As we told you earlier, it would appear that one of the unidentified flying objects quickly taken out by a $400,000 heat-seeking missile may very well have been a balloon released by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade.
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade just wanted to fly their balloons without the full force of the United States military coming down on them.
But the Air Force sent a sidewinder missile to shoot them down.
We need justice now! ✊ pic.twitter.com/HI5TkqHlcl
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 17, 2023
Oh dear https://t.co/77KxYdMavv
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 17, 2023
“Oh dear” is right. More from Aviation Week:
But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The club’s silver-coated, party-style, “pico balloon” reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting tool—the HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—projected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.
There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts’ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.
“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.
Joe Biden’s military and FBI indeed look not too intelligent at the moment. Fortunately for them, they’ve got New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait in their corner to defend them from critics who might want to point out that the Biden administration is looking not too intelligent:
it's happening, they're going to pivot to attacking Biden for shooting down balloons too quickly https://t.co/aARsLDfr36
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) February 17, 2023
SCENE: Happy children shovel forkfulls of birthday cake in ntheir mouths while their parents smile in the background. Suddenly, a loud bang, as a balloon explodes. The children begin wailing.
cut to black.
THIS IS JOE BIDEN'S AMERICA.
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) February 17, 2023
If we didn’t know any better, we might think that Jonathan was being purposely over-the-top ridiculous in order to make conservatives look like the over-the-top ridiculous ones for pointing out that the Biden administration has egg dripping from its face.
As does Jonathan, for that matter.
Justifiably.
It’s no pivot.— Bill Kent (@billkent_3) February 17, 2023
Imagine thinking using military force against American property quicker than Chinese spyware is a good thing. https://t.co/32NSpOAXxF
— Dan weinstein (@bjweinstein2) February 17, 2023
I don't know, I think maybe it's legit to treat Chinese spy balloons a little differently than those of the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade? https://t.co/z2IvBhLq3m
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) February 17, 2023
Ya think? Jonathan knows it, too. He has to know it. He just doesn’t want to admit it.
Biden let’s a Chinese spy balloon cross the entire US over several sensitive locations – shoots down AFTER it completes mission
To save face, Biden has the Air Force shoot down several hobby balloons flying over the United States
Chait: Conservatives will never be happy https://t.co/p5ck8b5gqF
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 17, 2023
Questioning the contextual response of the government used to be the job of the media, now apparently it’s to run cover for them
— CaptainWombat (@techroach98) February 17, 2023
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