# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/161 "2023-02-04T20:08:55Z")
> **[Chinese balloon live updates: Balloon shot down in US airspace, official says](https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/china-spy-balloon/?id=96874279)** > > The U.S. is tracking a balloon from China flying over the country. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/162 "2023-02-04T20:13:58Z")
I heard rhetoric that the balloon will drop at “meteoric speeds”. That didn’t age very well. ---
**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 4, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/163 "2023-02-04T20:15:19Z")
Video: > ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/164 "2023-02-04T20:23:52Z")
Who’s laughing now?? Chalk up another one for … [![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0571/6574/2237/products/goyimsticker_289x272.jpg?v=1643213105) ](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0571/6574/2237/products/goyimsticker_289x272.jpg?v=1643213105) ---
**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 4, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/165 "2023-02-04T20:45:18Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Both the F-15 and F-22 fly that high. I posted without looking it up. 😳 I was relying on memories of when they were talking about testing airplane-delivered anti-satellite missiles being fired at the top of a ballistic arc at about 50,000 feet. The missile, of course had to go way higher than that on its own. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/166 "2023-02-04T21:03:29Z")
I’m just hearing … An **[F-22](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-22.html)** fired an [AIM-9X Sidewinder](https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104557/aim-9-sidewinder/#:~:text=Mission,Force%20for%20fighter%20aircraft%20use.) for the win. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/167 "2023-02-04T21:09:54Z")
Once again, the media has not covered itself in glory. During the past few days I’ve heard that the balloon was at 90,000 ft, then it was low, then 60,000 ft. It was supposedly shot down over Montana, then not. Canadian media reported a second balloon over Canada, but those stories have stopped. One story said that there were plans to shoot it down, another said it was impossible because the balloon was too high and when you riddle them with holes they take days to come down. And now it was shot down with a Sidewinder? That sounds unlikely. The Sidewinder is a heat-seeking missile that locks onto a large heat source like jet engine exhaust. I guess maybe it’s possible that the balloon was hot from the sun or something, but media is so bad that they could have also just guessed, or they knew it was an F-22 and someone looked up what missiles it can carry and decided it must have been a Sidewinder. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/168 "2023-02-04T21:14:55Z")
Gift link. > **[U.S. Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off the Coast of the Carolinas](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/02/04/us/china-spy-balloon?unlocked_article_code=BbVaD71VnwPWN5H2z5GTE7DxdEV3bNm4ihphW5X_lR5IEDdeRgZ7rGaMPBFMF-eat1_VsCWoXOn4qIdn2Jg7fy86S0tPPbgxuPR7TOdkqRrpsLj36UFs_BL3gI7AV94N2EPxUqhrhH8kCOayDxpHtcXwFV8WKFsh3U4zRWHn77tlYlHAi2SotDgCp2J8dEz9epaelQurmkMbKnuUMqEFU5rINVmV_W-16wu_oHQRPrP7JlqOSmKilGVoJrGylvLlIuxdRQKRgLrz_tXYRvUhlmZcL4Oy6w-e4vYV_JnM5j9bDzreq1oumlFASU6pqtUlPCnm52RFXyu1yNzM0VZgAA&smid=share-url)** > > The airborne surveillance device was first spotted earlier this week over the western United States, setting off a diplomatic crisis. The article does not say what was used to bring the balloon down. ---
**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 4, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/169 "2023-02-04T21:15:14Z")
I would thing that it was so large that one could hit it by using the mark I eyeball. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/170 "2023-02-04T21:19:33Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The Sidewinder is a heat-seeking missile that locks onto a large heat source like jet engine exhaust. I modified my post. Looks like it was an AIM-9 **X** : > The AIM-9X entered service in November 2003 with the USAF (the lead platform was the F-15C) and the USN (the lead platform was the F/A-18C) and is a substantial upgrade to the Sidewinder family featuring an imaging infrared focal-plane array (FPA) seeker with claimed 90° off-boresight capability, compatibility with helmet-mounted displays such as the new U.S. Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), and a totally new two-axis thrust-vectoring control (TVC) system providing increased turn capability over traditional control surfaces (60Gs). Utilizing the JHMCS, a pilot can point the AIM-9X missile’s seeker and “lock on” by simply looking at a target, thereby increasing air combat effectiveness [**SOURCE**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-9_Sidewinder) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/171 "2023-02-04T21:22:48Z")
Ah ha! That makes sense. I looked it up, and the military says that’s what it was. It also had a proximity warhead, so the pilot only had to guide the thing close to it. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/172 "2023-02-04T21:23:19Z")
It’s not entirely dissimilar to the process Trump described for declassifying documents 😉 ---
**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 4, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/173 "2023-02-04T21:25:15Z")
It made good sense to hold their cards close to their vests and wait until it was out over the ocean to shoot it down, notwithstanding what some alarmist politicians were saying. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/174 "2023-02-04T21:29:14Z")
Is it possible that Biden and the Fed overshot their targets? I mean … isn’t this was catastrophic _deflation_ looks like? ---
**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 4, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/175 "2023-02-04T21:37:03Z")
One hopes they had an opportunity to park enough USN & USCG assets underneath the shoot-down that they were able to recover whatever plummeted to the surface. Somebody might learn some useful info from all that hardware. Not that they’ll be sharing those learnings with the likes of us. ---
**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 4, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/176 "2023-02-04T21:37:42Z")
I would imagine that if it had been announced that it would be shot down, the Chinese could order to self destruct, although I wonder if they had plans to recover it. I would imagine it was transmitting to a satellite, ship, or even China. ---
**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 4, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/177 "2023-02-04T21:39:43Z")
It is known where it went down in forty seven feet of water. ---
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/178 "2023-02-04T22:01:31Z")
> [@Ssounder](#): > > _We need a defense against these balloons._ After combing though several different forums and news articles, I was firmly convinced that we had no defense for this type of craft. Shame on me. ---
**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 4, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/179 "2023-02-04T22:08:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s over red states. Fuck 'em! I thought these kinds of comments belong in the pit. ---
**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 4, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228/180 "2023-02-04T22:10:01Z")
I wonder if putting a Balloon decal or paint on the F-22 will mess up the stealth? Did the two pilots play rock, paper, scissors to determine who got the shot? Was the gas filler helium or hydrogen? Both can be used in high altitude balloons. There wouldn’t be a fireball from hydrogen at that altitude (lack of oxygen) I’m guessing? Questions? I have questions! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pentagon-is-tracking-a-chinese-spy-balloon/979228.md?page=10)