# 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:** 36
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/702 "2023-02-13T17:44:12Z")
Lake Huron search: > ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/703 "2023-02-13T19:05:19Z")
> **[Here's why mysterious flying objects are suddenly popping up all over the...](https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2923584879358/here-s-why-mysterious-flying-objects-are-suddenly-popping-up-all-over-the-place-according-to-the-military-command-that-s-been-shooting-them-down?_f=app_share&s=a7&share_destination_id=MjA2NTU5MTgyLTE2NzYzMTQ4OTA4Mjk=&pd=0DyhTi8E&hl=en_US&send_time=1676314890&actBtn=floatShareButton&trans_data=%7B%22platform%22%3A1%2C%22cv%22%3A%2223.6.0%22%2C%22languages%22%3A%22en%22%7D)** > > The command tasked with defending North American airspace changed its radar filters to spot smaller, slower objects, revealing new potential threats. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/704 "2023-02-13T19:48:17Z")
So… it’s aliens, right? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/705 "2023-02-13T19:52:25Z")
White House press secretary today: "there is no - again, no - indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/706 "2023-02-13T20:02:45Z")
Aaaacckkkk 👽 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/707 "2023-02-13T20:05:03Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > White House press secretary today: "there is no - again, no - indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.” Isn’t that just what the aliens would tell them to say? I for one welcome our new alien overlords. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/708 "2023-02-13T20:05:27Z")
Were it aliens, I imagine we would be missing some F-22s. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/709 "2023-02-13T20:06:09Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Isn’t that just what the aliens would tell them to say? > > I for one welcome our new alien overlords. “Balloons, kree!” ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/710 "2023-02-13T20:15:17Z")
China’s Top Airship Scientist Promoted Program to Watch the World From Above [The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos](https://nyti.ms/40Ts3Vqp) > Corporate records and media reports reveal an airship scientist at the center of China’s high-altitude balloon program. Companies he has founded were among those targeted by Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/711 "2023-02-13T20:20:31Z")
Similar article to the NYT Paywalled one: > **[China’s Top Airship Scientist Promoted Program to Watch the World from Above](https://dnyuz.com/2023/02/13/chinas-top-airship-scientist-promoted-program-to-watch-the-world-from-above/)** > > In 2019, years before a hulking high-altitude Chinese balloon floated across the United States and caused widespread alarm, one of ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/712 "2023-02-13T20:37:33Z")
I have to wonder if some of these objects are the same ones that have been seen on navy pilot footage of similar ‘mysterious’ objects. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/713 "2023-02-13T21:17:17Z")
Good point. I hope they don’t begin shooting at them and annoy Mr. Spock. ---
**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 13, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/714 "2023-02-13T21:17:19Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > It would be ironic if this became a reverse Roswell - shooting down a “weather balloon”, only for it to turn out to be an alien UFO. That cracked me up. Thanks. I’m still reading this thread. “We’re calling these objects, not balloons, for a reason.” > **[U.S. shoots down mysterious object near Canadian border](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-officials-believe-flying-objects-over-alaska-canada-were-balloons-schumer-2023-02-12/)** > > U.S. military fighter jets on Sunday shot down an octagonal object over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said, the latest incident since a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon put North American security forces on high alert. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/715 "2023-02-13T21:38:54Z")
Wreckage found from Chinese “spy” balloon: > [@](#): > > A crane ship on the scene where a Chinese surveillance balloon went down in waters off South Carolina has raised from the ocean bottom a significant portion of the balloon’s payload, a U.S. official said Monday. > > Officials have said the payload measured as much as 30-feet-long and had all of craft’s tech gear and antennas. > **[Significant portion of Chinese balloon spy equipment recovered, US official says](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/significant-portion-chinese-balloon-payload-recovered-us-official/story?id=97086836)** > > A significant portion of the Chinese balloon payload has been recovered, a U.S. official told ABC News. ---
**Author:** ![WellHelloThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@WellHelloThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WellHelloThere)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/716 "2023-02-13T22:03:34Z")
I agree with regard to China lying habitually, but it is possible that they will tell the truth by accident every so often. Just saying, it is possible. Hopefully we will get to find out the whole truth from the US government, but they will do what they want. I have a feeling this event will be conspiracy fodder for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/717 "2023-02-13T22:15:25Z")
Booked a hot air balloon ride with my wife for valentine’s day. Should i cancel? Need answer fast! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/718 "2023-02-13T22:21:46Z")
I’ve done two, they’re great. Just remind the pilot to stay well below 20,000 feet. Or else dress very warmly and check out the parachute. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/719 "2023-02-13T22:39:16Z")
If the Lake Huron UFO was travelling at the same rate as it did going from Montana to Lake Huron, then, by my calculations - and I’m not a mathematician - it would have left China around five days previously, on around 7th February. This thread was started on the 3rd February, when the Chinese spy balloon was becoming a major news story and international incident. ---
**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 13, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/720 "2023-02-13T22:44:37Z")
Seems to me it’d be pretty easy to launch any of these things from a “fishing boat” or “coastal freighter” much nearer to the target area. It’d be unhelpful to need to launch only from the home country, whichever one we’re talking about. Launching closer in would greatly reduce the steering uncertainty given the problems with long range forecasting of winds at various altitudes. And improve the speed of responsiveness to whatever tasking their owners have given them. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/721 "2023-02-13T22:47:27Z")
That would make the timing even more strange. Are we to believe that China sent these objects into North American airspace after their spy balloon got caught and caused an international incident? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228.md?page=37)