Flying Objects that are not identified

Scuttlebutt
41

It would be hard to get an IR lock on a 1 meter ambient temperature object even with an imaging IR seeker and a radar lock cue. Guns would be difficult because of the extreme closure rate and the possibility of ingesting debris.
A miss is not all that surprising, you could get a growl and lock tone then lose track after coming off the rail.

42

cleary there is a law for normal people and a special law for anyone in the DNC

43

So now they should be able to tell the world the truth (and nothing but the truth) about what this balloon was actually used for.

Of course a lot of the equipment used for weather observations can also be used for surveillance and v.v. so no doubt it will found that it COULD have been used for spying.
(I.e. a camera used for taking pictures of cloud cover COULD have taken pictures of the ground on a clear day etc.)

Having been able to intercept the signals transmitted by this balloon for over a week I would expect that they already know pretty much the answer already.

44

I am guessing that these aircraft aren’t fitted with any kind of canon?

45

Ok boomer

46

Extremely high closure rate and possible ingestion of debris would make cannon use difficult.

47

It is not the first time that balloons have caused trouble:

From smp.no a few days ago: Ballonger til besvær - smp.no
Google translation.

48

FWIW, the latest versions of the Sidewinder use both IR and optical target tracking, so as long as the envelope is optically distinguishable from the sky behind it, they will track. The missile used to destroy the actual Chinese balloon didn’t even have an explosive warhead, it just demolished the balloon by flying through it.

49

They may change shape but would not change volume.

50

They do change in volume, just like a bag of chips going to the mountains. This is why they usually go up till they pop. Mass does not change.

51

Boyle disagrees.

52

I did miss-speak, using mass and volume interchangeably when they are not.
Thanks.

53

As I replied to Meme.Lord,
I did miss-speak, using mass and volume interchangeably when they are not.
Thanks.

54

Cheers,

Earl

55

WWII Japan bombed the USA with balloons

https://www.history.com/news/japans-killer-wwii-balloons

56

I mentioned imaging IR in my previous post. The AIM 9X block ll and block ll+ have imaging IR focal plane seekers with 90 degree gimbal limits, the latest even have LOAL abilities but without enough contrast in any of the seekers spectrums IR or visable, if it can’t see it, it won’t home on it.
An ambient temperature, largely transparent 1 meter balloon is a big ask.
I thought we were referring to the miss on the small balloon, not the big Chinese balloon.

57

So a spy plane spy on a spy balloon??
At least the plane was flying legally in own airspace this time so it did not get shot down:

Didn’t end that well for the balloon though.

58

Unidentified Floating Objects are now open for conjecture…

59

On the cover of the Economist last week:

image
image1280×1280 99.3 KB

The illustration was not about how to bring down spy balloons, but inflation
FEB 18TH 2023
Why inflation will be hard to bring down

60

Another DNC scandal swept under the carpet