It’s looking increasingly like one of the “objects” that the Biden White House ordered to be shot down after allowing the Chinese spy aircraft to float across the entire country might be a $10 to $15 balloon that belonged to a hobby club.
Politico now has the story:
It’s possible that the object shot down by American forces over the Yukon last weekend “could have been our balloon,” a member of an Illinois hobbyist group said Friday.
On Thursday, news surfaced that an amateur group in Illinois said one of its balloons had gone missing near Alaska on Saturday, the same day an F-22 shot down an object over the Yukon in Canada. In a blog post on the group’s website on Tuesday, it said the balloon had gone “missing in action” but avoided making any connection with the military shoot-down.
[…]
Balloons flown by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade are no different from the $10 to $15 balloons children buy for parties, the person said. They’re not specifically designed for scientific purposes. The Sidewinder missile used by the Air Force to shoot down the object over the Yukon costs roughly $400,000.
John Kirby was asked about that today and danced around the issue:
John Kirby seems skeptical of press reporting that unidentified objects could have belonged to the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. pic.twitter.com/KMod3MASqb
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 17, 2023
.@JacquiHeinrich: "What can you tell Americans about what they should expect in the future…if they see something in the air, should there be any concern that a missile's going to follow it?"
JOHN KIRBY: "Again, we're not going to rule anything out…" pic.twitter.com/fmGKhwE7bA
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 17, 2023
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REPORTER: Biden allowed "the Chinese balloon to do what it did, and then went trigger happy on a bunch of kites and balloons!"
KIRBY: "No apologies here." pic.twitter.com/b1JtB0ZrG6
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 17, 2023
The Biden White House has put balloon enthusiasts everywhere on notice (except for China):
KIRBY: "If [Biden] deems something as a threat, he's not gonna hesitate." pic.twitter.com/xGgqG6vlOi
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 17, 2023
Kirby said the object might never be recovered, and if it was a $10 balloon you can be sure they’ll see to it that it’s never found.
Every time I see this guy he looks like he is about to burst into tears.
Guess I would be to, if I had to praise Biden on National TV.
— Bruce Freshwater (@bfreshwa) February 17, 2023
We are an unserious people. https://t.co/8mAXzaMoeA
— James Brady (@jbrady_ct) February 17, 2023
Unreal.
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Related:
Biden sends strong message to owners of weather balloons (China, not so much)
Jonathan Chait defends Biden admin for taking out hobby balloon way faster than Chinese spy balloon
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