US shoots down Chinese spy balloon off East Coast

[Scott]

Eyewitness describes the moment US military shot down spy balloon

Travis Huffstetler, a local photographer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said he witnessed the US military shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon Saturday afternoon.

He recalled seeing multiple aircraft flying around the balloon for about 20 to 30 minutes, before he saw what he assumed to be a missile come from an airplane that struck the balloon down.

"The balloon basically, like, popped you know?

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/suspected-chinese-balloon-over-us-02-04-23/index.html?tab=all

[Tug]

Apparently Biden had given permission to shoot it down on Wednesday but the DOD declined out of concern of injury to the folks on the ground hope we can harvest some good intelligence from it

[SunnyinBangrak]

Looks like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. A show of strength would have been to wallop the thing the 2nd it came near the US not wait until it had FLOWN OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY presumably spy mission complete and data sent home. What weakness, what confusion, a lame duck president on his last legs.

[Tug]

9 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Looks like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. A show of strength would have been to wallop the thing the 2nd it came near the US not wait until it had FLOWN OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY presumably spy mission complete and data sent home. What weakness, what confusion, a lame duck president on his last legs.

Ho ho hooo that’s funny naa it’s just being responsible and not getting folks hurt on the ground lmao ???? and loved the last legs comment care to look at the employment #s or any other things we’ve made progress on hey but thanks for the chuckle!

[rabas]

Of course they shot it down. I'm sure the military and intel agencies want a look at it. Shooting it down over water may better preserve the spy equipment.

 

On the detente front: It was shot down by a single A9X sidewinder air to air missile. The A9X shot down it's first target drone at China Lake, California in 1952. It's first combat roll was during the second Taiwan Straight Crisis against China successfully shooting down many MIGs. wiki

 

[Scott]

Chinese balloon live updates: Balloon shot down, search for debris underway

A massive Chinese surveillance balloon that moved across the continental U.S. this week has been shot down.

 

The Pentagon has confirmed the balloon was being used for surveillance, disputing China's claim that it was a civilian aircraft used for meteorological purposes. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the balloon didn't pose a physical or military threat, and once it was detected, the U.S. took steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/china-spy-balloon/?id=96874279

[tgw]

33 minutes ago, rabas said:

Of course they shot it down. I'm sure the military and intel agencies want a look at it. Shooting it down over water may better preserve the spy equipment.

 

On the detente front: It was shot down by a single A9X sidewinder air to air missile. The A9X shot down it's first target drone at China Lake, California in 1952. It's first combat roll was during the second Taiwan Straight Crisis against China successfully shooting down many MIGs. wiki

 

technically incorrect.

the Sidewinder A9 series began a long time ago, but the A9X entered service in 2003.

[SunnyinBangrak]

38 minutes ago, rabas said:

Of course they shot it down. I'm sure the military and intel agencies want a look at it. Shooting it down over water may better preserve the spy equipment.

 

On the detente front: It was shot down by a single A9X sidewinder air to air missile. The A9X shot down it's first target drone at China Lake, California in 1952. It's first combat roll was during the second Taiwan Straight Crisis against China successfully shooting down many MIGs. wiki

 

might it have been better to destroy it over the Pacific before the spy mission even started? lots of water there and no people...

[vandeventer]

Shooting it down from the first time it entered American airspace was much too easy. Lets hope they act a little faster if a nuke was entering US airspace. Joe should have put his foot down sooner!

[Credo]

24 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

might it have been better to destroy it over the Pacific before the spy mission even started? lots of water there and no people...

It entered the US in Alaska.  I haven't seen a map of the path, but with such close proximity to Russia, it's a little tricky to shoot something down that may have strayed.   Russian and US airspace have little separation in parts of Alaska.   I don't think we'd want any incident that involved Russian airspace.    It then appears that it moved down across part of Canada and next entered the US in Montana.   Biden gave the OK to shoot it down last Wednesday I believe, but it was decided to wait for it to be over open water and that would be the Atlantic, where it was shot down.  

[Tug]

30 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

might it have been better to destroy it over the Pacific before the spy mission even started? lots of water there and no people...

Now you might take that up with the Canadians it was over there country first they might have gotten a bit miffed if we just flew into there country and started shooting down stuff as far as over the pacific that could pose issues if we do that stuff in international airspace 

[Credo]

42 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

might it have been better to destroy it over the Pacific before the spy mission even started? lots of water there and no people...

It entered the US in Alaska.  I haven't seen a map of the path, but with such close proximity to Russia, it's a little tricky to shoot something down that may have strayed.   Russian and US airspace have little separation in parts of Alaska.   I don't think we'd want any incident that involved Russian airspace.    It then appears that it moved down across part of Canada and next entered the US in Montana.   Biden gave the OK to shoot it down last Wednesday I believe, but it was decided to wait for it to be over open water and that would be the Atlantic, where it was shot down.  

 

Waiting was the prudent thing to do.   

[Credo]

I found this which gives some idea of where it has traveled:

 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/chinese-surveillance-balloon-spotted/story?id=96883610

[Bkk Brian]

China protests US downing of suspected spy balloon, keeps right for ‘reaction’

 

WASHINGTON/BEIJING - China on Sunday said it expressed strong dissatisfaction and opposition towards the United States’ use of force to down its balloon and reserved the right for any necessary reaction to the incident. 

