Seashells and Balloons

[4everwarriors]

Pretty sure this is not what Al had in mind, hey?

[MuggsyB]

Pretty sure this is not what Al had in mind, hey?

WTF is going on with these 🎈 🎈 🎈 🎈?

Solutions Scoopers?

[4everwarriors]

Anyone got a stick pin? We're bein' spied upon and no one gives a chit, hey?

[wadesworld]

WTF is going on with these 🎈 🎈 🎈 🎈?

Solutions Scoopers?

It was hovering above Columbia around 2:00 today. Hard to get a quality picture on an iPhone, but very clear.

[wadesworld]

By the way, we all do realize there are things called satellites that are not visible to us that do the same thing, right?

[tower912]

Yeah, I have been chuckling about it too.   We have satellites, they have satellites.    We can see it, identify the source, have a pretty good idea where it is going.   Unless it suddenly rains the next round of COVID on the US, I don't know what it accomplishes.

[Lennys Tap]

Yeah, I have been chuckling about it too.   We have satellites, they have satellites.    We can see it, identify the source, have a pretty good idea where it is going.   Unless it suddenly rains the next round of COVID on the US, I don't know what it accomplishes.

So maybe it's a test. What will the US do if China sends a recon balloon that violates our airspace? The answer apparently is nothing. What do you suppose China's response would be if the situation were reversed?

[Goose]

Lenny

If situation was reversed, China would have had it down and reverse engineered already.

[Pakuni]

They're not shooting it down because they don't want an object the size of three buses landing on people's heads, especially since said object isn't telling the Chinese anything theyre not already getting from satellites.

But yeah, pew pew, boys.

[Uncle Rico]

They're not shooting it down because they don't want an object the size of three buses landing on people's heads, especially since said object isn't telling the Chinese anything theyre not already getting from satellites.

But yeah, pew pew, boys.

Despite proclamations from George Santos saying he's operating the balloon, it appears that's not the case

[withoutbias]

I'm okay not aspiring to make the USA into China.

[tower912]

Sign of weakness by China.   A balloon?
What would you think, Lenny, if the USA was flying a balloon over China?

[MU82]

I don't think the United States has any choice but to exact revenge be sending Wojo to coach the Chinese national basketball team.

[Uncle Rico]

I don't think the United States has any choice but to exact revenge be sending Wojo to coach the Chinese national basketball team.

Billy Packer was right

[Pakuni]

Too bad the balloon's flight path won't take it over the Marquette campus. Stray gunfire would take it down.

[Lennys Tap]

Sign of weakness by China.   A balloon?
What would you think, Lenny, if the USA was flying a balloon over China?

So it has no purpose. It's just a balloon. Why the f@ck did China send it into our airspace? Maybe it just escaped from a wet market over there, a'ina?

[withoutbias]

So it has no purpose. It's just a balloon. Why the f@ck did China send it into our airspace? Maybe it just escaped from a wet market over there, a'ina?

To spy on us. Just like their satellites do anyway.

Man do the elderly talk tough but act terrified.

[Lennys Tap]

Another spy balloon from China now accidentally blown off course and traveling over Latin America. Quite a coincidence that 2 "balloons" would get blown off course. Nothing to see here....

[Lennys Tap]

To spy on us. Just like their satellites do anyway.

Man do the elderly talk tough but act terrified.

1.I never talked tough
2.I'm not the least bit scared
3.Thanks for stopping by and reminding anyone who might have forgotten what an idiot you are.

[Pakuni]

What does Lenny propose be done here?

[Shaka Shart]

Shoot down the balloon full of bio weapons!!!

[withoutbias]

Another spy balloon from China now accidentally blown off course and traveling over Latin America. Quite a coincidence that 2 "balloons" would get blown off course. Nothing to see here....

Wouldn't that actually make sense? If one balloon is blown off course, wouldn't it stand to reason any other balloons near that wind stream get blown off course too?

1.I never talked tough
2.I'm not the least bit scared
3.Thanks for stopping by and reminding anyone who might have forgotten what an idiot you are.

Sure.

Please don't forget it.

[The Sultan]

So maybe it's a test. What will the US do if China sends a recon balloon that violates our airspace? The answer apparently is nothing. What do you suppose China's response would be if the situation were reversed?

What do you think China's response would be? Do you think we should do the same? Why or why not?

[Lennys Tap]

What does Lenny propose be done here?

There are/were several possibilities. It could have been shot down before it was over water jbut in our air space. It could have been shot down over some area where there was little or no chance of impacting the population. Perhaps there's a way of bringing it down without essentially blowing it up - a tear in the balloon, something of that sort. Or we could do nothing and learn nothing about what was in the balloon, harrumph a bit and cancel our Secretary of State's trip to China.

I don't have the information to say what I would do, but I definitely wouldn't laugh it off as no big deal like Tower, Bias and others have done. And unless there's something they're not telling us I wouldn't have chosen the do nothing option.

[Lennys Tap]

What do you think China's response would be? Do you think we should do the same? Why or why not?

China would have brought the balloon down by whatever means they deemed the most efficient. They would be going over the contents with a fine tooth comb to determine what we were after and whether we have technologies currently unavailable to them. They would exploit it on the world's stage for all it is worth.

I'd be OK with us doing the same.