Balloon Wars 2023!!!

[fredx]

The garbage being floated around on this by the msm is beyond believable. So they will have us to believe that this was going on for years @ lest the 4 prior to thesse last two, but americans( the (GP) didnt see them? BUT we saw the latset ones?
GMAFB!!!

 

[chillinn]

I don't doubt it. And I'm pretty sure they were meant to be seen, at least that was likely part of the mission, to collect intel on readiness, detection, reaction. Earlier ones also, but they got by and were only noticed in the data after scouring after the fact.

I'm more interested now in what the commercial ones were, who they belonged to, what they were doing, and especially if they were no longer being tracked by the owners, and if they were, why they didn't notice the national news, and if they did, why they didn't pick up a phone and tell someone, "hey, yeah, that's probably one of ours." And if they didn't know, why didn't the FAA know?

 

[Poppy]

I agree that the large balloon was meant to be seen by Americans.

I still think that after the US beefed up its military forces in the Philippines and Guam, that China had to react. Increasing flights near Taiwan, doesn't impact Americans at home, nearly as much as something flying overhead at home. Yet it is not as much saber rattling as doing additional ICBM tests. Afterall, China doesn't want to go to war with the US. We are their biggest trading partner. Neither do we want a war with China.

So a intel balloon VISIBLE over the US, is a little nudge to the American public, that war with China, would not necessarily leave the home field untouched. So, don't be too quick to defend Taiwan.

 

[bykfixer]

I just heard an interview with a bloke (Peter Zeihan-pronounced Zine) who said it was not an authorized balloon by the Chinese gubment. That it was a low level military dude who thought he was doing a good thing sneaking the air craft into the air space of the "west". The political fall out has been quite the opposite of what the low level fellow anticipated.

I wonder if that shmuck and his family have recently disappeared.

 

[knucklegary]

^ and then became organ donors

 

[idleprocess]

I just heard an interview with a bloke (Peter Zeihan-pronounced Zine) who said it was not an authorized balloon by the Chinese gubment. That it was a low level military dude who thought he was doing a good thing sneaking the air craft into the air space of the "west". The political fall out has been quite the opposite of what the low level fellow anticipated.

I wonder if that shmuck and his family have recently disappeared.

Can't track down the link, but I recall that the Chinese government acknowledged the first balloon before it was popped in a phoned-in attempt to imply that the ICAO treaty was applicable to the balloon as a (primarily) meteorological instrument. A bit late to scapegoat a low-level official and save face externally, however for internal purposes it may prove a convenient pretext for directing anger at someone(s) whom can then be punished.

 

[fredx]

^ and then became organ donors

That would be exactly what would happen& I think that he would have know that
Probably didnt happen Im guessing

 

[bykfixer]

Can't track down the link, but I recall that the Chinese government acknowledged the first balloon before it was popped in a phoned-in attempt to imply that the ICAO treaty was applicable to the balloon as a (primarily) meteorological instrument. A bit late to scapegoat a low-level official and save face externally, however for internal purposes it may prove a convenient pretext for directing anger at someone(s) whom can then be punished.

Of course.
Dictators as a rule don't fall on their own sword. I just thought it was interesting how it is being handled post-pop.

 

[raggie33]

I may of or not may of been fired once fir filling many garbage bags full of helium once

 

[chillinn]

So, don't be too quick to defend Taiwan.

I really don't think Taiwan needs defending, because PRC is not going to invade Taiwan. Because if they do, just by the nature of such a thing, it is going to kill the golden goose.

If China were to invade Taiwan, the most-advanced chip factory in the world would be rendered "not operable," TSMC Chair Mark Liu said. "The war brings no winners, everybody's losers," Liu said. He said an invasion would cause economic turmoil for China, Taiwan and Western countries.

There won't be any war even it PRC does invade. We "crossed the line" four months ago, and now we pay the price in the cost of balloon missile strikes. PRC may say, "if we can't have TSMC tech, no one will," and invade. But that's that, they won't have chips, and the global impact to technology will be devastating. PRC may realize that given enough corporate espionage, they can duplicate TSMC before too long, which is better than never getting what they want.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

No pretense here that the following words are the truth, but can't help being drawn in:

Seems like Putin and the PRC ruler want to keep control; go down in history with "greatness" for getting back territory and resources gained from previous warfare and subsequently lost.

The invasion process is going down now, by hook or by crook. The rest of the world is being told not to interfere.

 

[pageyjim]

And it only took the USAF half a week to do a job a presumed superpower with a military budget bigger than most countries' annual revenues would be expected to perform in 30 minutes. Says a lot about the country's air defense, doesn't it?

It seems to be better since they have been detected when they went undetected just a few short years ago.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

There are hundreds of these types of balloons launched around the world every day. It's kind of surprising that this hasn't happened sooner, although the Chinese balloon event really heightened everyone's attention.

 

[raggie33]

Trust me fear things like self check out lanes this stuff keeps me up at night more and more jobs are being taking away from the common man. I also fear are food chain supply and a civil war

 

[Poppy]

I haven't followed the story closely enough to know the name of the chip manufacturing company in Taiwan; the one that makes the most sensitive chips. If I heard it correctly, last year, that company was going to make a manufacturing plant here in the US.

I welcome that.

I can see Taiwan is to China, as Cuba is to the U.S. We didn't want, still don't want Russia to put nukes in Cuba. It would be more convenient to China if Taiwan is officially a part of China, just as I suppose if Cuba were to become a democratic society, and became a protectorate of the US.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

With the exception of the first one, the subsequent objects might have been hobbyist's pico balloons.

 

[chillinn]

I can see Taiwan is to China, as Cuba is to the U.S.

The metaphor falls down because US citizens are not necessarily ethnically Cuban. Taiwanese are Chinese.

Taiwan is the name of the island. The country is officially the Republic of China, est. 1912 on the mainland. During 50s-60s, the government withdrew to Taiwan on losing the Chinese Civil War. Both countries claim to be the "official" China.

Maybe a better metaphor would be North and South Korea, but even that isn't right because Korea was synthetically divided at the 38th parallel after WWII by USSR and US.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

From chatGPT:

The Austronesian people are believed to have originated in Taiwan and the surrounding areas in mainland Southeast Asia. They gradually migrated throughout the Pacific, settling on many islands and archipelagos including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, and even as far as
Hawaii and Easter Island. The Austronesian peoples are known for their seafaring abilities and were able to navigate the ocean using traditional techniques such as celestial navigation and the use of stars, winds, and ocean currents. Today, there are still many Austronesian communities throughout the Pacific, and their cultures and languages have influenced the region in many ways.

 

[chillinn]

That is surprisingly accurate for ChatGPT, but not complete, as there are minorities among that group. And Chinese people living in Taiwan today are not the indigenous Paleolithic Taiwanese.

 

[Stress_Test]

With the exception of the first one, the subsequent objects might have been hobbyist's pico balloons.

You know, I'm surprised that these are mostly unregulated, given all the worry over hobbyist drones flying at much lower altitudes. One of those balloons sucked into an airliner engine at 35k feet wouldn't be good!