Aside from the intrusion into US air space being an issue, what have the experts speculated could be gained from this that could not be gained from the hundreds of satellites orbiting over us each day?

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Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Aside from the intrusion into US air space being an issue, what have the experts speculated could be gained from this that could not be gained from the hundreds of satellites orbiting over us each day?

As posted earlier, the camera resolution is many times better from balloon height than from satellite height.

Also, and this is my speculation, the balloon's unauthorized intrusion into US airspace, particularly over military bases and intelligence installations, triggers responses and signal activity that wouldn't necessarily be triggered by an adversary/ enemy's satellite overflight. We no longer regularly shut down sensitive military or intelligence activities when a foreign satellite passes overhead, but do the same thing with a plane, drone, or balloon and see what happens. Either signal activity is increased, decreased, or perhaps different frequencies or methods of communication are used. It's of immense value to an enemy to know how we would react beforehand to a provocative action or outright war.

Lastly, and again this is speculation on my part, you can't dismiss the value of the political and diplomatic messages that an intrusion of this kind sends.

We invade your airspace, and watch to see how you will react...how the US reacts tells, not only China, but the rest of the world watching, how we will react when an even more aggregious incursion or invasion occurs.

Cell and WiFi data, both civilian and military, possibly could've been gobbled up as well.

Some loose, unconfirmed chatter about people's cell phones acting weird where the balloon flew over.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Aside from the intrusion into US air space being an issue, what have the experts speculated could be gained from this that could not be gained from the hundreds of satellites orbiting over us each day?

Our response.

Why do they fly into Taiwan's airspace on a regular basis or when tensions are high?
Where and how we first detected it, the reactions on the ground, etc.
And a lot of other things I couldn't even think of myself because I don't know what they know or what we know or would like to know.

I hope they recover the payload.
Even better I hope civilians of the coast with boats and scuba gear get to it first.
The Bidet administration wan't this to disappear,

Well that's a pretty unequivocal, 'No Effin Way...Didn't Happen', from pretty much EVERYONE involved during the Trump Administration!

https://www.foxnews.com/politi...-us-under-last-admin

What a 'Clown Show'...These imbeciles are an embarrassment! They undermine the credibility AND capability of this great nation at EVERY SINGLE OPPORTUNITY! They instill ZERO confidence in our allies, and ZERO fear in our enemies...The embodiment of Incompetence and Buffoonery!

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Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Cell and WiFi data, both civilian and military, possibly could've been gobbled up as well.

Some loose, unconfirmed chatter about people's cell phones acting weird where the balloon flew over.

Excellent point that I had considered, but failed to mention in my post. Who knows, maybe the spy balloon was vacuuming up personal private data collected by Tik Tok users. Also, I think that it's at least worth considering that there have been several instances of suspicious and unauthorized antennas popping up around the US recently, such as the antenna network in the mountains above Salt Lake City.

Or, perhaps some lower level mapping mission for a particular route.

I've even wondered if there is a Chinese spy network in the US that is using this spy balloon as some sort of aerial electronic dead drop.

Or, conversely, maybe in addition to collecting information, it is transmitting it. Computer viruses, instructions or data for spy networks, codes etc...

Big floppy clown shoes

Chinese spy balloon crashed off the coast of Hawaii 4 months ago, U.S. officials say

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Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
I hope they recover the payload.
Even better I hope civilians of the coast with boats and scuba gear get to it first.
The Bidet administration wan't this to disappear,

To prevent civilians from salvaging this wreck, I believe the Coast Guard and Navy established an exclusionary zone around the impact site.

Xi never would have attempted this stunt while Trump was in office. Trump wouldn't have shown weakness and would likely have ordered a massive preemptive nuclear strike on all Chinese military assets. Sounds like someone in the military mutinied and decided to shoot the balloon down despite Biden's orders to appease the Chinese and protect wildlife on the ground from falling debries.

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Xi never would have attempted this stunt while Trump was in office. Trump wouldn't have shown weakness …

You were doing OK until that point.

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Fox News has also learned at least one Chinese spy balloon flew over portions of Texas and Florida during the Trump administration, despite the former president's insistence it never happened.

Yet Fox or any other news outlet has yet to provide any evidence at all to back up this claim.

So, until they do...horseshit. Respectfully of course.

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Originally posted by Carpentermaass84:
Xi never would have attempted this stunt while Trump was in office. Trump wouldn't have shown weakness and would likely have ordered a massive preemptive nuclear strike on all Chinese military assets. Sounds like someone in the military mutinied and decided to shoot the balloon down despite Biden's orders to appease the Chinese and protect wildlife on the ground from falling debries.

Haha, ok.

The Chinese just wanted to see if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow or not.

Yea.... Fox News... the same "news" outlet that called the election for Biden. There is 0% chance the Chinese would have tested Trump.

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Originally posted by Carpentermaass84:
...and would likely have ordered a massive preemptive nuclear strike on all Chinese military assets.

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Originally posted by egregore:

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Xi never would have attempted this stunt while Trump was in office. Trump wouldn't have shown weakness …

You were doing OK until that point.

And I would say this…

The Chinese just added 20 points to Trump’s polling score … lmao

These things have unintended consequences, and the Asiatic mind does not think like the Western mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Carpentermaass84:
Xi never would have attempted this stunt while Trump was in office. Trump wouldn't have shown weakness and would likely have ordered a massive preemptive nuclear strike on all Chinese military assets.

Do you wish to remain a member of this forum? If so, you will refrain from ever again mentioning Donald Trump in this place. If you want to appear that you have your head up your ass, do it elsewhere. You have been warned. There will be no further warnings.

Try me

Perhaps I am underestimating our counter intelligence community, but I just can't for the life of me think it would be a challenge for any of the tens of thousands of Chinese nationals already in out country to hop in a car, or rent a plane and do this on their own with far less publicity.

Yep, this country is loaded with Chinese "smart" electronics and foreign nationals. What do they need a balloon to do that all these resources in place cannot or will not do?

CW Lemoine “Mover” flew USAF F16’s then Navy F18’s, I’ve been a subscriber for several years. Man knows what he talks about.



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