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.
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.