https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/hobby-clubs-missing-balloon-feared-shot-down-usaf

A small, globe-trotting balloon declared “missing in action” by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10.

The club—the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB)—is not pointing fingers yet.

But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The club’s silver-coated, party-style, “pico balloon” reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting tool—the HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—projected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.

There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts’ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.

“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.

Everything is a conspiracy ?

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Everything is a conspiracy ?

A spy balloon flying across the entire continental USA is a conspiracy. We know it wasn't the only "weather balloon", because the Chinese media admitted to others.

For true evangelical faith is of
such a nature that it cannot lie
dormant; but manifests itself in
all righteousness and works of
love; it dies unto flesh and blood;
destroys all forbidden lusts and
desires; cordially seeks, serves
and fears God; clothes the naked;
feeds the hungry; consoles the
afflicted; shelters the miserable;
aids and consoles all the oppressed;
returns good for evil; serves those
that injure it; prays for those that
persecute it; teaches, admonishes
and reproves with the Word of the
Lord; seeks that which is lost; binds
up that which is wounded; heals that
which is diseased and saves that which
which is sound. The persecution, suf-
fering and anxiety which befalls it
for the sake of the truth of the Lord,
is to it a glorious joy and consolation.

-- Menno Simons
Why I Do Not Cease Teaching and Writing, 1539


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menno_Simons

> A spy balloon flying across the entire continental
> USA is a conspiracy.

And that is sheer idiocy. Why? Because the US government described the balloon as likely a Chinese surveillance vehicle and explained why it wasn't going to shoot it down until after it crossed over the Atlantic.


----------------
> We know it wasn't the only
> "weather balloon", because the Chinese media
> admitted to others.

I'll try to keep this simple so you can grasp it. The fact that China has been using balloons all over the world to gather information does NOT mean that all balloons are spy balloons.

Balloons from a child's birthday party are not nefarious Chinese technology. Weather balloons from Japan or even China are not Chinese spy balloons. The vast majority of the scores of balloons that cross the United States every year are civilian.

Except for those surreptitiously landing aliens in Alberta, of course.

Besides which it should come as no surprise that countries spy on each other. Often even on friendly countries.

Yes.

I do think, though, that the US reaction was justified. First, it doesn't make sense to deny access to foreign military planes while tolerating foreign espionage vehicles.

And second, China is presently violating international law by trespassing on other country's territorial waters and airspace throughout southeast Asia and by operating "police stations" in other countries, including the US, that intimidate and in some cases kidnap Chinese dissidents. It is high time that the West in general and the United States in particular stop tolerating the death by a thousand cuts of their national sovereignty and security.

One sidewinder missile costs $400,000 and they easily miss the balloon.

I have a better idea. The government should offer a balloon bounty.

It's just not a great time for hobbyists to have balloons high over U.S. and Canandian airspace.

(former amateur radio licensee me)

Hams have & use lots of repeaters as well as work atmosphere 'skips' (bounce signals) for long distant communication...

while I haven't kept up, I've not been aware of using balloons for sending/receiving signals...

https://vepimg.b8cdn.com/uploads/vjfnew/1073/content/images/1596949203send-an-amateur-radio-balloon-around-the-world-bill-brown-wb8elk-pdf1596949203.pdf


https://hamradioprep.com/did-the-air-force-shoot-down-a-ham-radio-clubs-balloon/

A balloon launched by an Illinois ham radio club might have been the balloon shot down over Canada recently by U.S. Air Force fighter jets.

The balloon was launched in October 2022 by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade and was on its seventh trip around the world when it disappeared from tracking about the same time an Air Force F-22 shot down a balloon over the Yukon Territory in Canada on Feb. 11.

The amateur radio pico balloon, heard on the air around the world as K9YO-15, carried a tiny payload that included a low-power transmitter on the HF bands that allowed hams to hear signals during the flight and to track it via the WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) digital mode and on APRS on VHF and UHF for more localized reception reports. The type of balloons used for this flight rise as high as 43,000 feet in the sky with their 11-gram tethered trackers.

At any given time, there are dozens of these ham radio balloons aloft over the world, relaying signals for hams to track as they fly from continent to continent. They typically make several trips around the world before failing or malfunctioning. Few teams recover the balloons they launch when they drop from the sky in remote places or oceans.