Interesting video capture appears to show the moment the U.S. military hit the Chinese surveillance balloon with some type of detonation.
3:15 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down, on Wednesday, as soon as possible. They decided — without doing damage to anyone on — on the ground. They decided that the best time to do that was as it got over water, outside — within our — within the 12-mile limit.
They successfully took it down. And I want to compliment our aviators who did it. And we’ll have more to report on this a little later.
Thank you.
Q Mr. President, what does this say about China? What’s your message to China?
Q You were saying the recommendation from your — was from your national security —
THE PRESIDENT: I told them to shoot it down.
Q On Wednesday?
THE PRESIDENT: On Wednesday.
Q But the recommendation from them —
THE PRESIDENT: They said to me, “Let’s wait till the safest place to do it.”
Did General Milley call Xi and warn him we were going to attack? LOL
It was the other way around. Xi called to allow the “attack”.
And for seven days Xi was daring us to shoot it down.
More. That’s my problem with all of them. We knew the damn thing was in the sky for at least another week earlier…
…as others observed the result of $elections not respecting their oath of office
and the compromi$ed miss leadership$ across the nation… again…
As they seek to entrench their mis gain$ into the future,
at others costs, in numerous ways…
As some laugh
and others cry…
( and some laugh at the criers )..
Reality is not a theatre…
yet, many are cashing in
( at others costs… on and on and on… )
Thank you Mary Miller
for publicly making the general point…
going along to get along has no good outcomes when people are clapping, saluting, rah, rahing at disguised lies, on top of the other lies…
and censorship of truths…
[ for those attending…is it theatre…?
Or
is it seeing, illuminating, and confronting evil…
or
is it endorsing evils…
or
threading the needle …both ( with pol spin , that produces nothing good, at others costs…) ]
Yes, Mary will be accused of not following congress decorum ( like rep Joe Wilson 12+ years ago).
Was Np following decorum when a speech was torn?
Hello double standard media..dc.. r u there?
Is that a green screen…?
Whom sabotaged nordstream pipeline? People know…
Whom has jailed people, violated their rights?
People know…
Whom gives illegal entrants endless free stuff, gallore ( at the endless costs of charitable contributors – and taxpayers – and growing national debts )?
People know…
Whom helps ukr people, to die ( but offers belated assistance – to look good)?
People know…
Imho
Which may be why Joe recently got a line of credit on the DE beach house.
Exactly!
Milley of the Milli Vanilli fame
Just as big of a fraud so yeah.
Or did Milley call Xi to let him know we WEREN’T going to attack until Xi’s 4′-2″ soldier’s little mission was over?
Xi called to relay his orders to Biden :
“mission accomplished, all intelligence gathered has been transmitted to Beijing, proceed to destroy the evidence”
Similar to the Afghan diamond tennis bracelet gift from Uncle Joe to Cousin Xi.
This one little act may even be more expensive. More like a diamond necklace to coordinate with the bracelet.
Destroy the evidence, but xi will send his crew over to South Carolina Beach waters to collect it…in the mean time, you make sure nobody takes any of our stuff! We’ll be there shortly and you yanos can claim you can’t get any salvage equipment on scene for at least a week….okey doky yanky!?
Spell checks rejects “yankies”
yankees
Lol. Thanks
You are right on. In addition do it over the Atlantic so no pesky civilians can see the payload. That way we and your government can make up any story we want to about this balloon.
and that’s what i think
He probably did. Especially after President Trump made a statement, “Joe, shoot the balloon down!”.
I can just imagine the phone call, Milley: “Xi, sir, I was just calling to tell you, Trump is acting crazy again…”
of course he did, that’s how team players operate.
Xi told Milley to wait until the mission was complete and the balloon was out over the Atlantic. Milley then instructed Biden of the plan and told Biden what to say. There you have it.
That coward punk mofo 😤. This is an embarrassing moment for the USA. I’m sure Putin and Xi are laughing their butts off.
Bottom line is this is a contrived event purposed to assist expediting Biden’s departure from the political scene as 2024 approaches. Who could possibly be orchestrating this? Welllll….look at who populates key positions of his staff. Look at who controls intel info the President receives. Ask who have they worked for? Ask how Joe became the Dem candidate in the first place.
The answer lies in Kalorama.
An interesting thought.
No, he was busy putting on his pink rogue and eye lashes.
So brave!!
🤡
this is so stupid I wonder if I’m actually dead.
I happened to see General Keane on Fox this afternoon, and He really could not speak. He was so taken aback that THe Biden regime had allowed the blimp to mosey along the interior of the US for so long. Never seen him so speechless!
