Murph Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 13 minutes ago, Dave Williams said: I guessing photoshop. Kill markings are usually on the left side of the aircraft, and the photo isn’t reversed since the 007 next to the slime light is correctly oriented. Plus, unlikely that a kill mark would be bright white on a F-22. It's photoshop. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cat Barf Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Weather balloon, or a test to see the NORAD reaction? My uneducated guess which counts as much as anyone else guess, without proof........ This was a test to see if launching a balloon with a EMP weapon is feasible should we go to war. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Smith Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Hey, I just hope this lights a fire under someone to finally produce a 1/32 F-22. (And not the YF-22) Wouldn’t it be ironic if it was Trumpeter or Hobby Boss? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bsin Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Can we get a 1/48th scale model of this baloon? 🎈LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Smith Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 18 minutes ago, Bsin said: Can we get a 1/48th scale model of this baloon? 🎈LOL Already available in all scales. Just go to a local party supply or Walmart and buy a white balloon and inflate to desired scale! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bsin Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 5 minutes ago, Scott Smith said: Already available in all scales. Just go to a local party supply or Walmart and buy a white balloon and inflate to desired scale! Ha! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bsin Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Scott Smith said: Already available in all scales. Just go to a local party supply or Walmart and buy a white balloon and inflate to desired scale! But then I have to scratch build the instrument package, that was suspended underneath the balloon! Edited February 6, 2023 by Bsin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 2 hours ago, Scott Smith said: Hey, I just hope this lights a fire under someone to finally produce a 1/32 F-22. (And not the YF-22) Wouldn’t it be ironic if it was Trumpeter or Hobby Boss? Not 1/32, but Trumpeter already makes a 1/48 F-22 under their I Love Kit label. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/i-love-kit-62801-f-22a-raptor--1378584 Pretty sure that they won’t release one with ballon kill markings, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Da SWO Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 FWIW-USNI says the pilot was a Guard guy. Yee Ha! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gwen Phoenix Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Funny how politics go according to the different bias; (populist) government down here affirm that the US just exaggerated with shooting down a ballon which purposes were solely civil/scientific The very same was said by the Chinese, so no way the Argentinean puppet president was going to say otherwise. The US (liberal/capitalist) government stated that the ballon, which purposes were merely snooping on strategic assets, and also that it was a threat to airspace, with which I wholly concur. Now, why don't the US return the courtesy to the Chinese? What will the Chinese say about that? One of my noob queries: is it true that the Chinese ballon could change its path at will, disregarding the direction of the wind? Strange how the path shows the balon travelling in one direction when it approaches America, to then change path along the whole Alaskan territory, then down Canada and all across the US. Or was it just the lucky whims of the wind? Cheers, Gwen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 All of the talk of balloons reminded me of this ... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gwen Phoenix Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Gregg, how have you been? I recall Charlize Theron in a film bashing up several guys terribly to the sound of this tune? It was so bizarre... Cheers, Gwen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DarkKnight Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Gwen Phoenix said: Funny how politics go according to the different bias; (populist) government down here affirm that the US just exaggerated with shooting down a ballon which purposes were solely civil/scientific The very same was said by the Chinese, so no way the Argentinean puppet president was going to say otherwise. The US (liberal/capitalist) government stated that the ballon, which purposes were merely snooping on strategic assets, and also that it was a threat to airspace, with which I wholly concur. Now, why don't the US return the courtesy to the Chinese? What will the Chinese say about that? One of my noob queries: is it true that the Chinese ballon could change its path at will, disregarding the direction of the wind? Strange how the path shows the balon travelling in one direction when it approaches America, to then change path along the whole Alaskan territory, then down Canada and all across the US. Or was it just the lucky whims of the wind? Cheers, Gwen Balloon described as maneuverable, more than just weather balloon, our government probably never tell us the truth about it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Smith Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 Gwen, Its really hard to say since just last week we had a front dip down from Canada all the way into Texas and across into the Carolinas. Kind of the same path the balloon took. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crash Test Dummy Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 4 hours ago, Gwen Phoenix said: One of my noob queries: is it true that the Chinese ballon could change its path at will, disregarding the direction of the wind? Strange how the path shows the balon travelling in one direction when it approaches America, to then change path along the whole Alaskan territory, then down Canada and all across the US. Or was it just the lucky whims of the wind? The balloon followed the typical high altitude winter wind pattern over North America. Balloons, including this one, have no ability to control their direction and only go where the wind blows, but the wind doesn't necessarily blow in the same direction at all altitudes. The only ability to maneuver that a balloon has is by changing their altitude to find winds favoring the direction they want to go. Google's Loon ISP service functioned this way. They basically stuck cell phone antennas in balloons that would "hover" over an area by changing altitudes to find winds to keep them in their service region. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tailspin Turtle Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 12 hours ago, Crash Test Dummy said: The only ability to maneuver that a balloon has is by changing their altitude to find winds favoring the direction they want to go. That's what I thought too, but then I Googled it: https://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1972/HMN-19720916.htm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 The wreckage of the payload should be retrieved and be on its way to Sandia real soon, so we will find out what they were after. I am not sure how much of it will be revealed to the public, but any payload that big ("three school buses" is one description I have seen) should have some interesting technology in it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Niels Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 The three busses-reference was the baloon itself, not the equipment hanging beneath it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Smith Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 It was kind of cool seeing it from my front yard. I’d post pics, but how many more times do we need to see a blue sky with a tiny white dot posted? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crash Test Dummy Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Tailspin Turtle said: That's what I thought too, but then I Googled it: https://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1972/HMN-19720916.htm 😀Of course, you'd find the one experimental powered balloon project from 50 years ago, way to feed the conspiracy nuts. 👽 The rednecks from my hometown in Missouri were melting down over this one, because they could literally see it from their backyard. They were torn between shoot it down or it's full of biological weapons so don't shoot it down. My Facebook feed was nuts for a couple days. I ran across a RAND Corporation report discussing high altitude airships and the powered balloon concept isn't mentioned, but the report does describe another system (pg 47). Suspend a wing and rudder 15 km below the balloon envelope and the difference in wind speed gives you energy to work with, the wing can now act like a sail and provide limited steering. I'm honestly surprised I've never heard of the powered balloon program before, but doing a little Googling, I can find no indication this project ever continued beyond the one program or even the one flight. It's certainly didn't become common. And, there's no indication the Chinese balloon was equipped with such a system. I still think it was limited to altitude changes for maneuvering. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 2 hours ago, KursadA said: The wreckage of the payload should be retrieved and be on its way to Sandia real soon, so we will find out what they were after. I am not sure how much of it will be revealed to the public, but any payload that big ("three school buses" is one description I have seen) should have some interesting technology in it. Maybe, but chances are very high that the payload broke apart into many pieces, which is going to have to be sorted out from the other assorted junk laying on the ocean bottom that they are going to also find. Plus, I’d be very surprised if the payload didn’t have self-destruct charges that went off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Niels said: The three busses-reference was the baloon itself, not the equipment hanging beneath it I’m pretty sure that the balloon was much, much bigger than three busses. Because of the low air pressure at altitude, those type of balloons expand to a massive size. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 I think ABC News said it was the payload section that was that big: Quote Divers were expected to be working to retrieve other parts of the balloon's payload assembly -- estimated to be the size of three buses -- that likely sunk to the bottom in about 45 feet of water in the area. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/navy-releases-close-photos-chinese-surveillance-balloon-recovery/story?id=96950346 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crash Test Dummy Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Dave Williams said: I’m pretty sure that the balloon was much, much bigger than three busses. Because of the low air pressure at altitude, those type of balloons expand to a massive size. One report I read had the balloon envelope covering 5 football fields with the span of the payload (mainly solar panels) being the 3 school buses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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