. Omelettes often require a number of eggs to end up broken.

Cheers!

3

memelordJebBush t1_j84g1q7 wrote

Least blood thirsty liberal

−1

erichhaubrich t1_j8gioqk wrote

I got all my bloodthirsty shit outta my system in my 20s. Now I'm just treacherous and resourceful. 😎

1

ProphetTurtle t1_j821onq wrote

“We did not assess that it presented a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from the Chinese,” said Gen. Glenn VanHerck, the commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, on Monday.

So what was the point? Or maybe just maybe it wasnt a spy balloon

−25

Agent_Angelo_Pappas t1_j82lza6 wrote

What do you mean what was the point? We’re just supposed to let military equipment float through our airspace and do nothing as it poses a hazard to our national security? The point of blowing it out of the sky is to keep foreign military spy platforms out of our skies.

6

RuTsui t1_j89js8o wrote

I think they mean what’s was the point of China launching them in the first place if it doesn’t do anything more for China’s spying capabilities.

What was the point of China launching it, not what was the point of shooting it down.

1

Agent_Angelo_Pappas t1_j8a6pts wrote

If you look at the Pentagon’s statement they didn’t actually make any comparisons to satellites like that

Obviously a balloon presents much different monitoring opportunities than a satellite. A satellite would be 200+ miles up and have only a brief window to observe a target because it’s moving 15,000+ mph relative to the ground to maintain orbit

Being able to float 10 miles over a target for hours or days is a much different situation than a satellite. The takeaway I had from the DOD was that nothing on board was new, it was similar optics/sensing/communication equipment as what goes on spy planes operating around the same altitude

1