# The Pentagon is tracking a Chinese spy balloon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228 "2023-02-03T01:32:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/442 "2023-02-07T19:30:17Z")
[When a weather balloon went rogue almost 25 years ago, fighter jets fired 1,000 rounds at it and couldn’t bring it down](https://www.businessinsider.com/runaway-weather-balloon-fighter-jets-history-2023-2#:~:text=Two%20Royal%20Canadian%20Air%20Force%20CF-18%20fighter%20aircraft,to%20the%20earth%2C%20it%20slowly%20began%20leaking%20helium.) ^Business Insider article.^ - About 25 years ago, a rogue weather balloon wouldn’t come down after over 1,000 rounds were fired at it. - The balloon entered Icelandic air space and drifted north towards Norway. - Balloons, [like the suspected Chinese “spy balloon” over the US](https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-spy-balloon-china-admits-ownership-says-not-for-spying-2023-2), don’t always pop or explode when shot. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/443 "2023-02-07T20:25:34Z")
At that altitude, 60k ft., there is almost no difference in the outside pressure and inside the gas bag. No pop. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/444 "2023-02-07T21:21:53Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Have they collected the balloon out of the ocean yet? The TV and online media have had short video clips of what they claim is bits o’ balloon a ship coming back to shore so presumably at least some of it. > [@Chronos](#): > > Here’s one: Weather balloons exist. Spy balloons don’t. Um… yeah, actually “spy balloon” is a thing, and has been since the civil war. They go in and out of style, but absolutely a balloon can be (and has been, even before this incident) used for spying. _Could_ it be some sort of weather or research balloon? Sure. It’s possible. A lot of things are possible. But it’s entirely appropriate to suspicious of an overflight by a government that is not our friend. > [@Loach](#): > > Does anyone doubt Trump would have had it shot down over downtown Chicago rather than let it cross the entire country? Sure, I could see Trump doing exactly that. Then coming up with an excuse as to why it’s not _his_ fault the wrecking crashed into a school or hospital or smashed into vehicles during rush hour traffic, or… well, falling debris are a hazard. > [@eburacum45](#): > > Maybe this latest Chinese balloon was the first one (among numerous launches) which came anywhere near sensitive sites in the USA; all the others could have been failures, or beta tests. Surely you meant to say those others were _trial balloons?_ > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’d expect a free balloon not to have the power to run e.g. a long-range radar like the aerostats I cited. I think I heard that this had 16 solar panels. Not sure how big that would be, but it could supply sufficient power for a lot of modern electronics. It was a ginormous balloon, carrying a very large payload. > [@RickJay](#): > > You’d be approximately a billion times better off, in every respect, just having someone fly to LAX as a tourist and sit a few miles from a known target with a radio receiver. I have zero doubt that governments all over the world also used the observing tourist tactic in addition to whatever other sorts of spying they do. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/445 "2023-02-07T21:26:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I have zero doubt that governments all over the world also used the observing tourist tactic in addition to whatever other sorts of spying they do. I once took a wrong turn heading to the airport in O’ahu. I’m sure I’m not the first (or tenth, or hundreth) person to end up at the air/navy base. I just wanted to turn around. But they were having none of that. ID required for everyone in the car, which they took away and copied. Did the same thing to the car behind me. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/446 "2023-02-07T21:38:06Z")
> **[Navy releases close-up photos of Chinese surveillance balloon recovery](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/navy-releases-close-photos-chinese-surveillance-balloon-recovery/story?id=96950346)** > > The U.S. Navy has released the first close-up photos of Chinese surveillance balloon recovery operations from Sunday off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Of note: > Officials have said the debris field is approximately the size of 15 football fields by 15 football fields and that the balloon had propellers and a rudder. > > The Pentagon has said FBI experts were aboard recovery vessels and a senior government official has said pieces would be brought to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis. > The search continues for the rest of that payload, the official said. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/447 "2023-02-07T21:44:11Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Does anyone doubt Trump would have had it shot down over downtown Chicago rather than let it cross the entire country? I think he’d even be willing to wait for it to be over Chicago if it meant the possibility of landing on (and damaging) anything with the Obama name on it. He’s not known for being particularly subtle when it comes to these types of “coincidences”. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/448 "2023-02-07T22:00:10Z")