Just before the puncture, I had wondered if Xi would just self-destruct his own blimp.
we had to it was getting to close to ukrane
I haven’t trusted Gen Keane since he first opined about Ukraine and has subsequently proved wrong on all his predictions – without any back tracking/acknowledgment.
3% chance it’s a simulation + we’re all photons in the circuits of the matrix…
don’t panic, it’s onry derivery
and in keeping with Warren Zevon’s nomination to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame:
Walkin’ thru the streets of Soho in the rain.
I actually had a nice dish of beef chow mein there on a trip to London many years ago.
A very good friend sent me a photo of the facade of Lee Ho Fook’s. in the lower right corner of the window next too the door they display of picture of Warren. Always thought it nice of them to keep his memory alive.
Notice the pictures are of two different balloon?
One has a cross arm and one does not..
What dat mean?
Winner!
Kill it – anything to stop those phone calls.
Barroon ruv you rong time…..
We have no defense. That is the message. I’d have been embarrassed to fire that missile.
I think Wednesday is BS. We already know that Tuesday was thrown out. How about earlier?
From Montana to The Carolinas took from Sunday to Saturday? How long from China to the Aleutians and then Alaska, Canada.
Why didn’t Justin Castreau shoot the damn thing down either?
Oh, if anyone saw Dan Bongino tonight, he was apoplectic! Had Michael Franzese on tonight. Do a bit of research and you, too, will be amazed at his own shock at what our government has turned into, weaponized against our own citizens.
It was refreshing to see! From a mobster informant!
Here is Bongino.
The entire show is terrific, yet the interview with Franzese, almost at the very of the show…prior to Tom Brady tearing up after his divorce and retirement… was epic!!!!! 26:15, I believe.
When the mob is now pissed at the government cartel Nazis! When will wonders ever cease?
Maybe…just maybe, we all need to act like it’s WWII and engage the gypsies and the old mob to throw the government cartel NAZI’s OUT!!!!!
If the lazy locals could do it in Portugal, we can do it here!
That’s just wrong; the Mob has more honor than FJB.
Bongino says Joe is a foreign agent;; acting on behalf of another country, not the US.
Makes total sense. I look for Bongino to b audited, house raided, you name it.
So if our fake government’s will to defend the country is so inadequate that a balloon can cross America with no opposition, this probably wasn’t a Chinese spy balloon. Because obviously there’s nobody protecting us against foreign enemies, so China doesn’t need to use a balloon to spy.
No, I believe this was a message to the American People that we might be done…but I think not. The Chinese need US (us) more than we need them.
All it would probably take is a two or three month complete general strike, and I mean a severe general strike…hunker down, do not buy a thing if you can help it.
Give everyone in all of the big cities and capitals some huge transportation, gas station, tax income and general supply issues…maybe a truckers’ siege or two, and I can think of more than one city with two initials on the East Coast of the US that would be in a bit of a bumpy ride.
And a few on the West Coast.
Because the alternative is less appetizing.
When the White House presstitutes started getting angry in the last two days at Biden and started yelling ‘balloon’ demands…He has now lost all.
If we are smart, we just need to start ramming EVERY side of this mess.
it doesn’t matter if its Biden or someone else on the democrat side
they are all puppets of a tolitarian regime. The dem libs are so stupid
they will just vote for the next in line. A puppet with pretty little
strings and an expensive suit/dress. White teeth helps also.
Newsome?
Yep, Damian von Hairgel it is.
do not buy a thing if you can help it.
Umm ammo.
Yes to your second paragraph! I am constantly saying this over and over to anyone who will listen (usually not many). Where exactly would they be without the *middle class* spending dollars – IMO in the dumpster!
Getting back to the scamdemic, everyone I know family and friends all masked up (I would not). They would NOT pushback at all. Altho most family are NOT jabbed. I believe we do have the power – but do not know how to utilize it – again, IMO.
we could cease purchasing products made in China on a masse scale
They have known for days the possible path of the balloon and where it will exit the coast, yet it is going to take the military several days to get a proper salvage vessel there to recover the debris. What inept planning!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/oh-good-grief-us-military-fears-china-may-reach-balloon-wreckage-can-get-proper-salvage-vessel-wont-days/
Don’t you see? They had to make sure nothing would be recovered; hence, shoot it down over water to make sure it’s lost in the deep. By the time of the shootdown, China’s tests/observations/photos were complete and all the required data had been collected. Biden carried out his part of the mission perfectly.
True Moviegoer. And it’s a balloon. It’s not armored. You don’t need to use a missile no matter how many cells the balloon has.
when did President Trump put out his message to shoot it down?
i imagine Joe backdated his “order” to shoot it down to a day prior.
