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posted by takyon on Saturday February 04 2023, @10:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the pop! dept.

China balloon: US shoots down airship over Atlantic

The US has shot down a giant Chinese balloon that it says has been spying on key military sites across America.

The Department of Defense confirmed its fighter jets brought down the balloon over US territorial waters.

Three airports were shut and airspace was closed off the coast of North and South Carolina as the military carried out the operation on Saturday.

Footage on US TV networks showed the balloon falling to the sea after a small explosion.

An F-22 jet fighter engaged the high-altitude balloon with one missile - an AIM-9X Sidewinder - and it went down about six nautical miles off the US coast at 14:39 EST (19:39 GMT), a defence official told reporters.

US President Joe Biden had been under pressure to shoot the balloon down since defence officials first announced they were tracking it on Thursday.

Second balloon spotted over Latin America:

On Friday, the Pentagon said a second Chinese spy balloon had been spotted - this time over Latin America with reported sightings over Costa Rica and Venezuela.

See also:

US downs Chinese balloon, a flashpoint in US-China tensions
From China to Big Sky: The Balloon That Unnerved the White House
3 Navy Warships, FBI Now Hunting for Wreckage of Chinese Spy Balloon off South Carolina
Biden's 'Sputnik moment': Is China's spy balloon political warfare?

 
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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 04 2023, @11:15PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 04 2023, @11:15PM (#1290307)

    It got to float around for days and collect all kinds of data, which it already sent back home. Not that i live in the states and want to boss you around, you do you.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2023, @12:31AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2023, @12:31AM (#1290313)

    you do you.

    I would, but Joe Robinette does Joe Robinette instead.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by khallow on Sunday February 05 2023, @02:03AM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday February 05 2023, @02:03AM (#1290320) Journal
    Now it knows the secret frequency of my mental failwaves and Chinese society will start failing just like everyone else who has been exposed. You're welcome!
    • (Score: 2) by srobert on Sunday February 05 2023, @04:31PM (1 child)

      by srobert (4803) on Sunday February 05 2023, @04:31PM (#1290368)

      Wasn't that done on Star Trek when they put an infected Hugh back into the Borg?

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday February 06 2023, @08:04PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 06 2023, @08:04PM (#1290509) Journal

        If I recall correctfully, they did not do that. They squandered the opportunity. Their morals got the better of them. Better to allow the destruction of the human race, along with other obviously inferior races (klingon, romulan, ferengi, cardassian, bajoran, etc), than to commit genocide against a genocidal invader.

        However, in some sense, Hugh was "infected" from his exposure to humans and temporary isolation from The Borg.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.