>

DoD authorizes pilot to draw victory Sky Penis.
For the first time in history, the U.S. government says…it’s not a weather balloon >

Holy shit so aliens confirmed??? >

Si, si >

video
I wonder if the plane that shot it down will get a balloon decal on the side.
Edit: I think this might be the F-22's first air-to-air kill >

Another video >

The data they got from the F-22’s takedown was probably more valuable than the weeks of mountains and cattle data they got before that. >

I wouldn’t be surprised if they mounted those radar reflectors that they use for air shows on them just to prevent that. >

Probably, you don't exactly need to be stealthy to chuck a missile at a balloon. >

You also don’t need your best weaponry or to fly as fast as you can. I don’t really think they got any useful data. >

It's just the current prevailing spin for why this thing was allowed to enter our airspace in the first place. Not a ton of logic/thought behind it. >

Electronic counter measures prevented transmission of data... there was no hurry >

Over the continental US they could’ve easily jammed it from the ground but to reduce risk of interference the f22 patrol both flew cap and jammed the drone the whole time. I’d be most interested to know if space force got any information on Chinese satellites from all this. >

Moreover, pointing it out and just allowing it to do its thing for a while is probably incredibly embarrassing for the people that launched it. >

Can’t wait to suddenly remember this 10 years from now when someone references it in a meme >

Or next year when it is a major motion picture of the action-suspense genre starring Mark Wahlberg. >

clint eastwood will likely still be alive to direct,  the US government is actually the bad guy and we get a full 90 min of board room committee meetings. >

Just tie a balloon to an empty chair and film Eastwood yelling at it for 120 minutes >

He’ll also need a couple scenes where he is propositioned for threesomes by women in their 20s >

With and old school Dirty Harry handgun somewhere in the scene >

Perhaps he could shoot the chair? >

Good idea! scribbles it down >

Has not even hit the water yet. >

People who were saying we should have shot it down sooner don't understand the forces at play. Given its size and the distance it fell, it would have hit the ground like a bomb. >

It’s almost like our military knows a lot more about this stuff than the average citizen. >

It’s almost as if the average citizen has a huge ego that they believe they know better. >

Sports, politics, and economics. The three areas of expertise where, for some reason, non-professionals believe they know better than professionals. >

And now military. >

If there's anything the pandemic taught me it's that everybody's an expert at biology too. >

And so ends the story of the balloon that captivated a nation. >

I live around where they shot it down and it was kinda nice to see everyone out in their driveways watching it happen. We haven't had a national event where half the US wasn't mad at the other half in a while. It felt like simpler times... >

I miss the 90s.  Ooo, look everyone, a huge comet! >

Nothing will ever compare to that comet.  Maybe Betelgeuse exploding. >

If Betelgeuse explodes it’ll be bigger than the full moon looks, and will be visible in daytime for several months. In about three years it’ll fade back to the standard level of brightness, and in about 6 years after it’ll no longer be visible. That’s to say, it’ll be the talk of the town for quite a while when it happens >

Oh boy, that's just enough time for idiots to make a cult about it! >

Best Nike ad ever. >

Not even a balloon can go to Myrtle Beach without getting shot >

Can’t have shit at Myrtle >

And when the balloon was finally grounded, the authorities began to doubt the family's story of their son ever being trapped on it >

Internet Historian did a good one on ballon boy >

This was an interesting watch. Thanks for sharing >

Internet Historian does a really good job on all of his vids. Don’t be afraid to watch another of his ;) >

They should have made the balloon blue >

Stealth balloon. >

Nah you need to pop it twice to kill a blue balloon >

At least it wasn’t a ceramic camo balloon >

Raptors first ever air to air kill. This is a pub quiz question for 10 years time.
Bonus point for correctly naming the missile as an AIM9. >

Bonus bonus credit for knowing it was AIM-9X >

Not AMRAAM? Would a balloon like that even have a large enough IR signature for an AIM-9X?
Edit: spelling >

Hence the AIM-9X which can be radar slaved. That said, against something like a balloon which is effectively stationary even a Vietnam-era Sidewinder could have been boresighted in. >

Time for the coast guard to go retrieve it. >

Rescue swimmers are fucking badass real-world heroes...
If I could go 20 years back in time knowing what I know now, then I would definitely want to try to be one of those guys. >

Right. Best of the best.  What those guys do in water is way more impressive than what anyone else does on land. >

Cops:  "I can't tell if that kid is holding a gun or a candy bar, therefore, I'm scared for my life... SHOOT HIM!"
Rescue swimmers:  "The ocean is one of the most powerful forces on the planet, and there's a strong possibility that I might die saving that guy's life, good thing that's exactly what I signed up for... I'M GOING IN!"
Edit: I read somewhere that there were 3 rescue swimmers on duty and they literally played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would GET to go... not who HAS to go.... all three of them were chomping at the bit to risk their lives to save another >

They were there specifically for their "high surf" rescue swimmer training so they were very much itching to get into the water and put their skills to the test. >

Now for the United States to send one back of Seymour Skinner like happens in the simpsons >

"Destroy that balloon" >

It happened right above my aunts place in Myrtle Beach, two fighter jets took it out, it was quite loud apparently, and scared the shit out of a lot of people. >

Lmao I'm there. Yes it was, and yes it did >

Would have been nice if they gave a little warning to people before doing it. 
Just a quick emergency alert “two fighter jets in the area taking down a Chinese Spy Balloon, so don’t shit your pants if it gets loud for a hot minute” >

"Weather device." Totally no spying going on. If there's one thing in this world we can count on, it's the word of CCP. >

Why would they need a balloon to spy when they have tiktok >

One of the best things about Reddit is the amount of armchair lawyers, doctors and now, apparently, military experts on what we should’ve done. >

In the past 4 years, I’ve learned my friends are all experts on pandemics, Supreme Court politics, Afghanistan, Chinese balloons, post-Soviet Russian geopolitics in Eastern Europe, and Banksy. >

To be fair, how do you know one of your friends isn’t Banksy? >

I’m Banksy, but I’m pretty chill about it. >

Eyewitness reports say pink confetti from the balloon confirms, “it’s a girl!!!!!”. >

Nobody killed, no planes downed and no fires started - I call that a successful gender reveal party. >

And all it took was one $200,000 missile! >

And millions in fuel. >

Still not the most expensive gender reveal party in terms of damage, so I'll take it.