Remember what I said about the UFO narratives used by failing states a couple of days ago?
The UFO narrative is ALIVE!
Godzirra will defleat Putin!
Interpretation: “ Let’s wait until they have ALL the Intel they wanted and the checks cleared.”
How was the balloon known to be Chinese?
Good question. First time anyone except me has asked it too.
Yup, we believe it because that’s what we were told to believe. Could be our own deep state.
Very likely our own.
People used available tracking data to trace its historical path.
So I guess Biden sent in a Delta Force Team to Mongolia to send it up.
How about North Korea?
YES, Rocket. You show us once again, that
CTH is what the “press’ was supposed to be all along-
where free people gather,
asking the correct questions and “speaking truth to power,”-
Especially illegitimate power that suppresses and threatens
and falsely imprisons, those who dare question obvious deceit.
We can’t use straws or mylar and yet they blow up a balloon over the ocean less than 12 miles from the coast.
Speaking of strings, this will be exploited in two directions: “theres a line that both sides now realize can’t be crossed”
expansion of anti-terrorist “protections” domestically
escalated propagandizing/efforts for expansion and consolidation of foreign alliances to counter the China threat….all really purposed as new pawns in the chess match for sustaining existing financial/dollar dominance and uni-gov’t centralization.
They only worry about pollution or nuclear mess when it comes from we, the people of America.
They worry about maintaining power.
If the chicken heads in the press are hysterical
about any issue…..
stop and look around for something (else) is going down.
The Ballon is a distraction, repeat, the ballon is a distraction…
prove me wrong.
I have come to agree with you. It’s a distraction.
From project Veritas/Pfizer?
From the Princess of Thailand being in a coma following her latest vax?
From Biden’s classified docs and Hunter’s admission the lap top is his?
I think it’s the Pfizer gain of function reveal. Nothing else is new/big enough.
If the Chinese have the capability to develop ways of blocking our ability to know with 100% certainty what the balloon was carrying, that it could not be carrying an EMP Device in a balloon like they have written about in their war doctrines, then allowing the balloon over the middle of the country put almost everyone’s life at risk.
I mean – seriously —— a large balloon capability of carrying a payload that could destroy the entire nation floats across the country – but – it’s a distraction…..
…nothing to see here…..
……..move a long………
…..we’re 100% certain our Gov knows with 100% certainty what the balloon + payload is capable of….
…….Trust the Science……..
…….Look for something else to distract you…..Move along….
Isn’t there still a North Korean satellite travailing across the US twice a day?
I meant to put on there ‘with that potential’
Could be but they aren’t at that tech level for an attack. My best guess is that they have been allowed + helped to get a rudimentary ICBM, Nuclear + Satellite capability as a Scapegoat Option if the Davos Crew decides to pull those triggers.
If a satellite blows, those left alive in the general public will never know who it really was…
Probably are multiple devices by China + Russia + maybe others that cover North America 24/7 in orbit that can’t adequately be detected (the payloads) that are capable of an EMP attack.
China + Russia also have hypersonic missile capable of nuclear or EMP Attacks.
Multiple nations have the capability to get missiles to our shores disguised as cargo containers.
So, with so many possible threats, why not let a balloon with unknown payload fly overhead?
Why not Free the air space to all traffic? Stop wasting fuel + pumping out so many carbon emissions to intercept the Russian or Chinese Bombers when they send them over the North Pole?
Why not?????
If America had any doubt about the loyalty of the US military, it should now be clear that it’s not concerned with protecting the nation.
Biden did what he was instructed to do. Wait until the device completed its mission. Then you can shoot it down. It actually lowered itself to be shot down by the fighter jets.
Supposedly by an AIM9X missile, but I see no missile smoke trail to the balloon. I can’t find a single video on-line of that new and vastly improved AIM9 version being fired, so it could be a zero smoke version which is what one would want when firing a missile at a target out of visual range from a stealth fighter. Any smoke trail would lead the adversary’s attention to the stealth fighter.
Omg, thanks for the belly laugh. Biden Defense Minister?
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-22-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-off-carolinas-with-missile
Senior U.S. military and defense officials shared the following information about the shootdown in a subsequent press briefing on Saturday afternoon:
An F-22 Raptor from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base fired a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile that downed the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet. The balloon was as high as 65,000 feet.
The shootdown occurred at the first available opportunity to do so without threat to those on the ground.
The U.S. took steps to stop and mitigate the balloon’s collection, neutralizing its intelligence value and preventing it from sending data back to China as it passed over sensitive sites.
