[RoosterRedux]

In that vein, we were told that, in addition to the balloon, 3 "objects" were shot down (with $400K sidewinders) but nothing--no debris--was found.

I guess the sidewinders might have obliterated the evidence, but why would the military do that? And 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.

[steve86]

” 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.