Shoot the bloody thing down ...

[dogtag]

You can't kow tow to the Chinese - it shows weakness and that's
not something you want to show to a potential future enemy.

[Mark in Ottawa]

I see on the news that the balloon was shot down with a missile and that the Chinese are furious. Not sure just why they waited until it was a few miles offshore since it would have been much easier to recover the parts on land.

I have already seen cartoons of the balloon delivering a box of Chinese food

[Vern Humphrey]

And if they had to shoot it down off shore, why didn't they shoot it down off the WEST Coast, instead of letting it reach the East Coast?

[Allen]

It was first spotted over Alaska 1/28 and no one was told. It could have been shot down there and never have reached the main land.

[Vern Humphrey]

It was first spotted over Alaska 1/28 and no one was told. It could have been shot down there and never have reached the main land.

My point, exactly. They let it traverse the whole country before taking action.

[Mark in Ottawa]

If anyone is interested in why they used a heat seeking missile to shoot it down rather than say gunfire, its because some years ago a very large Canadian weather balloon got away and the RCAF was asked to shoot it down. Apparently two F18s shot over a thousand rounds into the balloon without any effect whatsoever. The holes were simply too small in the context of the size of the balloon.

[rayg]

Good information Mark!

[dogtag]

If the Pilot had been a Space Cowboy he'd have lassoed it

[Allen]

Another reason it wasn't shot down with gun fire is because of the altitude this type balloon can reach. Fighter jets can fly up to 60-65,000 feet, a spy plane maybe 75,000 feet but aren't equipped to shoot or fire anything. Balloons like this can reach 120,000 feet. It takes a missile to reach it.

We sent up a $200M F-22 (wear and tear) and shot a $400,000 missile for something that China should be begging forgiveness for and hoping we don't inact sanctions.

[Vern Humphrey]

Another reason it wasn't shot down with gun fire is because of the altitude this type balloon can reach. Fighter jets can fly up to 60-65,000 feet, a spy plane maybe 75,000 feet but aren't equipped to shoot or fire anything. Balloons like this can reach 120,000 feet. It takes a missile to reach it.

We sent up a $200M F-22 (wear and tear) and shot a $400,000 missile for something that China should be begging forgiveness for and hoping we don't inact sanctions.

Why should China care? They'll just deduct the cost of the balloon from the next payment they make to the Bidens.

[blackhawknj]

I wonder if this wasn't our version of the Matthias Rust case ? Someone or something invades our airspace, the people who first spot it go Huh ?, decide the safest course of action is to inform their superiors, kick it up the Chain of Command, let them worry about it.