There were three previously undisclosed intrusions by Chinese surveillance into U.S. airspace, but never of this duration. Two of these incursions came during the President Donald Trump administration, with the third early in the Biden administration. The Chinese explanation for this balloon’s flight lacked credibility.
The balloon entered the Alaska Joint Operation Area on January 27, Canadian airspace on January 30, and the continental U.S. over northern Idaho on January 31.
This is not the only surveillance balloon operating in the western hemisphere, with another operating over south and Central America as part of a fleet at the People’s Liberation Army’s direction across five continents.
What was an air operation to shoot the balloon down is now a recovery operation in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the debris’ chain of custody.
Debris from the balloon fell in only 47 feet of water, much shallower than expected. There are multiple Navy and Coast Guard vessels in the area but no timeline for recovery from a debris field spanning seven miles.
“this is so stupid I wonder if I’m actually dead.” Good one from anthhohmy above. If I can laugh out loud and hear myself I know I’m still among the living.
I don’t believe anything “senior military” or FJB says. The truth is out there somewhere but not with them. On the video it looks like the balloon’s electronic bucket on the bottom was blown out. Why couldn’t or wouldn’t its “bucket” be programmed to self-implode and destroy itself when no longer wanted? Pretty good shooting when the balloon itself is much easier to hit.
Why a missile? Wouldn’t a few bullets do the job?
No. Think of the volume of the balloon.
After I commented I got to thinking that wouldn’t a missile just punch through a soft balloon with out detonating? Seams like an over kill.
I thought Sidewinders are heat seekers (hence named after the snake).
What in a balloon would generate a high enough temperature to guide a Sidewinder?
Heve they been upgraded to employ radar?
Apparently the latest version of this weapon locks on a target by tracking the pilot’s eyes. The pilot has a special helmet display.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11714125/How-200m-F-22-Raptor-shot-Chinese-spy-balloon-400k-Sidewinder-missile.html
Thank you!
Biden and Xi remind me of raising two little kids.
Alaska is such an extremely densely populated state + so small, I can completely understand why they decided to wait until it reached the Atlantic on the other side of the continent.
Just think of how many hundreds of millions would have been killed if it had been shot down over a state like Alaska.
Obviously the only sensible choice…
….I see 2 fingers today – after checking in – of course.
The Great Architect bless Joe Biden!
The Great Architect bless Davos!!
Somebody should suppress disinformation like this below. It’s too dangerous. It causes the cancer if “Doubt”. If left unchecked, such things can lead to F.T.
“The total area in Alaska is 665,383.9 square miles. There state is 85.8% land and 14.2% water. The population density in Alaska is 1.3 people per square mile (56th out of 56).”
[Free Thought – a condition of derangement condemned in the Universal Rules of Global Solidarity in 2025 under the benevolent guidance of the Externalize Hierarchy.]
[One great thing about AI – as far as I know – even the most cutting edge of it – is befuddled by sarcasm + mocking that the brain of the Average Human picks up on easily….]
Leftist brains can send sarcasm but cannot receive sarcasm. 😉
Trump said he’s “shoot it down” so Biden came out and acted like it was his plan to shoot it down.
FJB
Hooray for Biden. His handlers waited until the balloon had traversed the Pacific, the Alieutians and the continental US to shoot it down; thereby waiting until all pertinent data collected by said object could be transmitted to its Chinese owner.
When will the American public get enough of this travesty?
Am I paranoid or is it reasonable to question that actually was the Chinese dirigible?
Theatre of farce, Kabuki theatre, a minor diversion, it sure as hell was not dangerous.
Serious question: rather than destroy the payload with a missile over the Atlantic, why not allow our pilots to have a fun day shooting at the ballon with guns until it falls from the sky? The chances of recovering the payload would increase and the questions from the public would decrease.
Our military serve a tyrant. I have zero respect for them.
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) left a trail of debris that stretch hundreds of miles from west of Fort Worth all the way to Louisiana. Over 4 million people live below. No one was injured.
Read this post on NYT.
New York Post
Not NYT
My mistake
Most importantly, what is the gender identity of the F-22 pilot? Might have a bearing on the medal to be awarded. Guaranteed DFC if it is a female or a non-binary.
I don’t understand how so many are saying this is no big deal + just a distraction.
It is on par with the bewilderment I felt in Dec 2020 at the reaction to the Election Theft.
People need to dig into EMPs.
Balloons like this have been discussed in the war gaming for a long time.
Do people really want to believe our Intel Capability is so great there is virtually 0% chance the Chinese or anyone else could develop tools to disguise an EMP Device or similar?
