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Chinese spy ballon spotted over Montana

PeytonMooning

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MalO

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A poster at ATS is kicking around the idea that "Chinese Spy Balloon" is the cover story. It's something the public will readily accept and meanwhile they don't know what it is. Some posters are saying there is a lot of air force activity right now, like they are getting ready for something.

China landed a rover on the Moon. They could send up a spy satellite. Why would they float a balloon over us?

You might expect a spy balloon from North Korea.
 

shiv

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They're saying it's up in the stratosphere, like 30 miles up. Most planes can't get close.

Would one of the laser weapons being tested by the Navy reach that high?
At lower altitudes (I believe) lasers have a hard time reaching past 4-8km range

I’m not sure how the higher altitudes affect attenuation (reduction in power), but it would definitely be less of a loss in power

Traditional aircraft generally cruise at 30,000ft which is roughly 9km. The SR-71 Blackbird, which is going to be one of the (if not the) highest altitude aircraft cruises at 24 km

30 miles is close to 50km.

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So if we assume a laser could be effective at least twice as far (16km) equipped on an aircraft that can reach higher altitudes (24km) you are still going to be 10km short of effecting the balloon if it really is 30 miles high.

I have no doubt technology could overcome those challenges, but highly doubt there is any laser solution readily available that could take that out if it’s 30 miles.
 
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shiv

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Something Blew up in the Sky in Billings, Montana where the spy balloon was seen last night. We know the balloon moved through Kansas today, so what’s up here?

 

Astragalus

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Balloon is at the height that an emp would detonate at. Could be a dry run to see how we react.
Excellent point. That’s my greatest fear for a mass casualty/TEOTWAWKI event. I read the book One Second After a few years back. Great book. It lays out what would happen after an EMP attack pretty graphically (and accurately). There’s a couple of follow on books in the series, but I haven’t read them yet. They are on my to do list.
 
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