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cheapcoffeesucks t1_j708spr wrote

Why fly a balloon over a country when redditors can simply find out where all the nukes are and what types by a simple Google search

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kevinds t1_j70eodm wrote

But not exact locations and facilities built around them.

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NoMoreProphets t1_j715rj5 wrote

>where all the nukes are

The best ones are on subs though. Good luck tracking those on wikipedia. Nukes are awesome though. Like the tridents can hold 16 warheads each and we signed a treaty with Russia to cut that down to like 2/3 the capacity. However, I don't think those treaties include things like duds and counter measures. Nuclear holocaust is almost guaranteed if we get into nuke battles.

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HarryHacker42 t1_j709ixt wrote

China spends $200 on a weather balloon. Talks about "Spy balloon" on monitored chats. USA spends $2 billion following the balloon and coming up with contingency plans for balloons and having a balloon monitoring crew 24x7 flying around.

China wins. Paranoia kills.

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TheLastStop03 t1_j70ej9f wrote

There are some people that think this might have been the strategy behind the 1947 Roswell incident. People think an unidentified Soviet object was shot onto us soil to incite panic about aliens.

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HarryHacker42 t1_j70fe5z wrote

Or aliens have been hanging out for 75 years just watching us, remaining mostly out of sight until good cameras, then really staying out of sight, like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster.

I bet on the aliens.

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EarthenEyes t1_j72b41r wrote

Remember that time when aliens used monitoring satellites but hid them inside people's butts?

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HarryHacker42 t1_j72el1j wrote

I saw a documentary about that with a victim named something like Cartman.

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flamedarkfire t1_j71k08i wrote

With that mindset we should declare the Triple Alliance the winner of WWI since they killed more Entente forces.

It’s not about how much is spent but how much you have to spend.

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HarryHacker42 t1_j72d161 wrote

USA has 27% more to spend than China. So we're ahead. Its not the kind of lead you kick back and waste money with.

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DamnBunny t1_j70hpol wrote

Well since its in Montana. And since biden said they weren't going to do anything about. He never said that we should do anything about it.
50pts if you get it in the ballsack.

−1

HarryHacker42 t1_j70z77c wrote

Montana is a wonderful state, sure it is occupied by the Proud Boys Gay Posse but it is wonderful country.

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SciFuMonk t1_j707281 wrote

AP- US government to issue statement denying the existence of the balloon, instead stating it was aliens seen slowly hovering over US airspace.

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Faelwolf t1_j70jakz wrote

After the U2 incident, the major powers came to a gentleman's agreement that they don't shoot down our stuff, we don't shoot down theirs. China has not held to the agreement very well (or successfully, they fired on our SR-71's but never got a hit) but we likely don't want to start that whole mess again.

Considering the number of spy satellites China has over the US at any given time, this strikes me more as a psyop or a unrelated project that went off track than specifically a spy balloon.

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9detat t1_j71emvo wrote

KAL007 would like a word. 1983, 269 fatalities, Soviet Air Force Sukhoi Su-15.

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Faelwolf t1_j73xw6z wrote

There was much more to KAL007 than just a spy plane would have been.

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Thebanks1 t1_j720t9o wrote

To me if you violate a countries sovereign airspace you should expect to be shot at. That goes for all sides.

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Faelwolf t1_j73zeo9 wrote

The U2 incident nearly started WW3, so they decided to temper that a bit. Any lower level incursion does get an intercept, though usually along the lines of "yes we see you". We played a lot of cat and mouse games with the Soviets over the Bering Sea. :)

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Thebanks1 t1_j74hwuw wrote

Sure and the Suez Crisis almost started WW3. The Cuban Missile Crisis almost started WW3. Solar flares almost started WW3. I mean from the 60s on almost farting would cause WW3. So I don’t think they can be the barometer for disregarding borders.

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blahbleh112233 t1_j71hs8c wrote

Or it could just be a science balloon. Unless they're launching these things en masse, they're gonna learn like that japanese did in WWII that trusting wind patterns isn't the most effective thing

0

Faelwolf t1_j73yof1 wrote

The image shown matches a scientific device quite well, especially the balloon itself is typical US Meteorological Service. The path it's taken has me thinking it may have originated in Alaska, where the USMS has a major facility. Could also be Canadian, but I'm not familiar with their programs.