2020 analysis of China EMP Doctrine
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1102202.pdf
2017 EMP Attack Scenarios
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1097009.pdf
How many times have you heard the Davos Crew + others mention Cyber Attacks on the Power Grid since Dec 2019.
But, a giant balloon crossing the whole nation is a big Nothing Burger…
…a Deep State Fake to distract us from really important stuff….
………..Just wait to 2024 when we get Trump back in the White House!!!!
………..White Hats to the Rescue……..!!!!!!
—— I just don’t understand anymore…..
People did hear about the Air Force General who put out a memo telling his troops to get mentally prepared for us to be at war with China by 2025…?
Do you think that was a Deep State Fake too + that General will get a promotion…?
Or do you think it more likely putting his thoughts on paper to get leaked got him in trouble + Will more likely bring his career to an end…?
People do know we have tanks being loaded up to kill the troops of the 2nd largest nuclear weapons power on Earth, right…?
……What do they have to do to the Average Person to make it clear what period of time we are currently living in………….????
With all my heart, I hope the Average Person is right…
Did y’all see that stuff about the AI Chat Bot?
I had been wondering about Bitchute for awhile. It is a YouTube competitor. The comments section on it is different than any other place I frequented.
Uploads frequently get immediate, short comments expressing stark racism + anti-semitism + so on. I turned commenting off + noticed the few channels I watch there did too.
I stopped going to the InfoWars Comments for the same reason.
— That will be an increasingly useful way for those working for the Elites: Using sophisticated AI not available to the general public to swarm targeted sites to create fake accounts to generate more sophisticated deceptions to avoid detection + expulsion to steer conversations in directions the Elites want them to go.
In short, the lines of communication are going to become more + more interfered with to the point of break down – if they don’t achieve the same via Censorship Laws…
So, when a balloon with a possibly dangerous payload capable of vast loss of life passes across the continent + a healthy % of the Non-Globalist Crowd tells the world it is a Big Nothing Burger + only the misguided would fall for the distraction —— why wait for the future to arrive…?
Iggyb, hope we can find a way to preserve our CTH community as things heat up going into 2024. You’re so right —if they can’t legislate Censorship, they’ll pollute the waters with AI bots and trolls to drive people away from places they can meet and converse online. Hope we can navigate thru it all. Recognition of the issue is perhaps a first step so thanks for your post Iggyb.
Have noticed quite a contrast in the nature and feel of conversation on CTH threads when trolls are few versus when they descend in a swarm.
When I think of a the experience of a troll-free thread, I think of the 4300 posts responding to Sundance’s question of — if one didnt take the Covid Shot, why not.( anyone who hasn’t seen it you can search at top of page using keywords Covid and Shot).
Remarkably bots and trolls stayed away from that thread, seemingly unable to gain any traction as it wasnt a debate, it was a series of sacred personal testimonies coming at rapid speed. Reading the 4300 personal testimonies felt like standing in a cathedral in tender, sacred witness.
Sigh, I agree with you that we can expect more and more bot and troll swarms to arrive heading into 2024 as they are an effective alternative to Censorship Laws.
Just got told off multiple times at Twitter.
Told how EMPs have a short range, stupid.
They harm electronics not people, idiot.
I think I’m done…
…The Sims offers our youth + others the option in character creation a new feature to design characters with genital surgery scars.
Pre-school + Early Education Teachers who record themselves teaching our toddlers that they might be a different gender are celebrated on The View where a significant % of the masses get their “News”.
While a balloon crosses the nation + a healthy % of non-View, non-Globalists preach it s no big deal + an obvious distraction from far more important things.
….Check, please…
…..I’m full. I’ve had enough.
You are heard. And many do see the seriousness of China’s breach of our territory, and how stratospheric ballons can and have been used for aggressive action. I know I’m preaching to the choir by chair these two bullets with you (couldn’t help it) so just skip to my comments further down in response to your post.
Here’s what Montana residents are saying. It might shore up your faith in Americans’ realization of the seriousness of the situation. Representative Matt Rosendale was on the War Room a couple days ago and his constituents in eastern Montana reached out to him with questions and concerns that mirror much of what you have been sharing here.
Twitter as you know is not a reflection of the real world. Sundance has shared, Twitter by design is a tool for psychological warfare and manipulation. The “folks” who told you off on Twitter might very well have been AI bots or human paid trolls. As you’ve said, the bots have gotten very sophisticated, very real seeming.
And yes, there are some MAGA folks who do puzzle me this week with odd unconcerned reactions to this intrusion into the U.S. Sometimes people like to hide, head in sand, in the face of threats and others rather than do their own research find it easier to just go along with how others around them are reacting. Like you’ve said, if there is even 1% chance of a real threat, why would we laugh it off?
