If I’m looking at something I’m going to shoot down, and it’s responding to radio because it’s a broadcaster, I think it’s trustworthy enough to at least not be surprised.
This all WAS registered with the FCC as as amateur radio operator broadcasting morse code on 10mW.
As long as we don’t paint them with thermite it should be fine
That’ll teach those amateur radio bastards! Go ahead, fly some more ballons. We’ll shoot those down too! USA, USA! 
What America needs is the future of warfare. The Airforce while fast and impressive are not equipped to handle effectively the threat presented by today’s modern battlefield. What America needs is a new elite warrior force, the balloon force. The very best balloon troopers will loft upon the gentle winds of this great land, protecting all from balloon based threats.
Especially when you’re about to fire a $400,000 missile at something that is completely innocuous and probably costs less than $100. Great ROI for the American taxpayer.
So this is cool, the balloon being speculated about cost around 100 bucks, it’s their longest balloon flight at 123 days.
The most coolest thing about the balloon is it has circumnavigated the globe 7 times.
100 bucks and it’s traveled around the world 7 times.
What an awesome hobby.
How much prime time airtime can you buy nationwide/globally for $400,000?
This might be a variation on the sunk cost fallacy. The missiles go stale dated and sorties are flown and salaries continue to be paid no matter what is going on. Think of this as giving the flypersons some actual experience? And the accountants get a different cost code to punch in the adding up thingy.
IANA US Armed Forces cost accountant.
Neat what she did! But I have failed astronaut training yet again. Woozy. The aerial footage is understandable, but the flashing of those stills is unforgiveable.
Time to split off Space Force into Inner Space Force, Outer Space Force, and Upper Atmospheric Force? Think of all the money they can spend!
“I was knocked outta bed
Late last night
I was woken up by the sound of dynamite
I ran downstairs to find an army man
He says “we gotta blow up those things we don’t understand!”” - The Dead Milkman, Big Lizard in My Backyard
Someone elsewhere might run the math for a horde of minimal balloons with corner reflectors (so that they show up big on radar).
yeah. i was thinking maybe Space Force needs a Balloon Squadron.
what the fuck else are they doing?
Taking up space?
Alternate view: An interesting one that involves littering Mylar trash around the world.
Alternate alternate view. Much of what we know about the weather patterns, high altitude airflow, and the like are based off of balloons just like this one and their publishing of data online.
Not at all like this one.
In the US, anyway, weather balloons are made of latex or synthetic rubber. They are attached to an instrument package, and often sent up on a tether and reeled back in. The ones set free are intended to be recovered later and rarely travel more than a few hundred miles before coming down. You can read more about these here:
https://www.weather.gov/bmx/kidscorner_weatherballoons
Those are not hobby balloons. They are in pursuit of scientific knowledge, and so have a purpose beyond entertainment that offsets the possible environmental damage if the balloon goes missing.
Mylar hobby balloons are never intended to be seen again. They are released with the knowledge that they’ll come down somewhere unknown.
This is what happens when a Democratic administration takes seriously the MAGA Republican scare of the week.
[…]
In its postmortem of Pico Balloon K9YO, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB) declines to make the association with the F-22 jet scrambled after a UFO violated Canadian airspace, but the circumstantial evidence is compelling.
[…]
K9YO was a “pico balloon” popular with a small hobbyist community that carried lightweight trackers, solar panels and antennas. According to Aviation Week, they can cost from $12 to $180 depending on the type.
NIBBB appears to enjoy tracking its balloons as they circumnavigate the globe. Pour one out for K9YO, which was on its seventh such journey after 123 days and 18 hours of flight, and has now been declared “missing in action.”
[…]
