>

🎈🤫
Feels like we're getting memed on now >

I’m guessing these weather/surveillance balloons are actually extremely common since they’re probably a lot cheaper and easier than any other type of surveillance. These stories are just generating clicks and interest lately so we’re hearing about them more often. >

It does seem like we only shot the balloon down for political reasons. Spotted by nutty mid west states, pick up by right wing media to harass Biden,  uggh you locals dont know how common this is, but fine we will shoot it down so you dont bitch about it for the next decade. Biden probably saved us from the next Bengazi/Hunters laptop shooting it down >

Nah, Biden wanted to shoot it down immediately, but they were worried about damage on the ground. Pretty much the second it was over the ocean they Aim9x’d it >

Then why'd we wait until it was over the US and not shoot it down while we tracked it over the Bering Sea? >

Because shooting things belonging to other countries out of the sky just because we think it "might" fly over mainland US would look bad. >

Don't have to be over the maim land just 12 miles out. >

At that height maybe the potential debris field was calculated to be over 12 miles >

We shot it down 7 miles out. Even if the debris fell outside of the 12 miles it wouldnt violate any international laws. >

I am only guessing that the direction of travel will change debris field >

2023 the year of the balloons >

Are we sure the clowns ever went away? What if these balloons are a sign of their return? >

I miss the days where fake killer clowns was the real news instead of viruses, war and economic collapse. >

Pretty sure when those fake killer clowns were around the news was the same shit. >

No that was the most exciting thing. 
Except for when a moron from the TV was elected President of the USA, that was weird. >

King of the clowns. >

Begun, the balloon wars have. >

The west must step up to this new threat and develop defence balloons >

DEPLOY THE DART MONKEYS >

What a weird coincidental timeline this is. Balloons in mainstream news and the Bloons Tower Defence game getting overwhelmed by monkey rule 34 for memes. >

Right?  I just started getting into btd6 like a month and now there's all this talk about shooting down balloons.  Those sneaky kiwis know something that we don't.  I don't know what the NZ shadow government is planning, but whatever it is I've got five sets of darts ready to protect my family. >

Watch we’ll see reports of NZ sending blimps next >

Somewhere Nena is saying 'told you so' >

You and i in a little toy shop >

Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got >

Set them free at the break of dawn >

Til one by one, they are gone >

Back at base, bugs in the software… >

Flash the message "Something's out there" >

Floating in the summer sky... >

🎵 99 white spy balloons go by! 🎵 >

DUN DUH DUN DUN
NUHNUHNUHNUUUH >

Time to mobilize Bloons TD players. >

All my years of service are finally about to pay off. I’m ready sir! >

"where's the turbo monkey?!" 
"...what do you mean there's no Turbo Monkey?!" >

Sir, we’ve upgraded to the monkey village to have jungle drums. I’m not really sure what that’s supposed to do. >

They bring a nice chill drumcircle vibe for the balloon slaughter >

When your bro copy your homework >

'Make sure you change some things so it isn't obvious' >

Spy balloons...so hot right now. >


so hot right now.

Duuh, how would they remain afloat otherwise? >

Inflation is out of control all over the world >

I see what u did there 🤣 >

Who had balloon wars on their 2023 bingo card? Lol >

I don't think anyone saw that coming lol. >

Balloons are so in vogue right now >

That hansel....... so hot right now >

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!! >

Spider-Man to the rescue!
“My balloon!” >

I would always take the balloons to a high building and then just jump off and unalive myself. >

Unfortunately, as North Korea cannot afford a proper spy balloon, the surveillance housing contains a single malnourished citizen with one of the three Nikon cameras owned by the northern state. >

Ah, similar to how eyore (from pooh) flew then? With one balloon tied around his ass >

Wait... does that mean Kim Jung is the Eyore to Xi's Pooh? >

He's defintely the owl. Narcissistic personality disorder.
Leave poor eeyore and his depression alone. >

Wasn't Rabbit the narcissistic one? >

More neurotic I think >

Oh my Lord. North Korea was finally like "wait, we have balloons! We have balloons! They didn't use something we don't have this time!" >

Launches rocket into the sea as celebration >

insert Fry from Futurama with suspicious eyes meme >

'You stink, loser' >

Hey Fry pizza coming out, come on! >

IhatemylifeIhatemylifeIhatemylife >

Happy New Year! >

Pizza delivery for... Icy Wiener? Aww crud. >

99 white balloons, floating in the winter sky. Everyone had made conclusions, some think it's Chinese collusion. Shoot it down while it's afloat, then collect it with a boat. China's sending them to you, looks like Kim has got one too. Diplomacy is on the line as 99 white balloons float by! >