Iggyb, when you’re over the target as I believe you have been, you become a target of the propaganda machine that wants to keep everyone in a controlled bubble. Twitter’s knee-jerk reactions are a sign you are speaking needed, necessary truth.
It’s a quiet Sunday here on CTH, and not too many on this thread as you can see –so if you’re not hearing a lot of good support it is only because not many are sitting in the Treehouse branches at the moment.
You make a difference. If you can get on Rumble.com go listen to Matt Rosendale’s segments: Rumble.com/BannonsWarRoom — couple days ago –you can scan down the short pull-out clips to find it.
All his Montana constituents agree with you and they are real humans, not bots.
Thanks much.
Gateway Pundit seems to be a target today with a good # of regulars sensing the change from the norm — lots of short, belittling, dismissive replies that come within seconds of a comment…
But, when the same government that partnered with the CCP to create Covid so the mRNA shots could be begin the rollout globally —— allows a large balloon carry whatever to fly across The central US — when it is known in military + think tank circles + anyone who reads on that that China + Russia + others write about “Weather Balloons” as a 1st Strike EMP Option — the end is not far in the future…
— For the people counting on our Nuclear Deterrent + MAD to keep us safe – you are counting on the same Governments that marched out the experts + Propaganda to — ridicule + block Ivermectin so they could get mRNA into everyone’s veins —— even though those orgs were told in 2015 by DARPA after multiple years of research that Ivermectin was best for a Coronavirus Outbreak.
—— We don’t have enough time to get the masses going like they need to be.
It’s in God’s hands now – but is He going to step in to save the masses who have witnessed things get this far —- when there is no hint of a Revival building?
It seems a vastly higher % of people think the balloon was nothing than understand we might have just witnessed a threat to all of our lives bigger than the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Our faith that the Chinese or other could never invent an EMP Device + capability to thwart our best tech + Intel is apparently 100%.
I backward nation like NK has shown it can get a satellite in orbit that can maneuver to bypass our defense detection tools in orbit, but there was 0% chance the Chinese have anything very bad on that balloon……
— Things are bad, folks….
…….Things are very bad….
Do you think the destruction of the spy balloon will be charged to Biden’s retirement account or deducted from his ccp contracts.
Good grief.
China owns Biden. What the hell would a balloon find out that they don’t already know by having called the Whitehouse occupier and asking?
This is just the latest thing to tie up a news cycle.
BTW, Zelensky called. He is mad we are using his sidewinders to shoot down balloons.
As I just posted on the previous balloon thread, the more our government tells us thus was a spy balloon, the more I wonder whether it was also weapon, or a weapons test.
And the more I want to know what that white stuff exploding up and out of the balloon was, exactly.
We need the MAGA 20 to get answers to a whole string of questions, including what monitoring we did for any chemical or biological weapons release along the path of this thing. What monitoring is ongoing for possible human or animal illness underneath its path?
I understand and appreciate those points.
But I think the government has a hand in destroying food manufacturing plants and poisoning chicken feed.
Probably much better at killing us than China would be with a balloon.
But I dont think any of us know the truth of all of this or will we ever. My distrust of the government has long passsed its peak. But somehow it keeps going up.
We sure need them to take up the charge of finding out what just happend with this intrusion by China.
Odd the government right out the shoot kept saying it was definitely, most positively a spy balloon . . .
Yet General Ryder (Pentagon spokesperson) on Feb 4 let slip that the balloon is not just carrying visible surveillance gear, but also had a “payload” on board. Reporters clamored for clarification as payload in the military means warhead or bomb.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3288103/general-says-chinese-surveillance-balloon-now-over-center-of-us/
My translation: Biden’s brainstem reacted by stating the obvious, if it is Chinese surveillance, shoot it down. His handlers vetoed that option for reasons unknown. The justification for placing Joe in the corder was something not believable, that the debris was dangerous. Takeaway is seeing who is in charge. Not people who have anything but contempt for the U.S.
Right now, we need public servants with this attitude, and we need them badly.:
We have had a wrong-headed foreign policy for decades, in my opinion. Ask the average American if she or he has hatreds for others, especially the Russians and the Chinese. Do you think the answers would be in the majority that there are hatreds galore towards those people? I doubt it very much.
Listen to how our present Sec. of State Blinken uses language, it is nothing more than diplomatic speak. Empty both in content and intent, lacking creativity in every direction. Stuck in post World War Ii mentalities, now almost 75 years later.
Washington, DC pols hated Donald Trump, yet look at how he approached our foreign policy: “Let’s make a deal” seems to me to be the best description. Undermined by the military-industrial complex just as former President Eisenhower warned America in the 50s. Trump kept us in peace as he tried to make deals through a business model: We work together to make our lives better!
