More ballooneey news:
Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF – Aviation Week
A small, globe-trotting balloon declared “missing in action” by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10.The club—the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB)—is not pointing fingers yet.
But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The club’s silver-coated, party-style, “pico balloon” reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting tool—the HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—projected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.
There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts’ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.
“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.
The descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down Feb. 10-12 match the shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type.
Currently, 2000 single-use stratospheric balloons are launched daily. Our balloons are also single-use but require significantly less material, less energy, and have simpler logistics. …
The probe is a crucial part of our observational system. It performs measurements of meteorological variables such as temperature, humidity, pressure, or wind currents, which it then transmits through a global radio network. It operates entirely on solar power, making it run indefinitely. All of this is possible in its coin-sized package.
How much does it cost to shoot down a balloon?
They spent $2,000,000 to take down one $12 balloon. It was just one of thousands which get launched (legally!) every day.
You think that wasn’t worth it?
You have the wrong perception.
Try to see it from the viewpoint of a weapon producer.
Or from the viewpoint of a Congress critter who is looking for bribes donations to finance her reelection:
Some lawmakers have suggested that they intend to put a spotlight on near space — and perhaps get more in the defense budget for those efforts. “It is essential that we provide the military and intelligence community with the necessary resources to detect and monitor objects in near space,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
But:
China blasts US over ‘hysterical’ balloon claim – AFP
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday blasted the United States’s reaction to what Washington has called a Chinese spy balloon as “hysterical and absurd”, in uncharacteristically strong remarks against the top Western power.
Addressing a gathering of world leaders at the Munich Security Conference, Wang said US President Joe Biden’s administration has a “misguided” perception of Beijing.
…
“There are many balloons from many countries in the sky. Do you want to down each and every one of them?” Wang charged.”We urge the United States not to do such preposterous things simply to divert attention from its own domestic problems.”
And:
Biden’s low-key speech on balloon ‘not enough to fix ties with China’ – Global Times
Irrational anti-China sentiment, provocation on Taiwan question may further strain ties
[A]gainst the backdrop of intensifying China-US competition, some administrative departments that initially wanted to use the incident to push their strategy toward China found its side effects went out of control due to complicated domestic politics, Sun said.The Biden administration may have been overconfident in its ability to set guardrails for China-US relations, and now realizes that once the irrational anti-China sentiment is fanned, any attempt to fix relations will be impeded, Sun said.
Then again: weapon producers may like that too!