Legit made my day 🤣 >

Dart Monkeys rise up!
I've been training this past year in BloonsTD6. >

WWIII so steampunk. >

Chinese New Year was just two weeks ago; it's the Year of the Balloon >

Is everyone trying to be pennywise now? >

Every masterpiece has it's cheap copy >

At least the copier changes some details. What counts are their efforts >

Weather Balloon migration:
Every year, as autumn falls in the northern hemisphere, millions of Weather balloons undertake an arduous journey of over 13,000 km, from breeding grounds in China, as far north as the Arctic Circle to overwintering grounds as far south as Australia and New Zealand, and then return the next year. This transcontinental annual migration along flight path, or flyways, that have been used for millennia are one of Nature’s most important and wondrous ecological and evolutionary phenomenon.
In a slightly ironic twist, one of the most common predators of a Weather balloon is another bird, the F22. F22s are much more capable of hunting and eclipse Weather balloons in almost every category, making them easy pickings. Now, an F22 won’t usually swoop down into a bunch of Weather baloons and just grab one, but they will often go for those around the shores and not the continental ones.
So Weather balloons watchers rejoiced! Don't blame just everything on china.
Edit: updated info >

I accidentally read this in David Attenborough's voice >

I made it to about "autumn falls" and automatically slipped into Attenborough. >

You'll be fine son, you'll be just fine >

How long until a Republican suggests we build balloons to keep up with the Communists? >

I heard it was actually team rocket behind it...... >

My brain got stuck in early 90s Pokémon cartoons for a couple of seconds 🤣 thanks. >

We all float up here. >

They raise me up >

Only 97 more to go >

96*
EDIT: forgot about the 3 that happened (that they're admitting) during Trump's presidency, so 93 >

Where were you during the great Balloons War of 2023 ? >

Hiding at 7/11 >

That's it. I want a balloon. >

Where is Kite Man when you need him? >

Getting rejected or fooled at by Ivy >

My neighbors kid ballon flew over my yard as well. >

You have the rights to retrieve it >

2023 - The Balloon Wars >

From what it sounds like these types of balloons have been around. Wonder why it’s getting so much attention now? >

Are we in the movie UP >

We must build the ultimate balloon to stand a chance in the balloon wars, we need to build the Death S̶t̶ Balloon >

lol is this all new info or have their always been balloons going all over the damn place? >

This trend definitely just 'pop' out of nowhere >

Nothing more terrifying than a balloon >

The one from the 60s TV show The Prisoner that would chase you and roll over you was the monster of my childhood nightmares. >

I just googled that and found the Wikipedia page, which thankfully has a pic. I don't know what I was expecting, but now I have to see this show. It's literally exactly what you described -  just a big round balloon that rolls over people and "incapacitates" them (but can also apparently kill them too, if necessary). The image of the guy lying face down on the beach with the giant balloon ever so lightly resting on his back kills me. I must see this show. >

Media feeing off “hype” for clicks. Balloons have been going around for years. From multiple countries. This isn’t anything new. >

Russia: Kirov reporting. >

did not expect to read this >

So this is how it is going to be now, huh? >

Maybe they are all North Korean balloons with China giving them cover? China has so many satellites and does not need balloons ... not so North Korea. >

"All the cool kids are doing it." >

I knew playing endless hours of Bloons Tower Defense would pay off. >

So I guess WW3 will be fought with balloons. Who woulda guessed? >

Begun The Balloon War's have. >

This balloon thing is getting inflated. >

gotta think theyre using a low budge balloon from dollar tree >

Great, now the news cycle is stuck in balloons. >

Looks like 2023 is ballooning out of control already. >

And it's not a joke article. Just wow. History repeats itself, except it's still current and not really history. >

Omg this will really be the new fearmongering tool… fucking balloons >

And when it runs out, condoms would be next >

What if some state decides to fill the balloon with something hella masty, and once the host coutnry shoots it down, all the nasties spread everywhere. Like viruses. Chemicals. Fart gases. 😱 >

That is one scenario they had to be careful about, also if there was something unpleasant in the payload >

The article says it's a weather balloon.  Not news >

you never know. >

Are you stating that "objective evidence" can not exist? >

What is it with bloons. What is this clash of clans? >

The Balloon Wars are upon us!! >

The spinoff >

Hey wait a second >

Bloon Gap! Cold War 2.0 >

Ballon’s are so hot right now >

Bloons Tower Defense >

I guess balloons are on the rise again >

Now is the time that we will say in a few years hence
.. "remember all those balloons in early 2023" >

