” why didn’t the military use a drone (the RQ-4 Global Hawk has a 60,000+/- ft max altitude)? A drone could have relayed some clear photos back to base.”
The military got plenty of photos of the small northern objects from F-22s. The photos are classified like all sensor data from F-22s. Those objects were around 20,000 feet. Plus, the U2 vastly out climbs the Global Hawks and was used for the large balloon at 60,000 feet+, including the famous pic from above.
“I guess the sidewinders might have obliterated the evidence, but why would the military do that?”
Because they were ordered to.
But why? Unless of course to accomplish the obvious...get rid of the evidence.
But why get rid of the evidence?
What are your thoughts on that?