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Chinese spy balloon was 200 feet tall with payload over 2,000 lbs.: NORAD
NY Post ^ | Caitlin Doornbos and Emily Crane

Posted on 02/06/2023 12:57:48 PM PST by BenLurkin

The Chinese spy balloon that traversed US airspace before being shot down over the weekend was roughly 200 feet tall, weighed thousands of pounds — and may have carried explosives meant for self-destruction, a top US general revealed Monday.

The since-obliterated spy craft’s payload was approximately the size of a regional jet airliner, Air Force General Glen VanHerck, head of US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command (NORCOM), said as he disclosed fresh details about the surveillance device.

“Of the payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet-airliner type of size, maybe a regional jet such as a ERJ [Embraer Regional Jet] or something like that. [It] probably weighed in excess of a couple thousand pounds.” [???]

Asked about the potential hazards if the balloon had been shot down over land, VanHerck said the device had “glass off of [its] solar panels; potentially hazardous material, such as material that is required for batteries to operate in such an environment as this; and even the potential for explosives to detonate and destroy the balloon that could have been present.”

He stopped short of confirming that the balloon was, in fact, carrying explosives.

China tried to claim the balloon was just a weather research “airship” that had blown off course...

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: chinese; norad; nukecapable; spyballoon
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1 posted on 02/06/2023 12:57:48 PM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

I’m just thankful it didn’t contain an EMP.


2 posted on 02/06/2023 12:59:39 PM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as. )
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To: BenLurkin

Not Santa?


3 posted on 02/06/2023 1:00:15 PM PST by WeaslesRippedMyFlesh (wake me up when somebody tells the truth)
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To: BenLurkin

200 feet tall and 2000 pounds. NBA scouts were drooling.

But for reals, that descriptions alone says it was dangerous.


4 posted on 02/06/2023 1:01:52 PM PST by LeoTDB69
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To: BenLurkin

This is a NOAA radiosonde. Temperature, pressure, humidity, altitude, GPS, and the balloon it's attached to is tracked through a required radar reflector. It weighs 500 grams.

What China sent was not like this.

5 posted on 02/06/2023 1:03:24 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: BenLurkin
Why didn't Biden stop them while they were over the Pacific?

6 posted on 02/06/2023 1:04:00 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: BenLurkin

C'mon man, this is just Ultra MAGA


7 posted on 02/06/2023 1:05:03 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: BenLurkin

It was just a Chinese birthday balloon off course.


8 posted on 02/06/2023 1:06:05 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: BenLurkin

200 feet tall?

https://www.exploreminnesota.com/article/discover-paul-bunyan-larger-than-life-lumberjack-minnesota


9 posted on 02/06/2023 1:06:05 PM PST by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
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To: WeaslesRippedMyFlesh

10 posted on 02/06/2023 1:06:50 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: Billthedrill

bttt


11 posted on 02/06/2023 1:07:22 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
BREAKING: Lawmaker Suggests Trump Secretary of Defense General James Mattis Hid Chinese Spy Balloons From Donald Trump – ‘He’s Guilty of Treason’
12 posted on 02/06/2023 1:07:31 PM PST by Robert DeLong
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To: frank ballenger

Let’s see. Shoot it down over the US and the first guy to get there posts it on twitter. Government can’t have that so how do they know how big it was. Was it really Bin Laden buried at sea?


13 posted on 02/06/2023 1:08:11 PM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: Robert DeLong

What does the UCMJ say about this kind of thing?


14 posted on 02/06/2023 1:08:22 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

I’m surprised it wasn’t in the shape of a giant middle finger or a large thumb and waving fingers on the end of a giant nose.


15 posted on 02/06/2023 1:08:31 PM PST by euram (allALL)
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To: frank ballenger
Fully inflated weather balloons are enormous. Lighter-than-air craft in general are enormous. Ever seen an airship hangar?
16 posted on 02/06/2023 1:10:20 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: BenLurkin

tell china, one more won ton soup and we launch full-on nuclear war


17 posted on 02/06/2023 1:10:52 PM PST by Lazamataz (The firearms I own today, are the firearms I will die with. How I die will be up to them.)
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To: BenLurkin

How do we know that it didn’t leave a trail of Anthrax...


18 posted on 02/06/2023 1:11:30 PM PST by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: BenLurkin

Nobody knows this, but, it was secretly manned.

It was a manned mission, and the Chinese inside are now 50 feet under water. ;)


19 posted on 02/06/2023 1:12:54 PM PST by adorno
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Because Xi would have denied him his 10%.


20 posted on 02/06/2023 1:13:24 PM PST by 353FMG (Secretly practicing my Putin swagger..)
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