This is the clowns at night and needles in strawberries all over again. >

Just once big fucking birthday party eh. >

Who knew 2023's new hot craze would be balloons? >

Not to be outdone... >

Come back! Balloon, come back! >

"Balloons... so hot right now." >

Who had balloons for February? >

So 2023's thing is spy balloons? I guess we could all use the break after pandemics and murder hornets. >

Who had planet wide Chinese and North Korean spy balloons on their 2023 bingo cards >

Balloons, so hot right now. >

Balloons IN, Orphans OUT >

you get a balloon! YOU get a balloon! everybody gets a balloon! >

Gender reveals are getting out of hand >

I’m telling you these surveillance balloons are all precursors for a coordinated strike. Before pearly harbor reconnaissance planes took images of the ships and airfields. Now they are probably taking pictures of bases to see where to strike >

Begun the Balloon Wars has... >

It’s kinda like on the “What Is This Bug” sub. Once you see someone post a bedbug, that is all you tend to see! >

wtf is this balloon-meta? >

problem is it that it says "happy birthday" >

It’s balloon week >

They are testing wind currents to see the direction of nuclear fallout in western countries >

What’s with all these barroons >

Balloons. They're so hot right now >

we have a balloon at home: >

Needs more Monkey Bloon tower defence. >

The US needs to start training monkeys to throw darts asap. Once we have the basics down, they need to start working on super monkeys. >

This balloon meta is getting out of hand.  Needs a nerf. >

Begun…the balloon wars have. >

Here it comes, some broadcaster is going to start calling it “balloonageddon”. You saw it here first folks! >

Balloons, so hot right now! >

Fucking wish.Com satellites. >

They just had to copy China to feel they’re apart of the modern world. >

Bloons Tower Defense pros, its your year to shine! >

Lmao never has there been such balloon warfare >

Actually, the Japanese used balloons as bombs against the US in WW2. There were 7 deaths associated with one instance of a balloon reaching Oregon. >

Damn I stand corrected! >

Here is the thing about balloons..... If you allow balloons from other (hostile) countries to overfly your country, you are creating an avenue for the delivery of a bomb.
Granted, balloons do not have the accuracy of missiles.  But if you allow one to fly into your country... and THEN it explodes... you're going to feel really, really stupid for allowing it in the first place.
The simple solution is to pop it with a laser. >

Pop it where?  The one over the US had a debris radius of 3.5 miles.  When the US shot it down over the ocean it still didn't land were they were aiming. 
Most of the time these things are just tracked and often used as an opportunity for counter intelligence. 
​

Here is the thing about balloons..... If you allow balloons from other (hostile) countries to overfly your country, you are creating an avenue for the delivery of a bomb.

You could say the same thing about letting a civilian from a hostile nation visit, because they could always be some super secret operative coming here to launch an attack.
Half the reason the military classifies so much stuff is because people like you want to shoot everything with lasers. >

Yeah so many people are jumping on this stuff like the US military was just being stupid and next up they are going to be "sneaking" a nuke into US airspace. 
Do people really believe the stuff the write? The US military, the people who created GPS 50 years ago, were caught completely and utterly off guard by a 200ft tall balloon? 
I mean come on now. Do you think China (or any bad actor for that matter) are going to start a war by strapping a bomb to something that is slow moving, a huge target, and doesn't have complete control over its navigation? 
This is one of the largest nothingburgers I have ever seen. >

We have a cultural problem stemming from our addiction to drama.  We've been raised by TV and movies so EVERYTHING needs to be interesting, we won't watch news that's boring so everything needs to be engaging, and more and more people can't even believe anything that isn't conspiratorial.  
Regardless of facts and evidence, too many people just need to believe the most interesting thing they can't immediately disprove because they'd rather be stimulated than informed. >

SK should send over thousands of regular balloons carrying candies or something. >

Do you want the same incident that happened on Cleveland back in the 80s? >

What happened on Cleveland back in the 80s? >

i feel like media is blowing the balloon thing out of proportion... >

Begun the balloon wars have >

Aka China gave N. Korea a spy balloon >

I wonder how much useful information a North Korean spy balloon can gather on South Korea that you couldn't just google if you weren't in NK. >


that you couldn't just google if you weren't in NK

They could also Google it but needed to download VPN first and besides, only the military officials can even use the internet >

...what a copypaste kitty. get your own ideas, NK! >

Blame their older brother they look up to >

It's going to be the summer of balloons. >

'You can change right up and touch the sky' >

I would hate to be a balloon hobbyist right now. People are going to be trying to shoot you down when you fly over their house.