US shoots down another ‘high-altitude object’ over Alaska
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3852988-us-shoots-down-another-high-altitude-object-over-alaskan-airspace/

NBC news featured an image of the object shot down over Alaska. It looks nothing like a balloon or a drone aircraft. It appears as a very long , thin, dark rectangle. There is a right-angled gap at the upper end, and another, much shorter, thicker rectangle near this.

The object looks almost like a cylindrical rocket casing, seen in a side view, but it was not in orbit, nor reentering the atmosphere. It was observed to float at around 40,000 feet, for at least 24 hours, moving very slowly.

Below, please find a link to the NBC news video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5gpVHfqARk

Another news video contains a description of the object, shot down over Alaska, as 'cylindrical'. This seems to concur in my analysis of the image in the first video. Suppose that this object is not a high altitude balloon, which it does not resemble. If it is a heavier-than-air craft, how did it manage to stay aloft for over 24 hours with (apparently) no wings to lift it?

Please find a link to the referenced video, below:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/video/us-shoots-high-altitude-object-alaska-97053158

As a result the US blacklists 6 Chinese entities for supporting spy balloon programs.

Xi will soon be blubbering about that.

... Another news video contains a description of the object, shot down over Alaska, as 'cylindrical'. This seems to concur in my analysis of the image in the first video. Suppose that this object is not a high altitude balloon, which it does not resemble. If it is a heavier-than-air craft, how did it manage to stay aloft for over 24 hours with (apparently) no wings to lift it?...

Ooooer... Spooky!

What will the spooks (spys?) get up to next?


So... Cylindrical, no wings, flying at 40,000':

A modern day Zeppelin?
A high altitude loitering aircraft with (not visible) super-slender wings?
A ballistic missile?
A cruise missile?
A prank!?
Other?

Watch this space?...


Keep searchin'!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Another shotdown of an "unidentified object" in Canadian airspace ordered by Justin Trudeau over Yukon on saturday:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/3854275-trudeau-says-he-ordered-take-down-of-unidentified-object-over-northern-canada/

And it was bound to happen.

US launches unarmed ICBM into Pacific Ocean amid China, North Korea tensions.

Loon LLC?

Another shotdown of an "unidentified object" in Canadian airspace ordered by Justin Trudeau over Yukon on saturday:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/3854275-trudeau-says-he-ordered-take-down-of-unidentified-object-over-northern-canada/

The Canadian Defense minister stated during a news conference that the object downed in central Yukon Territory was cylindrical in shape, and relatively small. This, of course, brings to mind the object of similar size and shape brought down yesterday, just North of the Alaskan mainland. Since this latest one came down on land, it should be easier to get at and examine. It will be very interesting to see what the Canadians make of this strange craft.

https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/canadian-defense-minister-says-high-altitude-object-shot-down-over-yukon-163191877682

An interesting new detail has emerged, in the story of the cylindrical high altitude object shot down over Alaskan territory on Friday. Some of the pilots flying near the object report that the 'whatever- it-is' seemed to interfere with their planes' electronic sensors. This seems a rather sophisticated technical capability, and suggests that the object may have been reacting to the presence of the jets.

We had no indications of such interference in the case of the Chinese surveillance balloon, tracked and shot down last week, even though the payload boom suspended beneath it was bristling with antennas and electronic devices. In contrast, the Alaska shoot-down object was simply described as cylindrical, with no obvious technical equipment, and no balloon, or other aerostat, holding it up.

Please find a link, below, to a news article with a reference to this newly disclosed aspect of the case;

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/12/politics/unidentified-object-canada-alaska-military-latest/index.html

Another 1 goes down, but where are these coming from isn't clear.

U.S. Military Shoots Down Yet Another Flying Object—This Time Over Lake Huron.

The latest, Lake Huron object shoot-down, has some interesting features.

1.) It follows a temporary airspace security shut-down over lake Michigan. Even earlier there was a similar airspace shut-down near Havre, Montana.

2.) The object was tracked moving East from Montana, before it reached Michigan. These facts could all be connected.

3. The object was reported to be octagonal in shape, with multiple, very thin vertical projections extending downward. This sounds unlikely for either a drone aircraft, or a balloon.

4.) The object was seen at an altitude of 20,000 feet. There appears to be a trend of these things being sighted lower and lower within the atmosphere.

Please find a link, below, to an article conveying these facts:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-military-shot-unidentified-object-lake-huron-rcna70289

Well seeing that that plan of Xi's backfired badly China has now officially coming crawling back to Australian coal producers, but one local mine has rejected them and is selling to Taiwan instead.

Xi won't be happy, but Chinese energy and steel industries will be as the low grade stuff that they're being fed ATM is costing them more than it's worth, and he's now at the back of the shipping list instead of at the front which will make his mistake that much harder to bear.

China is again intruding where they shouldn't. :-(

Chinese coast guard accused of temporarily blinding Philippines coast guard crew with 'military-grade' laser.

... Another news video contains a description of the object, shot down over Alaska, as 'cylindrical'. This seems to concur in my analysis of the image in the first video. Suppose that this object is not a high altitude balloon, which it does not resemble. If it is a heavier-than-air craft, how did it manage to stay aloft for over 24 hours with (apparently) no wings to lift it?...