Governments chase keeping up with technological advances, yet do they recognize the real impact of that simple cell phone that takes videos, pictures which can be transferred around the world in less than a minute? Note how our entertainers in music–the really big names, can sing all over this planet with crowds cheering and singing along, why is that?
America was once known as the “melting pot of the world” was it not? In America you can thank the racist Barack Obama for igniting a new and much more dangerous civil unrest–perhaps even civil war; when he was supposed to be the healer, the sign that America is not a slave country. What happened, these past 13 years?
Bonanza was televised all over South America, now over 50 years ago. Look who is coming to dinner without proper entry into the United States! Some foreign policy, right? Note the same is going on in Europe, why?
Then there are our special idiots here in America. Two which really get me going are Al Gore and John Kerry. Climate hysterics and globalists gather round these two clowns and offer up gold for them to continue to preach their special brands of “the end is near” as opposed to the notion Buckminster Fuller offered in his book “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” over 65 years ago. Have those idiots forgotten his wisdom, his thoughts? You bet, but then recall the beginning of Earth Day (1971) and ask yourself if Fuller was a real leader in wanting us to be stewards of this planet we call Earth.
Next time you go to Harbor Freight and buy some tools, thank those Chinese who spend days working in factories making them and wonder why we are not really good friends with that country? Remember when Trump’s grand daughter sang in Mandarin for President Xi, look at those smiles all around…
Could it be the perspective our politicians refuse to change, to question, to abandon? We citizens must educate our selves in better ways, in new ways, in ways that reflect our realities and the reality is we are one planet. Perhaps it is a Rodney King moment where we all “should get along” as best we can, as best we are able…to make deals that work for all parties in constructive ways.
In 1966, I was sitting in a Japanese bar, just a kid in the military, and I could not get over how kind and generous the Japanese were toward us–especially as I realized it was only 21 years ago we dropped nukes on them! I was a new generation, without the perspective of fighting the Japanese where I would soon learn about fighting the VC and NVA.
For me, it was the awareness that after the fight, one should deeply reflect upon those events that created the fight and work toward an enduring peace where fighting is far off the radar of choices. Hatreds cloud everyone’s judgement.
And now…look what these democrats have brought into our world…why? Look at the hatreds they are creating. Idiots we elected, which means we are the real fools here.
We need to smarten up and fast, if possible! Our present day weapons are for too dangerous and deadly…
If I could MEME worth a darn, I’d paint it with rainbow colors and the caption “No wonder Biden refused to shoot it down”.
What if it really was just a wayward scientific balloon?
Much ado about nothing.
From DOD News:
“The balloon is carrying surveillance gear as well as a payload, (General) Ryder said, not elaborating about the payload.”
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3288103/general-says-chinese-surveillance-balloon-now-over-center-of-us/
In the military, “payload” means warhead or bomb.
Reporters, alarmed by the term “payload” asked Ryder, the Pentagon spokeperson to clarify what he meant by a payload being onboard. Ryder said he couldn’t say more and ended the press conf.
Serious question.
When to believe what they say and when to not?
The video does not show any sort of missile as far as I can see. There is no contrail visible anywhere near it to indicate an air to air missile. Both the AIM-9 and Aim-7 missiles are about 10 feet long and should have been visible in the video I believe. It looks to me more like some sort of “self-destruct” charge was detonated from on-board the balloon.
Does anyone have a source for other videos or pictures that might show exactly what caused the balloon’s destruction or at least showing aircraft maneuvering to be able fire an air to air missile?
Frankly, this entire episode is very suspicious. Who believes that the President was not told of the airspace violation until Wednesday? Who believes that the military would not intercept and destroy the craft within a couple of hours of it entering the ADIZ (Air Defence Identification Zone) if they could not establish communications with and/or control over any unauthorized intruder?
it all just smells to high heaven.
This balloon traversed the entire continental US (and, no doubt, transmitting whatever it was programmed to) before it was shot down.
Does anyone doubt this thing would have never entered US airspace if PDJT were president?
Someone’s inflated ego,
should have been deflated,
not a week ago,
but,
several decades ago.
( save the video, as an illustration of popping someones balloon ( ego).
However,
other peaceful means are preferable, in real time…
i.e. without delay, do not encourage, nor feed evil …
nor,
take any wooden nickels.)
Imho
“Prove all things,
hold fast to that which is good.”
arrogant soldier Saul,
whom saw truth and became good Paul along the road to damascus…
wrote to the Thessalonians 5:21
How was it allowed to enter US air space. That’s about all I want to know.
