OT Aviation Week article

[vacock]

Surveillance Balloon, Likely Chinese, Lingering Over U.S., DOD Says | Aviation Week

The balloon has flown over sensitive locations including nuclear missile fields but President Biden has been advised not to shoot it down.

aviationweek.com

 

[18IsTheMan]

There's probably more going on here, but it's baffling that we are knowingly allowing a Chinese spy balloon to just float along in our airspace

 

[vacock]

There's probably more going on here, but it's baffling that we are knowingly allowing a Chinese spy balloon to just float along in our airspace

The top of our airspace ends at 60,000 feet. We don’t (shouldn’t) shoot down satellites so that’s probably why they didn’t shoot it down.

 

[18IsTheMan]

do we know the altitude of the balloon? articles I've read have just said it's in our airspace.

 

[Uscg1984]

The top of our airspace ends at 60,000 feet. We don’t (shouldn’t) shoot down satellites so that’s probably why they didn’t shoot it down.

Our U2 spy plane that the Soviets shot down in 1960 was flying around 70,000 feet. I believe the reports are that this balloon is in the 70,000 to 80,000 foot range above the earth. Low orbit satellites are typically between 100km to about 160km (approximately 330,000 - 530,000 feet above the earth). There may be a number of valid reasons not to shoot this balloon down, but I don't think there is any concern that it would be viewed as a precedent for shooting down satellites.

 

[18IsTheMan]

lol, China says not to worry. It's just a scientific research balloon that drifted off course...into Montana airspace.

 

[The Reel Ess]

There's probably more going on here, but it's baffling that we are knowingly allowing a Chinese spy balloon to just float along in our airspace

At the risk of getting this thread shut down, some of our officials at the highest level have sold their souls to China. That's right, they put China's interest before ours for their own greedy interests.

 

[18IsTheMan]

At the risk of getting this thread shut down, some of our officials at the highest level have sold their souls to China. That's right, they put China's interest before ours for their own greedy interests.

I guess I'm naive, but I can't imagine why a sovereign nation would shoot it down the second it crossed into our airspace. I sure as heck it didn't get in undetected.

 

[The Reel Ess]

Did you know China has police stations in the US and Canada? Did you happen to hear this in the mainstream media? Me neither.

China has opened police stations in US and Canada to monitor Chinese citizens: Report

China has opened dozens of “overseas police service stations” around the globe to monitor its citizens living abroad, including one location in New York City and three in Toronto.

nypost.com

 

[vacock]

Did you know China has police stations in the US and Canada? Did you happen to hear this in the mainstream media? Me either.

China has opened police stations in US and Canada to monitor Chinese citizens: Report

China has opened dozens of “overseas police service stations” around the globe to monitor its citizens living abroad, including one location in New York City and three in Toronto.

nypost.com

Thanks. I did not know that.

 

[vacock]

 

[Prestonyte]

At the risk of getting this thread shut down, some of our officials at the highest level have sold their souls to China. That's right, they put China's interest before ours for their own greedy interests.

China getting their ROI from the "Big Guy". Bought and paid for!

 

[The Reel Ess]

China getting their ROI from the "Big Guy". Bought and paid for!

I can see no other reason to wait until it crossed the entire country before having it shot down.