Chinese weather ballon????

[James Curry]

So the USA have shot down the Chinese weather ballon/spy ballon. Just a thought did they really need to use a missile? could they not have tried to do a controlled descent of the ballon and recover the equipment being used ?
Perhaps a few bullets fired into the ballon and the holes would have allowed the pressure to decrease thus the rate of decent would have been slower? Maybe the needed Tom Cruise Top Gun to bring it down. At least that way they could have examined the onboard equipment and found out if it was a weather ballon or spy ballon, me thinks over kill to use a missile.

If they find out it was spying the USA could seriously embarrass China.

Some times the Americans can over think things. I don't know if there is any truth in this story. NASA spent $$$$$$$ of dollars trying to develope a ball point pen that would work upside down while carrying out manned Spacecraft missions.

The Russians spent a couple Rubles to buy pencils

[Des Taff Jenkins]

The pilot will be given Americas highest award for that dangerous manoeuvre, as you say IF it was a spy balloon they would have got it down in one piece to inspect it. Notice that one of the generals said that it had flown over a place where they had 150 missile silos, with loos lips like that who wants spy balloons?

Des

[Les Woodard]

Storm teacup comes to mind with this. What the hell would any country that has spent billion if not trillion on satelites to spy on everyone want a ballon as well. Think that they did not want proof of ownership just in case it did not conform with their stupidity and find out that it was some idiot have fun

[happy daze john in oz]

Bit of a wind up I think.
What ever kind it was it would have had a provision to send info back to China.

Fact is they were spying, looking for a new recipe for Chicken Chop Suey.

[Ivan Cloherty]

If it is so harmless why are the Chinese making such a fuss about it, and why is there another one floating over Colombia, surely there are enough satellites traversing around the earth to give anyone a full (as possible) weather picture/forecast

[Johnny Kieran]

It was full of a new covid strain that was slowly releasing, so they blasted it with a heat creating missile to kill off the virus. I know about balloons, I used to blow them up after parties.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Would have made a good Sinatra song. "Come fly with me , come fly in my balloon, and on a nice fine day the whole thing will go boom".
Des

[j.sabourn]

#6 Many a true word spoken in jest. During the Iran/Iraqi war a friend of mine think he was working for the Iranians on one of their tankers , said the only weapon they had was the salt water hose. Used to turn this on the funnel the target for any heat guided missile at the time . Must have been for the false bravado for the Iraqi seamen as cant imagine high water temperature might be inclined to do the opposite. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

It was full of a new covid strain that was slowly releasing, so they blasted it with a heat creating missile to kill off the virus. I know about balloons, I used to blow them up after parties.

Yes, blown a few up in my time for the Police on the road side.

[Louis the fly]

The art of spying is when the other side is unaware it is being spied upon.
Using a highly visible balloon is a joke. More US propaganda.