# The 'new' influx of smaller balloons

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-influx-of-smaller-balloons/979688>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 13, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-influx-of-smaller-balloons/979688 "2023-02-13T00:38:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-influx-of-smaller-balloons/979688/1 "2023-02-13T00:38:40Z")

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My mundane, pointless thing is that these balloons have been flying over US airspace for years. I expect we will find that they will be mostly set adrift by people who want to see how high their balloon can go and get nice pictures of the earth from the attached cameras

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-influx-of-smaller-balloons/979688/2 "2023-02-13T22:18:53Z")

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[![](https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/couch-balloon.jpg) ](https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/couch-balloon.jpg)

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**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-influx-of-smaller-balloons/979688/3 "2023-02-14T01:05:30Z")

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Could be. I watched this bit of silliness from Mark Rober:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BYVZh5kqaFg/maxresdefault.jpg "Egg Drop From Space") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYVZh5kqaFg)

I learned there are over a thousand weather balloons aloft at a time.

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**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-influx-of-smaller-balloons/979688/4 "2023-02-17T20:06:00Z")

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looking like a real possibility

> **[Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF | Aviation Week Network](https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/hobby-clubs-missing-balloon-feared-shot-down-usaf?utm_source=digg)**
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> Although the club is not pointing fingers, there are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts community.

> **[Biden says objects shot down over North America last week appear to not be...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/politics/president-biden-downed-objects/index.html)**
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> President Joe Biden on Thursday said that the United States has no indication that the three objects shot down in North American air space are tied to China's spy balloon program and are likely from private entities.

“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, **recreation** or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”