Why? Fighter pilots need to train. Shooting down balloons is good exercise.
There is a report out that says we had a miss over Lake Huron. It’s from a single source (Fox) so I’m not sure what to make of it:
MSN
Mystery Over Missing Sidewinder Missile That Failed to Shoot Down UFO
Snip: But the F-16 jet tasked with shooting the object over Lake Huron on Sunday “missed on its first attempt,” according to Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson.
Citing U.S. officials, Tomlinson wrote on Twitter that a second Sidewinder air-to-air missile was required, and it is “not clear where the first missile landed.”
A Defense Department spokesperson told Newsweek they were “certainly aware of the reporting on this,” but did not have any other details they could provide at this time.
If true, pilots are getting some valuable training.
You reckon it landed in Lake Huron?
I’m reckoning it yes. The best dynamite fishing ever!
The article in The Drive (Post #686) had photos of the returning F-16s and they noted that two planes were missing a missile:
Good catch.
Just reported on CNN too.
So the planes and search parties searching Lake Huron are looking for two things; a smallish, shredded balloon of unknown provenance, and a live missile. Hopefully they find both, but one quest seems a little more urgent.
Figured the missile would essentially be an inert metal log if it missed its target and went into Lake Huron.
Agreed. It won’t float for long and the 3-5lbs of remaining explosive won’t do much sitting at the bottom of a huge lake. It’ll probably just be there forever. But if it detonates some day in 2074, it’ll only upset the few fish within WAG 50 feet of it.
Any environmental impacts from the missile will be dwarfed by what else flows into Lake Huron off the land every single second of every single day.
I’m guessing, but I’d expect that both missiles were detonated, but only one was close enough to damage the balloon. It can’t be easy to hit a small, nearly stationary target from a jet travelling at hundreds of miles an hour.
Nevertheless, the remains of the missile would probably be easier to find than the remains of a balloon. We’ll see.
Those Sidewinders have a 10+ mile range. A miss would re-enforce the argument of waiting to fire until it was over an area where it’s safe to do so.
Someone needs to call in author Kenneth Oppel for a debriefing.
Audio recordings of the in-cockpit communications from the two F-16 fighter jets involved in the intercept over Lake Huron:
From the story linked directly above:
Yep it’s some damn aliens.
Unfortunately, my radar filter was turned up too high. Now that it’s adjusted, my domain awareness gap has closed.
Thanks for the assist.
They all ways speak highly of you.
At this time of year, wouldn’t it be « landed on Lake Huron »?
NWS -Great Lakes Ice forcast
Southern Lake Huron.
Open water except 2 tenths thin lake ice along parts of the shores.
5 tenths medium lake ice in Saginaw Bay.
Northern Lake Huron.
Open water except 2 tenths thin lake ice along parts of the shores.
3 tenths medium lake ice near the Straits of Mackinac.
North Channel.
7 tenths medium lake ice. Consolidated medium lake ice in the
eastern and western sections.
Georgian Bay.
Open water except 3 tenths thin lake ice including 1 tenth medium
lake ice along parts of the northern and eastern shores.
Consolidated medium lake ice along parts of the shores.
The craft shot down over NE Alaska last Friday the 10th … that supposedly came down on top of Arctic Ocean ice. The implication was that it was fairly readily recoverable, all things considered. Haven’t heard a peep about that one since.