Alleged Chinese spy baloon.

[scotta]

Lots of detail here

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/o ... JLsQxthmdY

They weren't fucking about. There is some serious tech on that.

[mik]

The reckon it weighed about 900kg

No wonder they wanted it away from populated areas before shooting it.

Also Potential “har de har” debunked.

https://www.10news.com/news/fact-or-fic ... ?_amp=true

[Mito Man]

That’s nuts. The world is also rapidly running out of helium which is a very bad thing so for the Chinese to be sending these things out en masse around the world

[Ascender]

That's insane.

What benefits do spy balloons have over satellites then?

I also had no idea that the US still have U2s on active service.

[mik]

I also had no idea that the US still have U2s on active service.

They have to - they still haven’t found what they’re looking for.

[Ascender]

[scotta]

I also had no idea that the US still have U2s on active service.

They have to - they still haven’t found what they’re looking for.

I believe this was due to the pilots suffering from vertigo...

[KevH18]

I also had no idea that the US still have U2s on active service.

They have to - they still haven’t found what they’re looking for.

I believe this was due to the pilots suffering from vertigo...

Must have been because of the elevation

[Jobbo]

If only the Chinese allowed access to Google, they'd know high quality aerial photos were already freely available.

[PaulJ]

They have to - they still haven’t found what they’re looking for.

I believe this was due to the pilots suffering from vertigo...

Must have been because of the elevation

These are Bonofide jokes.

[Explosive Newt]

I believe this was due to the pilots suffering from vertigo...

Must have been because of the elevation

These are Bonofide jokes.

I can't help feeling these jokes are right on The Edge.

[Peterlplp]

If only the Chinese allowed access to Google, they'd know high quality aerial photos were already freely available.

I could imagine it being more useful for collecting localised cyber stuff. A stingray/imsi catcher passing over a military base could tell you all the cellphones to keep an eye on since they already have fingers in telecommunication networks around the world. Similar deal with wifi networks, even the suburbs around military bases would be a gold mine of insecure home wifi running off a chinese router.
Or it could just be a weather balloon.