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 ...
Sub-Beltline Extraction (SBE) is/was the military term.
Right? LOL!
An interesting thought.
It apparently had a large truss structure (aluminum? carbon fiber?) with solar panels. That assembly could probably be used as a rudder and sail to veer away from the natural direction of the the jet stream. For altitude control it probably had a good-sized tank of compressed helium, so it could rise and fall to take advantage of the various directions of wind currents at different altitudes.
So, along with a multi-compartment balloon (probably at least 200 sq. yards of fabric) and lots of rope, add in a bunch of solar power regulators, cameras, computers, navigation electronics, uplink electronics, and likely a dozen other sensors (ground penetrating radar?, UV?, infrared cameras? ...), and I'm sure it added up to thousands of pounds.
They needed a pretty good setup to do a respectable property inspection before they take possession.
Navy divers have discovered that it not a weather balloon, but is instead one of XI’s discarded condoms after effing the Biden Administration. Everyone knows there is no such thing as too much protection when engaging a Biden.
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,
We’ll never know for sure now. Baizuo Joe took care of that.
Was it really Bin Laden buried at sea?
They sure have kept any videos and photos well hidden, haven’t they? In a country where every secret is eventually leaked, that’s a big tell to me.
That’s a mighty sophisticated weather “airship”…
That's like saying that if China shoots an ICBM at us, we have no right to try to shoot it down until it enters US airspace.
That is hilarious 🤣!
SR-71 last flight 1999. Almost quarter century ago.
As though the balloon wasn’t tracked across the Pacific by our orbital assets. You won’t see commentary about it from NRO Reconnaissance Constellation..
I heard a presser the other day, someone military was asked by a reporter if the balloon had a propulsion system or was it just floating on air currents, and he said it was “maneuverable.”
This was a dry run for a series of balloons carrying EMPs. No need for nukes. America will be finished after a few months.
The biggest challenge facing the Chinese will be burying 300,000,000 dead Americans and restoring the electronic and power infrastructure fried by their own devices.
Or most likely not.
Maybe, could be, probably, nothing is making sense.
Seems to me there is a real concerted effort to turn a weather balloon into a secret spy device......And my prior posts attempt to show how that is not possible.
Those are my thoughts and I'm sticking with them.
That's all I'm going to say about that.
“Of the payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet-airliner type of size” good thing Brandon made it so we can now see something that big. Never before in our history have we been able to see something as big as a jet.
Any balloon thrown in the air is maneuverable. He didn't say how because he doesn't know and nor does anyone else.......
How is that Hunter Biden probe going?
And the Chinese writing on the balloon, how clever was that to hide the fact it was from China?.........LOL!
A. Made in Honduras
B. Made in Taiwan
C. Chinese Spy Balloon
D. Kilroy was here
This is similar to COVID, really.
Both could have been deliberate. China claims both were accidental but if so, the information offered at an early stage did not (apparently) meet the normal standards of international relations.
I tend to think both were deliberate anyway, which would explain the lack of prior or early warnings of any use.
And while I have no desire to see a war erupt between North America and China, you have to think that China is looking for a rumble with us for whatever reason, maybe they think they will win, destroy our governments, and trample in with their troops to take over the lebensraum. They certainly have more than a few advance agents in place.
A very unstable situation with Ukraine and Russia is now compounded by this mess, and who do we have in charge? One is tempted to say nobody.
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