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TildaTinker t1_j717e4p wrote

It's a Jewish balloon laser, ffs.

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kyttEST t1_j71exs3 wrote

How do they even know it is Chinese, tbh

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Brewing_Tea t1_j721yeb wrote

It's just one Chinese dude in a hot-air balloon with a pair of binoculars. Let him think he's helping...

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Stupidamericanfatty t1_j701y9z wrote

Over Montana? Did it skip all the other states or sneak in over Canada?

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kevinds t1_j703lvm wrote

>Officials say balloon has been spotted over U.S. airspace for several days

Currently over Montana..

Literally the first sentence below the title.

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Stupidamericanfatty t1_j70k9xt wrote

Airspace.....

Did it float over other states? They don't mention that, they don't mention where it's been. This is total bullshit. I hope we go to war over a fucking ballon. USA USA

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RTrent6 t1_j706w48 wrote

The latter, it came in over Canada apparently

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Stupidamericanfatty t1_j70jvl0 wrote

How did it get to Canada? Did they launch it out of Edmonton? So China brought a ballon from China and blew it up in Canada then flew it down to Montana?

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whiskytamponflamenco t1_j702mlq wrote

I just looked up what's in Montana.

Turns out that's where Malmstrom Air Force Base is, where Intercontinental Ballistic Missile silos are based. So... yeah.

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ninjabell t1_j705au1 wrote

>I just looked up what's in Montana.

You looked it up? You could have just made it to the fourth sentence in the article.

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UzoicTondo t1_j709tcj wrote

lmao, i don't think many people are going to click on an article from some sketchy cbc.ca site

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kevinds t1_j70erva wrote

>from some sketchy cbc.ca site

What is sketchy about cbc.ca?

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ErinBLAMovich t1_j704jtj wrote

That and Montana has a few launch sites with Minuteman III missiles, which is a nuclear missile 20 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. We have 400 of those all over the midwest.

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alrighty66 t1_j715hqz wrote

I can let the army borrow my sling shot

1

Alice_lies t1_j7416yy wrote

Lee Scoresby is my favorite aeronaut

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HotManufacturer5240 t1_j74k3kx wrote

Biden has been under Chinas thumb for quite a while now. His family is compromised by the Chinese government. So obviously he wont shoot it down. They own the Bidens, he would never go against them.

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Phelahy t1_j71amvk wrote

If they just pop it, the falling debris could injure civilians on the ground

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rosen380 t1_j71f6ou wrote

In one of, if not the, lowest population density states. I'm confident there is someone who can figure out how to get it down while keeping injury risks at or very near 0%

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Phieran t1_j71arkr wrote

If they just pop it, the falling debris could injure civilians on the ground

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generic_edgelord t1_j7395vg wrote

Would the balloon just rip apart if it got punctured or could they have punctured the balloon and let it slowly deflate with smaller caliber guns?

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[deleted] t1_j70q45p wrote

[deleted]

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DeathRose007 t1_j71tyy6 wrote

Satellite data on Google maps is always outdated. Montana has missile silos and rival countries sometimes want to monitor new developments up close. Idk what the balloon is exactly for, but to say any surveillance is useless is wrong.

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[deleted] t1_j71u5zo wrote

[deleted]

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DeathRose007 t1_j71ucfk wrote

No. I’m just responding to what you said. If Google maps is irrelevant to you, then why’d you bring it up?

But also, satellites are really really high up so they can only see so close to the ground without the resolution getting blurry. China’s tech is outdated compared to ours too. I’m just theorizing what close up surveillance could accomplish. Not assuming what is going on. We don’t know what the balloon has been doing. But it’s out there for some reason.

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DamnBunny t1_j70gut4 wrote

oh yeah, shit right on us, because grandpa joe is too scared to anger the communists. what a piece of work.

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Duluthian2 t1_j70jbcv wrote

What's the big deal? We both have spy satellites that take pictures over each others countries every day and they can take pictures of anything they want. This balloon one flies where the wind takes it.

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DamnBunny t1_j70kqu9 wrote

Well let it blow else where. This is not our monkey and not our circus. It can float over bases for all I care, but it needs to keep us out of it.

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Brucereno2 t1_j70nzkw wrote

Grandpa Joe isn’t scared. Just realizes you have to pick your fights. Not like the orange retiree in Florida.

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