Just shoot that dam BALLOON down.

Yeah i don't get it at all. I am trying to rationalize to myself why we wouldn't but I can't come up with anything.

I know you're not serious but someone stupid enough to agree with you might read this:

There are Americans living on the ground. This thing is the size of 3 buses. If you shoot it down it has to land wherever the wind takes it.

They could probably just fly a helicopter up there and get it.

How is EVERYBODY so sure it is a "Chinese" "spy" balloon. The thing looks pretty freaking obvious to be a "spy" balloon. Isn't a more likely explanation that it is some research scientist's balloon or possibly a resource company balloon doing lidar scans or even if it is a 'spy balloon' why is it China's? Aren't Russia, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Yemen higher on the list of 'enemies' currently? Why isn't it one of their super obvious 'spy' balloons? The MSM and 95% of the people that watch it are idiots.

"The U.S. military has its own stratospheric spy balloon program."

"stratospheric balloons are colossal. ... you could fit en entire football stadium inside one."

"Attempting to let the air out by punching a few holes is like expecting to ventilate an entire warehouse with fresh air by opening one small window."

"Large balloons are hard to shoot down. ... In 1998 a rogue Canadian weather balloon drifted towards Russian airspace. Fighter jets from Canada, Norway and Sweden attempted to bring it down without success. Two Canadian air force CF-18 fighters hit the balloon with more than 1,000 rounds of 20mm cannon fire off the coast of Newfoundland, riddling it with holes. This was not enough to let a significant amount of gas out, and the balloon continued drifting."

forbes.com

Busting That Chinese Spy Balloon Is Harder Than You Think (Updated)

David Hambling

The sheer size of a stratospheric balloon makes it all but invulnerable, and it may be resistant to the weapons available. Such spy balloons, now spreading thanks to new technology, present a unique challenge for interception...

Open link

The U.S. has its own secret high-in-the-sky spy balloon program.

Government needs to get people to hate China and Russia to justify the coming war . It was launched in Canada . Yes , China made a Balloon that is a color you can see , and low enough to to scare people . I guess they gave up on Low orbit satellites and have gone to balloon tech now . Could be a Chinese guy in the balloon basket with a $200 binocular purchased on amazon. lol

This ^

Seriously folks, do you really think that China is going to send a balloon loaded with military spy equipment over the US when it knows perfectly well that the US can very easily shoot it down and retrieve the contents?

Put your thinking caps on for once.

The Chinese government acknowledged that the balloon is Chinese.

I'm not sure how it would be much more useful than spy satellites that are higher for spying on facilities that are mostly underground.

Maybe it is just a "civilian research balloon" as claimed. Maybe it is a spy balloon. It might be both. They may not care about capture or destruction, if the data is transmitted back beforehand and the spy equipment itself is not sensitive. They might just be curious to see what the US response is.

WW3 is about to pop off and our administration is just letting a Chinese balloon fly around? What a complete f*cking failure.

I suggest sending a crew up near the balloon and rubbing it, then sticking it next to one of the pilot's heads. If the pilot's hair stands straight up and turns black, it's Chinese.

At that point, pop it and let it take off into space like in a cartoon.

Join the Neo-Luddite Revolution before the EMP bursts send the techno dependent into deep despair.

China has spy satellites. Why the balloon? Hard to target specific locations with a balloon. Weird.

What's your solution, drama queen? If you don't care about human life on the ground, then I guess you'll say we should shoot it down.

To the person suggesting that a helicopter go up and get it, helicopters can't go that high. The balloon is over 60,000 feet up. A turbine-engine helicopters can "only" reach around 25,000 feet and hover just a bit over 10,000 feet.

It's really out of reach to do anything about. If it comes down to a lower altitude perhaps it can be snared somehow, taken out over the ocean, and destroyed there.

I don’t want Chinese spy ship landing on my property though

I think we need to take reasonable precautions, and if it is a Chinese balloon, filled with Chinese air, that anyone in the vicinity wear a mask so as to minimize the risk of contracting Covid. Maybe a tri-state area, at a minimum.

Be safe out there, people.

I don't know what the fuss is about. It's probably not spying, satellites are already doing that. Just get it out of the way and examine it and move on.