Balloon games

Otto Harkaman · 02-04-23, 08:34 AM

The Pentagon’s next big weapon: Really big balloons
https://fortune.com/2022/07/05/the-p...-big-balloons/
(sorry paywall)

Why These Badass Balloons Are the Pentagon's New Secret Weapon
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...s-strattolite/

History of military ballooning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...g#cite_note-26

Platapus · 02-04-23, 08:40 AM

Well we had our "weather balloons" that were "off course" over the Soviet Union in the 50's, so I guess fair play.

em2nought · 02-04-23, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otto Harkaman

The Pentagon’s next big weapon: Really big balloons

Unfortunately our military misread that as needing really big "buffoons", and now they're all woke.

Otto Harkaman · 02-04-23, 11:19 AM

^

would be funny if not so worrisome

Catfish · 02-04-23, 12:32 PM

Ahem

Aktungbby · 02-04-23, 12:59 PM

I presume once the balloon reaches the Atlantic, the "safety to people on the ground debris-field" excuse for not shooting it down will be negated and we can practise how to destroy objects at 60,000 feet. I still recall the WWII Japanese Fu-Go high altitude firebomb balloon(9,000 made) that killed 6 people in Bly, Oregan in 1945. Clearly, there is a chink in our defensive aerial arrangements that needs to be immediately corrected. If nothing else, we should launch one of our own balloons and see if the Chinese "remain calm" as they are urging us to do...

Methinks our Secretary of State is "Blinkin' first" in the global game of pre-WWIII poker...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb

Rockstar · 02-04-23, 01:11 PM

That’s not a Chinese spy balloon. It’s Phineas Fogg trying to break his old record.

Ocelot5 · 02-04-23, 03:14 PM

Congratulations to the F-22 on its first confirmed air to air kill!

02-04-23, 08:34 AM	#1
Otto Harkaman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 1,180 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	The Pentagon’s next big weapon: Really big balloons https://fortune.com/2022/07/05/the-p...-big-balloons/ (sorry paywall) Why These Badass Balloons Are the Pentagon's New Secret Weapon https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...s-strattolite/ History of military ballooning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...g#cite_note-26 __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

02-04-23, 08:40 AM	#2
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,377 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Well we had our "weather balloons" that were "off course" over the Soviet Union in the 50's, so I guess fair play. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

02-04-23, 11:19 AM	#4
Otto Harkaman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 1,180 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	^ would be funny if not so worrisome __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

02-04-23, 12:32 PM	#5
Catfish Dipped Squirrel Operative Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: ..where the ocean meets the sky Posts: 17,767 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Ahem __________________ >^..^<*)))>{ All generalizations are wrong.

02-04-23, 12:59 PM	#6
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 30,023 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	I presume once the balloon reaches the Atlantic, the "safety to people on the ground debris-field" excuse for not shooting it down will be negated and we can practise how to destroy objects at 60,000 feet. I still recall the WWII Japanese Fu-Go high altitude firebomb balloon(9,000 made) that killed 6 people in Bly, Oregan in 1945. Clearly, there is a chink in our defensive aerial arrangements that needs to be immediately corrected. If nothing else, we should launch one of our own balloons and see if the Chinese "remain calm" as they are urging us to do... Methinks our Secretary of State is "Blinkin' first" in the global game of pre-WWIII poker... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!! Last edited by Aktungbby; 02-04-23 at 01:29 PM.

02-04-23, 01:11 PM	#7
Rockstar In the Brig Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Zendia Bar & Grill Posts: 12,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	That’s not a Chinese spy balloon. It’s Phineas Fogg trying to break his old record.

02-04-23, 03:14 PM	#8
Ocelot5 Nub Join Date: Aug 2020 Posts: 2 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Congratulations to the F-22 on its first confirmed air to air kill!