Trump was a fraidy-cat when in came to actually pulling the trigger. Sure, he did that once bomb the landing strip in Syria after he gave the Russians a heads-up that he was going to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/449 "2023-02-07T22:02:36Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Exactly what information about the upper atmosphere isn’t available from NOAA? Plus, if it really came from a civilian agency, maybe they could have informed us that their gigantic and expensive balloon had gone off course? Yeah, that’s a thing - if this was a legit civilian endeavor then a heads-up to the US government might have avoided a shoot-down. You know, pick up a phone, send a text, put a video on Tik-Tok… whatever. > [@Cardigan](#): > > I’m not going to read the entire thread so forgive me if this has already been broached, but does anyone know why they chose to shoot the balloon down using missiles as opposed to bullets? It’s an enormous balloon. The holes made by bullets would probably take days to deflate it, meaning it would drift far out into international waters where the legality of salvage might be called into question and recovery more difficult. A missile popped the balloon with a very large hole, leading to quick deflation and depositing the debris within US territorial waters where the Navy and/or Coast Guard could easily control the scene and pick up the pieces from shallow water. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/450 "2023-02-07T22:03:17Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > the size of 15 football fields by 15 football fields [Note: the above is the article being quoted by @Skywatcher, and not their own words.] Why in the name of tapdancing Jesus H Christ would they descibe a square mile as “the size of 15 football fields by 15 football fields”??? Who has a mental image of what 15 football fields end on end is? 1500 yards is close enough to 1760 that you can just round up to a mile ffs. I suppose we should just be grateful that they didn’t use the Olympic swimming pool as a unit of measurement instead. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/451 "2023-02-07T22:09:11Z")
Yeah. But the wreckage weighed as much as 2 railroad cars full of Peeps™. Interestingly xkcd had an episode on stupid size comparisons just a couple days ago: > **[Size Comparisons](https://xkcd.com/2733/)** > > If you shrank the Solar System to the size of Texas, the Houston metro area would be smaller than a grasshopper in Dallas. I wonder if that’s a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/452 "2023-02-07T22:10:39Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Who has a mental image of what 15 football fields end on end is? Yeah. How many bread boxes? …and somebody remind me what a bread box even looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/453 "2023-02-07T22:14:03Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Officials have said the debris field is approximately the size of 15 football fields by 15 football fields and that **the balloon had propellers and a rudder**. interesting tidbits … propellers and rudder … ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/454 "2023-02-07T22:18:40Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah. How many bread boxes? …and somebody remind me what a bread box even looks like. I actually still own (and use!) two bread boxes. They are 13cm x 17cm x 37cm. They look like… well… a _box._ ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/455 "2023-02-07T22:25:09Z")
Bread boxes must be coming back in style. I’m seeing them in a few stores. I considered buying one at Christmas time, but my counter space is just too limited. Plus I can’t use enough bread to justify it anyway. It’s so funny to think about how badly I wanted one back in the late 70’s. I was so happy when I received one as a gift. Life is a funny old thing. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/456 "2023-02-07T23:15:04Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah. How many bread boxes? …and somebody remind me what a bread box even looks like. It’s about the size of an Eohippus, which of course we all know is [about as big as a small fox terrier.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eohippus#Stephen_Jay_Gould_comments) ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/457 "2023-02-07T23:54:41Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > 1500 yards is close enough to 1760 that you can just round up to a mile ffs. Well it is at sea so they should use nautical miles 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/458 "2023-02-07T23:58:24Z")
A square mile is singular and unspectacular sounding. It would never fly on the news. They could have used footballs instead of football fields, it would have sounded monumental! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/459 "2023-02-08T02:08:12Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > interesting tidbits … propellers and rudder … Makes it sound closer to a blimp than a balloon, despite its shape. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/460 "2023-02-08T02:22:42Z")
> [@Ssounder](#): > > About 25 years ago, a rogue weather balloon wouldn’t come down after over 1,000 rounds were fired at it. I don’t think the media understands that a weather balloon is just a type of [research balloon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_balloon). The military ones don’t pop easily. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/461 "2023-02-08T02:22:52Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Al128](#): > > > > interesting tidbits … propellers and rudder … > > Makes it sound closer to a blimp than a balloon, despite its shape. Agreed. Color me very surprised. As in > Nobody expects the Chinese propeller-blimp-balloon! What’s next, the comfy spy-pillow? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228.md?page=24)