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Here’s what the mysterious high-altitude balloon that flew over US Friday really was (hobbyist device)
NY Post ^ | 2/24/24 | Katherine Donlevy

Posted on 02/25/2024 2:02:07 AM PST by Libloather

The mysterious high-altitude balloon spotted soaring the Western US Friday was simply a hobbyist device and has already left American airspace, according to a report.

Federal investigators tracked the small balloon, flying at an altitude between 43,000 and 45,000 feet, until it traversed beyond US lines sometime during the night, the North American Aerospace Defense Command told CBS News.

Fighter jets for NORAD, the nation’s airspace watchdog, intercepted the balloon shortly as it hovered over Utah Friday.

Although officials were unsure of the balloon’s origin, they immediately determined that the balloon, which was not maneuverable, “posed no hazard to flight safety.”

One official told CBS News that it appeared to be made of Mylar and had a small cube-shaped box, about two feet long on each side, hanging below it.

NORAD was first alerted to the balloon’s presence as it flew over Colorado, noticeably drifting in an easterly direction and following the path of the jetstream.

An official with the Department of Defense told CBS News that the object was actually a hobbyist balloon, but did not provide further details.

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


TOPICS: Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: balloon; chicoms; hobby; mysterious
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To: Mark17
...build a balloon capable of going that high.

WAY back in the day, when I lived in a house heated with the product that Citizens Gas and Coke supplied in Indianapolis, I made a few balloons from very thin plastic drop cloths - 9*12 feet in size.

Fold them over, tape edges, and you get a bag 9*6.

Fill them with stove gas and you get a bag with very little lifting power, about a book of matches, a stub of a cigarette, or a few sparklers.

Due to low gas pressure and permeability of the plastic it takes 20-30 minutes to fill. (Ya do this OUTSIDE!)


At night you get one of two effects.

The balloon slowly lifts outta yer yard and disappears into the night sky.

A few minutes later, after the cigarette burns down to the matches, you get a SPECKTACULAR!!! fireball in the sky!

Alternatively you leave a trailing of sparks into the sky with a fireball ensuing when the sparks meet the plastic.

21 posted on 02/25/2024 4:11:12 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: guinness4strength

Re: 9 - agreed. Some of the wilder theories might be caused by ignorance, willful ignorance, or low intellect.


22 posted on 02/25/2024 4:15:56 AM PST by Fury
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To: Libloather

Sure it was. Did they say that last time?


23 posted on 02/25/2024 4:19:20 AM PST by WKUHilltopper
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To: srmanuel
Here’s a link to a Ham Radio Operator that has detailed step by step instructions including pictures of how to build a Pico Balloon capable of circling the globe that can be tracked.

All I ever did, as a Ham radio guy, was talk around the world on my radio. It was great fun.

24 posted on 02/25/2024 4:34:50 AM PST by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of USAF Captain & pilot. Both bitten by the aviation bug)
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To: Libloather

Probably a Chinese or Russian balloon.


25 posted on 02/25/2024 4:45:38 AM PST by Thunder90 (All posts soley represent my own opinions)
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To: guinness4strength

“...Federal investigators...”

Sure, because anything that comes out of the Puppet Biden regime has to be believed completely. Ignore all the other propaganda that comes out of the junta mouthpieces. /spit


26 posted on 02/25/2024 4:48:28 AM PST by Flavious_Maximus (Tony Fauci will be put on death row and die of COVID!)
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To: Mark17

That’s all I’ve ever done as a General Ham License Holder, if I lived out in the country I might be tempted to set up, launch and monitor one of these balloons, just to see if I could do it and to learn something.


27 posted on 02/25/2024 4:55:45 AM PST by srmanuel ( )
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To: Jonty30

Like knocking out cell phone networks?


28 posted on 02/25/2024 4:57:35 AM PST by Pollard (#BoycottBlue)
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To: guinness4strength

How does the government know any of this information they released? I was waiting to say it had been purchased at a Target Store. That must be an expensive hobby. And does the hobbyist have information from the balloon?


29 posted on 02/25/2024 5:42:24 AM PST by healy61 (.)
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To: Libloather

A hobbyist

A Chinese hobbyist

A Chinese hobbyist with a government job

A Chinese hobbyist with a government job he’s been warned not to talk about

A Chinese hobbyist with a government job he’s been warned not to talk about and lots of hobbyist friends with government jobs who’ve also been similarly warned


30 posted on 02/25/2024 5:43:26 AM PST by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
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To: Libloather

31 posted on 02/25/2024 5:59:09 AM PST by Hatteras
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To: Libloather

Wait ‘til next year. Those reindeers are getting barbecued.


32 posted on 02/25/2024 6:00:31 AM PST by Eleutheria5 (Every Goliath has his David. Child in need of a CGM system. https://gofund.me/6452dbf1. )
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To: Libloather

Heard on Fox it was over 50 ft. Not sure of diameter or height.


33 posted on 02/25/2024 6:03:09 AM PST by mware
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To: srmanuel

“Back over a year ago when the Chinese Balloon was flying over the USA, we had a lengthy discussion on FR about this very topic and it was determined then that no FAA flight plan is required and quite frequently these hobbyist balloon due circle the globe multiple times.”

Yes I remember that discussion. It was a learning exercise for me.


34 posted on 02/25/2024 6:12:29 AM PST by plain talk
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To: plain talk

I said this in another post, I hold a General Ham Radio License, if I lived out in the country, I would love to give this a try, launch a relatively sophisticated ballon not only for tracking purposes, I’ve seen a couple on YouTube that can take pictures from 50,000 ft, just to see if I could do it and to learn something.


35 posted on 02/25/2024 6:17:10 AM PST by srmanuel ( )
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To: srmanuel

What a cool website! Thanks for posting it.


36 posted on 02/25/2024 6:35:30 AM PST by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: Libloather

If course...it’s a forgone conclusion that the Chinese have never considered disguising their intelligence-gathering balloon as a hobbyist balloon in an effort to convince the US military that it “poses no threat”.


37 posted on 02/25/2024 6:37:34 AM PST by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: Libloather

Perhaps China made a gentlemen’s agreement with Biden to send only “hobbyist” balloons over CONUS, until after the election, at least.


38 posted on 02/25/2024 6:41:02 AM PST by rightwingcrazy (;-,)
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To: SaveFerris
Oops 😬

12-15 foot tall Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

Gigantic it was

That’s OK, an easy mistake to make when you’re “…switching to gins.”

39 posted on 02/25/2024 6:55:15 AM PST by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
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To: Libloather

Why are these not registered for identification? Seems anything crossing a state or federal boundary should have a registration.


40 posted on 02/25/2024 6:57:26 AM PST by ThePatriotsFlag (Accepting a false premise initiates conversational defeat.)
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