UFO shot down.

[martin-w 3,260]

2 hours ago, dmwalker said:

I would think anything would be better than firing missiles all over the place

 

Not live missiles though. They used a Sidewinder Aim9X for the Chinese balloon which is TV guided and it had no warhead. Like archery practice. 😄

The Canadians did try using cannon to take balloons down a while back, and it was a disaster, despite hitting the balloon multiple times, the helium just slowly leaked and the balloon stayed aloft. Then there's the problem of having to approach a 200 foot wide balloon (recent Chinese balloon take down) to cannon range and be able to bank away in time, despite being at 60,000 feet and at Mach 1.3. Stall speed for an F22 at 60,000 is a fraction under the speed of sound. 650 MPH I recall. 65,000 is the F22 claimed max altitude. 

Not sure about these new objects, I heard it was still an Aim9X but not sure if it was equipped with a warhead. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by martin-w

[martin-w 3,260]

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

 How do you know the ones that were shot down haven't been retrieved by ground personnel?

 

The Chinese balloon that was shot down has been retrieved. It was shot down in shallow water and divers retrieved wreckage, not sure if they have the instruments yet. The other balloons are going to be retrieved if possible yes.

[goates 576]

The Warzone has been updating their article on the latest shoot downs, including photos of the F-16s returning to base with empty missile rails.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/fighters-shoot-down-object-over-lake-huron

I suspect trying to capture an unknown balloon would be rather risky, and it would be better to just shoot them down and gather up the debris.

[martin-w 3,260]

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

What makes you think they don't know what they are?  Secrets are the government's stock in trade.  They let a little information out to settle your curiosity.  I've been assigned on projects where they did exactly that.  

Noel

 

I don't think they don't know what they are. I think they have told us that they don't know what they are. 🙂

[martin-w 3,260]

2 hours ago, dmwalker said:

I liked this bit: "After experiments with instrumented dummies, Fulton continued to experiment with live pigs, as pigs have a nervous system close to humans. Lifted off the ground, the pig began to spin as it flew through the air at 125 miles per hour (200 km/h). It arrived on board uninjured, but in a disoriented state. When it recovered, it attacked the crew."

 

If I were that pig I would have attacked them too.

Max altitude of a helicopter is 25,000 feet. So what do you think lads? The latest object was at 20,000 feet. Head up there with a powerful chopper and net the thing. 😄 I jest of course, we have no idea how fast this car sized object was travelling. 😄

[dmwalker 612]

23 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Not live missiles though

I assumed so but where do they end up? It's the same with cannon fire, as you already discussed wrt firing guns into the air in celebration.

[martin-w 3,260]

20 hours ago, charliearon said:

I think one of these was my Mickey Mouse helium balloon my dad bought for me in 1956 the first visit to Disneyland, Anaheim.  Wasn't tied tight enough to my finger! 🎈

 

Actually, last summer, I was spying the cruise liners that visit these shores, and a small ball shaped object was flying past one of them in a perfectly straight line, about the height of one of the cruise ships. It then dipped down toward the ocean, flew parallel to the ocean for quite a away, then climbed to a somewhat higher altitude.

I did of course have plenty of time to take some pictures with my phone. Great camera on the S21 Ultra.

When I enlarged the image to the max, it looked for all the world liker a seahorse. 😲 Weird. I could also see a red patch on it.

It was of course a small, kids, helium balloon, but it did bring it home to me how easily people can be fooled. If someone saw this and didn't enlarge the image to the max, they would no doubt be telling their grandchildren, in 30 years time, about the day an alien orb visited Guernsey. 😀

 

 

[goates 576]

4 minutes ago, dmwalker said:

I assumed so but where do they end up? It's the same with cannon fire, as you already discussed wrt firing guns into the air in celebration.

In the cases so far, the missile debris is likely either in the water (hence waiting for the first balloon to move offshore, for example) or in very remote areas with very few people around.

Edited February 13, 2023 by goates

[martin-w 3,260]

4 minutes ago, dmwalker said:

I assumed so but where do they end up? It's the same with cannon fire, as you already discussed wrt firing guns into the air in celebration.

 

Well, the Chinese balloon was over the ocean, so I would think when the fuel was spent the missile ended up with the fishes. I would think they would do something similar with the other objects, consider carefully where the missile is likely to end up and approach at a specific vector to ensure safety.

[goates 576]

3 minutes ago, martin-w said:

 

Well, the Chinese balloon was over the ocean, so I would think when the fuel was spent the missile ended up with the fishes. I would think they would do something similar with the other objects, consider carefully where the missile is likely to end up and approach at a specific vector to ensure safety.

Not hard to do over the Yukon territory as it's larger than the British Isles with only ~40,000 or so people.

[goates 576]

For some more details on how long balloons (at least like the first one shot down) have been around, The Warzone just put out an article.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/russia-also-has-a-fleet-of-spy-balloons

[dmwalker 612]

There was a nice idea on PPRuNe, that the fighter planes, instead of having little aircraft images to show how many they have shot down, will have little images of balloons.

[martin-w 3,260]

48 minutes ago, dmwalker said:

There was a nice idea on PPRuNe, that the fighter planes, instead of having little aircraft images to show how many they have shot down, will have little images of balloons.

 

Already been done. The F22 that shot down the Chinese baloon now has a baloon on the side. 

[birdguy 3,957]

14 minutes ago, martin-w said:

The F22 that shot down the Chinese baloon now has a baloon on the side. 

Is 'baloon' the British way of spelling what call a 'balloon' or did you misspell the word?

Noel

 

[dmwalker 612]

18 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Already been done. The F22 that shot down the Chinese baloon now has a baloon on the side.

I saw the photo but I wasn't sure if it was genuine.