 

The use of force against the balloon, which China said is for civilian use and entered the US accidentally, was an “obvious overreaction” and violated international standard practices, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday. 

 

President Joe Biden said he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, but the Pentagon had recommended waiting until it could be done over open water to safeguard civilians from debris crashing down to Earth from thousands of metres above commercial air traffic.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-shoots-down-suspected-chinese-spy-balloon

[Kwasaki]

5 hours ago, Scott said:

US military shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon Saturday afternoon.

Suspected spy ballon !!  Will they now confirm it was a spy ballon or using a missile to take it out instead of cannon fire will destroy all evidence.

[Social Media]

 

[Bkk Brian]

19 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Suspected spy ballon !!  Will they now confirm it was a spy ballon or using a missile to take it out instead of cannon fire will destroy all evidence.

The missile hit the balloon, not the equipment that was attached and fixed dangling from the bottom of it. It was shot down over relatively shallow water so retrieving it should not be too problematic, navy ships already in the vicinity.

 

"U.S. officials said, the debris field stretched at least 7 miles, and was in water 47 feet deep. That depth is shallower than what they had planned, making it easier to retrieve pieces of the sensor package and other parts that may be salvageable."

 

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-antony-blinken-china-b1b03193b7abeb7bbeca169bbc7c2c53

 

Video of the shoot down here.

 

 

[SunnyinBangrak]

2 hours ago, Tug said:

Now you might take that up with the Canadians it was over there country first they might have gotten a bit miffed if we just flew into there country and started shooting down stuff as far as over the pacific that could pose issues if we do that stuff in international airspace 

Just so much wrong in such a short post.

1.Canada is not part of the USA

2.No Canadian will get "a bit miffed" if the US shot down a spy satellite in US waters near the very remote Aleutian islands(part of Alaska).

3.Who said anything about shooting it down in international airspace? That would have been very foolish and possibly illegal, however nodody apart from you is suggesting that.

 

"The balloon entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 28 north of the Aleutian Islands, entered Canadian airspace over the Northwest Territories on Jan. 30, then traveled south and reentered U.S. airspace over northern Idaho on Jan. 31, according to a senior military official."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/chinese-surveillance-balloon-spotted/story?id=96883610

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

The missile hit the balloon, not the equipment that was attached and fixed dangling from the bottom of it. It was shot down over relatively shallow water so retrieving it should not be too problematic, navy ships already in the vicinity.

 

"U.S. officials said, the debris field stretched at least 7 miles, and was in water 47 feet deep. That depth is shallower than what they had planned, making it easier to retrieve pieces of the sensor package and other parts that may be salvageable."

 

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-antony-blinken-china-b1b03193b7abeb7bbeca169bbc7c2c53

 

Video of the shoot down here.

 

 

Me being forever cynical ???? I wonder if they will announce that it was indeed a weather ballon not a spy balloon.

Was it or wasn't it I can't see the truth coming out one way or the other. 

[vandeventer]

8 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Me being forever cynical ???? I wonder if they will announce that it was indeed a weather ballon not a spy balloon.

Was it or wasn't it I can't see the truth coming out one way or the other. 

I hear there is another balloon coming to go across America. Doesn't China have some big balls.

[Chomper Higgot]

23 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Me being forever cynical ???? I wonder if they will announce that it was indeed a weather ballon not a spy balloon.

Was it or wasn't it I can't see the truth coming out one way or the other. 

‘They’ are going to hide ‘the truth’ from you, ‘they’ are going to put it with all that ‘other truth’ that ‘they’ are keeping from you.

 

 

Agent Moulder was right all along.

 

 

[dingdongrb]

I remember the last time there was so much interest in a balloon......

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_boy_hoax

[ballpoint]

7 hours ago, Scott said:

"The balloon basically, like, popped you know?

It's okay. The Chinese obviously never gained any intelligence from the flight.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, vandeventer said:

I hear there is another balloon coming to go across America. Doesn't China have some big balls.

They say the balloon was civilian company weather ballon.

Also yes the other secret balloon whichChina thought nobody can see is over South American apparently.

[Phoenix Rising]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Suspected spy ballon !!  Will they now confirm it was a spy ballon or using a missile to take it out instead of cannon fire will destroy all evidence.

Yes, it's clearly a conspiracy!! Why can't the lefties see all the conspiracies that are constantly popping up all over the place?!?!?

[bendejo]

Before the downing there was chatter about a second balloon over South America.  They're not talking about it anymore, or maybe just not right now.

 

So let's see, balloon pops, splashes into the sea.  A relatively soft landing (hey, it ain't rock) maybe the gear is salvageable.  Whatever data was collected I suspect was phoned home. 

Can we call this a cold war yet?

Gotta hand it to Fox Talk Channel for tying that certain laptop into this.

 

 

[CharlieKo]

Talk about manufactured hysteria! It was a weather balloon. 

[Rimmer]

Off topic post has been removed

[Kwasaki]

7 minutes ago, CharlieKo said:

Talk about manufactured hysteria! It was a weather balloon. 

It might already released a new covid strain over America. ????

[Hummin]

Just deleted bull pie show froom both parts! 

 

I really do not think it managed to gather any valuable information, except checking if there is any loopholes in rhe security.

 

Usa finally shooting it down in a secure space was just demonstrating we do not accept this.

 

China complaining is another part of the deleted bull pie show.

 

Bull pie kinder garden politics as usual