MonkeywerksUS did a short video on the balloons yesterday and after watching it, I was a little less freaked out and more suspicious than ever.
There’s balloons all over the place, and he explains that.
Whatever the truth is, guaranteed that I’m doing is speculation.
My big take away is that no one is going to protect us, plan and pray accordingly.
Is this not treason? Allowing invaders through the southern border and now invasion of our air space?
What border? We have no border, air nor ground. Therefore, we have no country. It’s a free for all, free for the taking…first come, first served.
Glad I have had half of last century to grow up in and enjoy what was the United States of America before it’s fall in 2001.
Sure, shoot the spy balloon down after it traverses the country gathering and transmitting all the intel it could and maybe dispersing a new virus or some other deadly bio weapon all across the country. Way to go incompetent military and senile Joke Biden.
The balloon should have been shot down as soon as it breached our air space. That would have been west of Alaska over the ocean. Biden wanted the balloon to complete it’s mission. China and the rest of the world now has another example that shows the illegitimate government we now have will not defend the country.
Love the comments about trying to shoot it down. Is there a caliber capable of reaching 30K-50k feet up? I know 30-06 can get out to 10,000ft but not sure it can reach that elevation when shot straight up. Then you have to deal with a whole lot more wind and that pesky Coriolis effect. Screw that, just get some of those new high powered lasers. Next time drop that bubble when it’s still over Canada. Time to stop waiting for the feds..
Yes, the laser on the Mt. Hamilton Telescope has to be turned off when aircraft are in the area. An EBay supplied green laser pointer might have been a less expensive option than the missile???
Those 5W amazon ones are quite powerful but even those wouldn’t likely be able to do any damage at that distance. I’m talking about picking up some of those 50W lasers and beefing them up a bit then making them into an array with some optics to refine the beam a bit. But I’m not sure on how legal it is in all states.. something like that should still be legal in places like Montana or TX, or at least it should be.
“Wouldn’t it be great if I was crazy? That would mean that the world is ok.”
Oh and BTW. AM9x don’t leave much of a smoke trail. The solid propulsion motor uses a reduced-smoke hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellant.
The Balloon was shot down over water so recovery of debris could be controlled by government Plenty of Navy/coast guard ships out there waiting to pick it up. If it fell over land there is too much risk in the discovery by interested citizens. That it really may have been a long range weather balloon.
China has been launching a bunch of them lately, To study an unusually large Polar vortex that is dipping down and causing record cold in North China and Siberia, Also affecting USA northeast. Glad the government blocked data transmission. Would not want the Chinese to obtain top secret barometric pressures, and temperatures over our missile sites.
Alternative scenario:
It was leaving a small plume of particles of weaponized anthrax or something else, so the US military picked that up on sniffers and knew it could not blow the balloon anywhere that the air currents might disperse the spores over a populated area. And now the CCP is monitoring to see whether odd random cases of cattle or people coming down with anthrax or tularemia or cowpox or hantavirus.
Note it only traveled through red states (NC is red if you zero out the cheating).
Been to an urgent care lately? Who is on staff?
The CCP probably has a better disease early alert network than we do, I swear.
BTW, don’t dismiss the possibility of a joint venture brought to you by the same people who secretly burst bulbs of particles in the NYC subway to measure where and how far they traveled, and marched German POWs and even our own soldiers through fallout to see what happened to them.
And now the military is saying that China may get to the wreckage first. Are you kidding me. What a disgrace our military is.
Do you have a link you can share? The Daily Mail had an article that was playing up a race with China to get the balloon remains but the article did not contain any direct military quotes. That scenario just doesn’t make sense to me.
The debris field is within our territorial waters. And the U.S. Navy has ships deployed to protect the area right now. Can’t see China entering our waters and fighting our Navy to recover what they publicly claim is just a weather balloon.
I don’t know if there’s a connection, but unusual to just watch six military helicopters fly over head in formation and there was already the sound of several passing over before I got outside to watch. Flying in south west direction from the south east. I’m in the western foothills of North Carolina.
Makes me wonder what is being planned.
More military helicopters flew right over the house going due West out of the east.
Well, I found this video made by an ex-F14 pilot/YouTuber that makes some sense. One thing he says that just seems “off” is his claim that they launched an AIM-9X “without a warhead” to avoid damage to the balloon’s payload. What seems odd about that is that the military does not do anything without having a tested procedure for it. It’s certainly possible that the Military may have developed and tested using an inert missile for anti-balloon interdiction but we’ll likely never know.
“Maverick calling flight control…Maverick to flight control…have the base artist on standby…I have to get him to paint another kill icon on my fuselage…over”