China says they belong to them....weather balloons. The FBI says it's surveillance devices China is flying over. Link to article They've shot down 4 so far.

Concern is not worry. It is concerning that surveillance apparatus was on that first one.

And yes, this has happened before.

I know weather balloons are used all of the time by many countries. I suspect some if not all spy on things. Satellites can see things probably just as clearly if not more so than the balloon or the other objects. While China admitted the first balloon was theirs, I am not certain they have admitted that the other objects are theirs or if that was just some tv person's take on where they are from.

I am more concerned that the newer and apparently smaller ones have been either unnoticed or discounted as anomalies. Secondly and I saw this asked by someone, why use missiles rather than the other means that would allow them to be inspected in a more intact state than in a million pieces.

And yes, this has happened before

you must know something we haven't been informed about ... share?

Like Carol, I differentiate between concern and worry. If I were worried, I might be losing sleep over it. I'm not, at this point. But I am concerned because I've not been given any reason not to be concerned.

I can't imagine a scenario where the government knows that they're not a concern and hasn't told us that by now. Either they don't have a good grasp on what they are yet, or, they have an idea but haven't decided on how to frame it to us yet. What other realistic options are there?

Tribes, armies, nations, territories have gathered intelligence on one another since the beginning of time. The only difference today is the advancement of technology to do the job. I am more concerned about what our own governments are doing to us right here within our borders. Observing how the pandemic was used opportunistically for social manipulation is the tip of the iceberg. When people are afraid they become dependent. When they become dependent on others to make them feel safe they give up their freedoms all too readily.

One thing we know for sure is we don't know much. Whatever is really going on I'm sure is well maintained within the military and intelligence services of which the public has little knowledge. They tell us what they can't avoid telling us...the rest is kept under wraps.

What our government is doing to us with regard to spying is minuscule compared to what the Chinese government is doing to its own people. It is post 1984, and spying is going to happen, just because it can.

We are spying on China, but perhaps more subtly. The huge Chinese balloon was particularly brazen on the part of China, and it brought a lot of attention to what they are doing - they should have been a bit more discreet, but I guess they thought they could get away with it. In the future, perhaps they will be a bit more discreet, but you can be sure that spying is not going to be diminished - it is part of the Chinese modus operandi, and we just have to deal with it.

I think most spying is done with satellites. Look at what Google Earth already knows and what benefits it provides.

If you are interested in spying, watch some James Bond movies, or even Austin Powers.

If these are surveillance craft, which isn't the dominant speculation I'm hearing but who knows, there's a reason they are being used to supplement satellite surveillance. There's a purpose behind them and both the monetary and geopolitical risks were factored into the program.

>> how the pandemic was used opportunistically for social manipulation

I'd like to hear more about this allegation.

Did the military finally shoot down a couple of Tic-Tacs? nyuk

"I'd like to hear more about this allegation."

Really? Not me.

It could be possible our own government released the last 3 balloons for the sole purpose to shoot down and show how they're now on the ball after the first horrible derelict of duty.

I'm sure the US and other nations do similar spying. China is currently interested in provoking American unrest over our support for the independence of Taiwan.

Misinformation and DIS-information are familiar weapons in a quest to divide a nation. Today's 24/7 media is a propagandist's dream, presented to a naive population that doesn't distinguish between entertainment and licensed, fact-checked *news* media.

Read John Boyne's "The Echo Chamber" for a darkly humorous view of today's adrift, distracted society.

I am concerned about these objects that keep coming into our airspace, but I'm not worried ....yet.

Please tell me what news source is " licensed, fact-checked *news* media". I don't know one news source that presents the straight facts, and all of them are biased. Fact-checked ? By whom? They have all been caught lying.

I did have a thought a while ago. The lunar New Year celebration ended February 5. Some groups that celebrate it send balloons of all sizes often with prayers attached. Sometimes it takes a while for balloons to deflate and settle back to earth. Others simply reach a high altitude and pop.

As far as the Chinese weather balloon it too would have eventually came back to earth what made it different than the othe ballons was the ability to change directions. Weather balloons are found on the ground with enough frequency in this area once a year or more often the local NWS reminds people that they should return to the address on the instrument box or to the local police. Were the ones that were released part of a spying mission probably but reports that I have seen mentioned one in northern South America and another in Africa.

haha Elmer, you're a funny one. Usually you only post comments with information you can copy and paste with a few personal changes but it looks like you got original, and it shows.

The latest was the great informational comment you made on I pads, prior to this you demonstrated how clueless you are about eggs and chickens, but still needed to add your two cents to get a participation ribbon.

Deceiving the public is a common tactic of all governments, nothing new here but some refuse to keep pulling the finger but you keep pulling every time, smells good?

P.S. You said you won't respond to my posts so many times but always do. Show some pride or integrity, and know a man is no better than his word. It doesn't matter, I do enjoy an easy challenge. So did you enjoy the super bowl? I played football as a kid and took many blows to the head, When you played did you give a lot of blows?

I mostly ignore comments that are far out in the Twilight Zone on their face. But I'm glad you follow my comments, you're likely to learn a lot from them.

FWIW, I understand that there were 3 such 'balloons' during the term of the last president.

And the article from Time.com that nicole linked is quite informative, I hope others have read it as well - judging by some comments, some have not.

I saw a video posted online by a woman, in Montana, I think, who heard a loud bang that shook her windows - when she went outside she saw (and filmed) what looked like a jet contrail, but with bursts of what looked like, and fainter sounds that seemed like, more explosions. Taken around the time that the airspace was closed to domestic traffic. It seemed almost as if a fighter might have been shooting at something without success - and was far enough away that she could only see the contrail and hear the pops.

And the article from Time.com that nicole linked is quite informative, I hope others have read it as well - judging by some comments, some have not.

What, and deprive them of their alternative facts and conspiracy theories?

The military just released a photo where one of these objects fell on the ice after being shot down...

:-)

I just hope we’re not shooting down visitors from another galaxy who have come in peace.

I’m kidding. I think. ;)

But of course visitors from another galaxy would be traveling by balloon - using solar wind, right?

I like to mix the coverage up with that old sci fi movie, ”Invasion of the body snatchers,” (the one with the pods that assume the identity of their host/victim).

"I'd like to hear more about this allegation."

google military psy-ops

For an alternative view from what's the straightforward and obvious truth widely reported, better to Google:

Nonsense made-up extremist conspiracy theories

"Nonsense made-up extremist conspiracy theories"

This was the same thing main stream media told people in Germany between 1933 and 1938. It's also what the state ran media outlets are saying in Russians right now about those who speaks out and tells what really is happening in Ukraine, and it's just a special operation. In both cases the extremists mysteriously disappeared.