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Chinese spy balloon was 200 feet tall with payload over 2,000 lbs.: NORAD
NY Post ^ | Caitlin Doornbos and Emily Crane

Posted on 02/06/2023 12:57:48 PM PST by BenLurkin

The Chinese spy balloon that traversed US airspace before being shot down over the weekend was roughly 200 feet tall, weighed thousands of pounds — and may have carried explosives meant for self-destruction, a top US general revealed Monday.

The since-obliterated spy craft’s payload was approximately the size of a regional jet airliner, Air Force General Glen VanHerck, head of US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command (NORCOM), said as he disclosed fresh details about the surveillance device.

“Of the payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet-airliner type of size, maybe a regional jet such as a ERJ [Embraer Regional Jet] or something like that. [It] probably weighed in excess of a couple thousand pounds.” [???]

Asked about the potential hazards if the balloon had been shot down over land, VanHerck said the device had “glass off of [its] solar panels; potentially hazardous material, such as material that is required for batteries to operate in such an environment as this; and even the potential for explosives to detonate and destroy the balloon that could have been present.”

He stopped short of confirming that the balloon was, in fact, carrying explosives.

China tried to claim the balloon was just a weather research “airship” that had blown off course...

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: chinese; norad; nukecapable; spyballoon
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To: dfwgator

Sub-Beltline Extraction (SBE) is/was the military term.


61 posted on 02/06/2023 2:54:28 PM PST by satan (The tree of liberty is dying in the drought.)
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To: Billthedrill

Right? LOL!


62 posted on 02/06/2023 3:01:30 PM PST by TheDon (Resist the usurpers)
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To: adorno

An interesting thought.


63 posted on 02/06/2023 3:02:28 PM PST by TheDon (Resist the usurpers)
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To: Hot Tabasco
there would have been little oxygen to keep those engines fired

It apparently had a large truss structure (aluminum? carbon fiber?) with solar panels. That assembly could probably be used as a rudder and sail to veer away from the natural direction of the the jet stream. For altitude control it probably had a good-sized tank of compressed helium, so it could rise and fall to take advantage of the various directions of wind currents at different altitudes.

So, along with a multi-compartment balloon (probably at least 200 sq. yards of fabric) and lots of rope, add in a bunch of solar power regulators, cameras, computers, navigation electronics, uplink electronics, and likely a dozen other sensors (ground penetrating radar?, UV?, infrared cameras? ...), and I'm sure it added up to thousands of pounds.

They needed a pretty good setup to do a respectable property inspection before they take possession.

64 posted on 02/06/2023 3:08:59 PM PST by Tellurian (Your phone is your cattle tag.)
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To: BenLurkin

Navy divers have discovered that it not a weather balloon, but is instead one of XI’s discarded condoms after effing the Biden Administration. Everyone knows there is no such thing as too much protection when engaging a Biden.


65 posted on 02/06/2023 3:17:04 PM PST by Waverunner
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and may have carried explosives meant for self-destruction, a top US general revealed Monday.

The since-obliterated spy craft’s payload was approximately the size of a regional jet airliner,

We’ll never know for sure now. Baizuo Joe took care of that.


66 posted on 02/06/2023 3:24:45 PM PST by rxh4n1
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Was it really Bin Laden buried at sea?

They sure have kept any videos and photos well hidden, haven’t they? In a country where every secret is eventually leaked, that’s a big tell to me.


67 posted on 02/06/2023 3:26:54 PM PST by rxh4n1
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To: BenLurkin

That’s a mighty sophisticated weather “airship”…


68 posted on 02/06/2023 3:27:58 PM PST by telescope115 (My feet are on the ground, and my head is in the stars.)
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To: Eccl 10:2
"...Is it that much different than a cargo ship being in international waters?..."

That's like saying that if China shoots an ICBM at us, we have no right to try to shoot it down until it enters US airspace.

69 posted on 02/06/2023 3:28:32 PM PST by Paal Gulli
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To: kiryandil

That is hilarious 🤣!


70 posted on 02/06/2023 3:31:27 PM PST by telescope115 (My feet are on the ground, and my head is in the stars.)
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To: parmamenian

SR-71 last flight 1999. Almost quarter century ago.

As though the balloon wasn’t tracked across the Pacific by our orbital assets. You won’t see commentary about it from NRO Reconnaissance Constellation..


71 posted on 02/06/2023 3:37:22 PM PST by steve86 (Numquam accusatus, numquam ad curiam ibit, numquam ad carcerem™)
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To: Rurudyne; Hot Tabasco

I heard a presser the other day, someone military was asked by a reporter if the balloon had a propulsion system or was it just floating on air currents, and he said it was “maneuverable.”


72 posted on 02/06/2023 3:46:56 PM PST by Buttons12 ( Do you not think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind and directs this Storm?)
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To: No name given ; All
I'm just thankful it didn’t contain an EMP.

This was a dry run for a series of balloons carrying EMPs. No need for nukes. America will be finished after a few months.

The biggest challenge facing the Chinese will be burying 300,000,000 dead Americans and restoring the electronic and power infrastructure fried by their own devices.

73 posted on 02/06/2023 3:48:47 PM PST by Cobra64 (Common sense isn’t common anymore.)
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To: Tellurian
It apparently ... That assembly could probably... For altitude control it probably.....

Or most likely not.

Maybe, could be, probably, nothing is making sense.

Seems to me there is a real concerted effort to turn a weather balloon into a secret spy device......And my prior posts attempt to show how that is not possible.

Those are my thoughts and I'm sticking with them.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

74 posted on 02/06/2023 3:54:46 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: BenLurkin

“Of the payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet-airliner type of size” good thing Brandon made it so we can now see something that big. Never before in our history have we been able to see something as big as a jet.


75 posted on 02/06/2023 3:57:11 PM PST by pas
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To: Buttons12
asked by a reporter if the balloon had a propulsion system or was it just floating on air currents, and he said it was “maneuverable.”

Any balloon thrown in the air is maneuverable. He didn't say how because he doesn't know and nor does anyone else.......

How is that Hunter Biden probe going?

76 posted on 02/06/2023 3:59:25 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: Buttons12

And the Chinese writing on the balloon, how clever was that to hide the fact it was from China?.........LOL!


77 posted on 02/06/2023 4:15:01 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: Buttons12
As an after thought, what do you think those giant letters on the balloon said?

A. Made in Honduras

B. Made in Taiwan

C. Chinese Spy Balloon

D. Kilroy was here

78 posted on 02/06/2023 4:32:26 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: All

This is similar to COVID, really.

Both could have been deliberate. China claims both were accidental but if so, the information offered at an early stage did not (apparently) meet the normal standards of international relations.

I tend to think both were deliberate anyway, which would explain the lack of prior or early warnings of any use.

And while I have no desire to see a war erupt between North America and China, you have to think that China is looking for a rumble with us for whatever reason, maybe they think they will win, destroy our governments, and trample in with their troops to take over the lebensraum. They certainly have more than a few advance agents in place.

A very unstable situation with Ukraine and Russia is now compounded by this mess, and who do we have in charge? One is tempted to say nobody.


79 posted on 02/06/2023 4:37:54 PM PST by Peter ODonnell (If Arizona held the Olympic Games, Usain Bolt would lose to Joe Biden)
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To: plain talk
If nobody knows this ... then how do you know it?

Swallwell and Biden told me.

But, don't go spreading it around. Okay???
80 posted on 02/06/2023 4:39:26 PM PST by adorno
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