Ooooer... Spooky!

What will the spooks (spys?) get up to next?


So... Cylindrical, no wings, flying at 40,000':

A modern day Zeppelin?
A high altitude loitering aircraft with (not visible) super-slender wings?
A ballistic missile?
A cruise missile?
A prank!?
Other?

Watch this space?...

Is China playing a vengeful game of "silly b*****s" to try to disrupt airspace?

Mystery surrounds objects shot down by US military
wrote:

... As it was travelling at 20,000ft (6,100m), it could have interfered with commercial air traffic...

... an unmanned "octagonal structure" with [dangling?] strings attached to it...

... "What we are seeing is very, very small objects that produce a very, very low radar cross-section,"...

Are those intended to be modern day swarming barrage balloons?

Or merely a test of radar capabilities?...


Keep searchin'!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Is China playing a vengeful game of "silly b*****s" to try to disrupt airspace?

Airspace surveillance detects radar targets. Irrelevant things, small radar echoes are detected, but then filtered out in the analysis.

The BBC article, you linked, states some arguments:

"What we are seeing is very, very small objects that produce a very, very low radar cross-section,"

"We have been more closely scrutinising our airspace at these altitudes, including enhancing our radar," said Melissa Dalton, an assistant secretary of defence, said.
An official told the Washington Post it was like a car buyer unticking boxes on a website to broaden the parameters of what can be searched.
But he said it was unclear whether this was producing more hits - or if the new incursions are part of a more deliberate action."

The question remains: since when has there been increased Chinese activity that has until now gone unnoticed or simply ignored? Years?

Are those intended to be modern day swarming barrage balloons?
Or merely a test of radar capabilities?...

Maybe. Can be lots of smaller and cheaper decoys flying at medium heights to distract from the larger spy balloons flying well above the airspace used by jetliners. As long as the low flying ones aren't detected, why should anybody have detected the high flying spy baloon in roughly the same area? In the Cold War the then super powers tested radar capabilities of 'the enemy' by fighter jets intruding foreign airspace, checking reaction times of interceptors, which one, and how many. Maybe in the 21st century it's inexpensive stealth airships (small balloons creating very low radar cross-section) instead of wearing out expensive stealth fighters (with same low radar cross-section) for this task.

Some highly-placed political and government figures, have been willing to voice assumptions about the origin, nature, and purpose of the small, high altitude objects. Their near-coincidence with the earlier downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon has caused them to lump the mysterious small objects together will the huge Chinese balloon. They would make all of this into a single campaign of snooping and distraction by the Chinese.

Such assumptions appear unfounded, at least for the present. If the face of such guessing, we have the frank admission of the U.S. military, that they do not know the origin, or nature of these objects, and do not even understand how they manage to stay aloft. The military spokesman asserts that NO explanation can be ruled out, at present.

The fact that even the military, which has directly engaged these things, can not provide a likely, reasonable explanation for them lends more than just a hint of mystery to these objects.

Please find a link, below to an article featuring relevant remarks by a U.S. military spokesman.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/13/first-thing-octagonal-flying-object-shot-down-michigan

I can't help thinking that the big balloon was doing a bit of a scouting mission to make sure the wind would carry a balloon over the desired locations.
As to the next three, or is it four?, they were certainly flying at altitudes that many civil aircraft do, and so did present a risk to aviation - nobody knew if they had the agility to get out of the way of an on-coming aircraft, or if they were being controlled in any way. Nor does anyone have any public knowledge of their origins or real purpose, thus they were truly Unidentified Flying Objects. Perhaps those last questions will be answered when the wreckage is recovered and examined, but until then there is, and will be, much speculation.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

China pulls out lame excuse, but where's the proof?

China says US sent balloons into its airspace more than 10 times since beginning of January 2022.

Dumb and getting dumber?

... an unmanned "octagonal structure" with [dangling?] strings attached to it...

??

Yep.

Such is the clickbait the press put forth...


Next come the old UFOs...

Don't mention the weather?

Oh... Is that it? China has to back up their lies with an actual created truth?...

(Weather balloons are normally filled with gas to continue to rise until they go pop. Are these ones deliberately under filled so as to linger and loiter to make a nuisance?...)


Keep searchin',
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

One can speculate a lot. UFO? No.

Balloons float in the stratosphere. Air currents can be predicted days in advance. Weather models are getting more and more sophisticated. China is researching and operating its own global weather model. A balloon can be lifted or lowered into different layers of air using a sufficient helium/hydrogen reservoir. Different air layers have differing flow directions. With an energy source (solar cells) balloons can be maneuvered horizontally. How fast? I don't know. But a floating cylindrical object moves quite fast with less air resistance (Zeppelin). Add a computer, satellite terminal, heuristics, AI. A few years of research, experimentation and amazing things can be achieved. The key question: are the control options sufficient to process a chain of waypoints despite the jet stream. Is there enough gas for a round the world tour to land and reuse the balloon (flying object). For which it is certainly enough: to bring it down somewhere in the middle of an ocean after its mission is completed.