Did you know that the U.S. intelligence community has a number of balloons flying over the United States at very high altitude — e.g., 90,000 feet? They do. I recommend the following video for your enlightenment. It is by a former U.S. military special operations bubba who knows how to read and decipher air traffic. Meet Mr. Monkey Werx:
What I tried to convey in my previous article was the lack of international agreement governing overflights of a nation’s territory by balloons, fixed wing and satellites. There is an international consensus about aircraft that operate in controlled airspace. And countries such as the United States, Russia and China will shoot down a fixed wing intruder.
Remember Gary Powers? He piloted a U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, flying at 70,000 feet. The United States mistakenly believed the Soviets had no weapon system capable of taking out a plane at that altitude. We learned the hard way that our intelligence had some major gaps.
Today that ceiling is even higher. Frankly, any fixed wing spy plane flying on the edge of space could be shot down because the U.S., Russia and China have missiles capable of reaching them. There is no international agreement that I can find (if you come up with one please pass along) that imposes a cap proscribing a fixed wing air flight over a country.
Let suggest another explanation why the United States so far has declined to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon. Could it be that the United States has similar balloons at 100,000 feet loitering over China or Russia (or just outside their national boundaries) and do not want to risk losing those balloons in retaliation if we take out the Chinese one currently sauntering above the United States? While I have never held clearances on such systems I would not be surprised that such a capability was kept in a highly protected SAP (Special Access Program). Balloons can gather more precise and voluminous intelligence than your average satellite.
If you watched the Monkey Werx video you realize that most folks have no idea about the various intelligence platforms that are working out of sight overhead.
What you need to understand is that once a balloon is above controlled air space it is in a legal gray zone with no controlling treaty or international law. The fact that the U.S. has spy balloons operating at the upper reaches of earth’s atmosphere helps explain why the United States has resisted efforts to create clarity and definition on this frontier.
One final thought. I have listened to a number of politicians voicing outrage at this violation of U.S. air space. I just wish they were equally upset by the millions of illegal immigrants flooding the U.S. southern border. I conclude they are really not serious about doing something substantive that would make a real difference in the lives of American citizens and in the lives of those immigrants who are being exploited by narcotics cartels and human trafficking rings.
More great stuff as always. What happened to articles from Dec and early Jan? I was looking for a specific comment on the designer of the Boer War concentration camps I had read only an hour before and then poof it was scrubbed although thanks for this fine info destination.
it is best to save all articles as a web page i find and store them. i do that with everything that i look at and find interesting.
I was thinking of Money as the video was loading, & voila! it’s Monkey! Duh, I should have thought of him & searched for a recent video on YT. He also has a website with a blog tab.
https://www.monkeywerxus.com
Monkey is awesome, late 2020 & early 2021 I was watching faithfully every day, now it’s very hit & miss.
I wonder why Russia & China wouldn’t shoot each other’s spy balloons down? An unspoken agreement not to? I agree I wish they would object more & do something a whole LOT more to address the insane border invasion.
Probably they don’t because they’re here to replace the US citizens as they die off from the vaxxes? There’s also this tidbit, Mike Adams had a clip of this CDC woman in the Situation Update video you’ll see at the bottom of link below, not very comforting at all. The pushback against these nitwits just isn’t happening fast enough.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-01-31-video-surfaces-cdc-official-calling-for-white-genocide-eliminate-vaccine-refusers.html
China is our ally and we are working together against the United States now it has finally admitted that we are it’s enemy
Russia & China are allies in coordinating agendas and goals. But they are not *friends*. Their political & civilizational (spiritual) cultures are too distinct from one another. Their foundation and taproot are other.
Before you miss-tag me, I wish Russia full victory in Ukraine. (And I am Orthodox.)
What runs through Putin’s mind when he stands on the Russian bank of the Amur River? President Putin, what does pass through your mind?
Let me offer the hypothesis that if the balloon was shot down it would merely confirm from the payload that it was what the Chinese say it is, that is, a civilian scientific research balloon that got away on high altitude air currents.
By the way, Andrew Anglin (admittedly not one of the brightest sparks around) wrote in his latest article that it is extremely unlikely that the American regime didn’t know about the balloon until it arrived over the mid North American continental landmass, that is, it announced it as a deliberate distraction from the Ukranazistan disaster. This would also fit in with the alleged offer made by America to cede 20% of Ukranazistan to Russia in return for peace, something Bernhard on Moon Of Alabama says probably happened.
That’s probably more than a hypothesis. If the balloon was not being tracked from near its point of origin, how would we know it is Chinese? I guess I missed the article that explains how they even know this…
Brian Berletic had something to say on the matter: as follows:
1. US would not have tracked this balloon from from its initial launch in China so would not have know whose it was.
2. Chinese would have informed US about it and the fact that it was theirs.
3. US took this as opportunity to ratchet-up anti China hysteria.
No, its more complicated than that. It wasn’t coincidentally over the minuteman missile silos in Montana, that was by design. But its a freaking balloon. The Chinese have satellites. Hell, the Chinese have Tik-Tok. I doubt the balloon was a serious surveilance vehicle, but clearly the Chinese wanted to make the Americans look foolish.
How about the possibility that the Chinese released the balloons to help the ruling junta in the United States? Remember all the Chinese videos of people falling over dead from covid?
Everything in the west/America plays out in public and the Chinese know it. They know that this balloon could be full of paper towels and nothing else and the public/TV drama and display of incompetence and lack of ability to respond to a simple issue such as this one would still be out there on TV for all to see. At the same time it is a test to see what we would do. Finally, it is to show the rest of the world that we too have “red lines” (the same kind as the ones we have been pushing with the Russians and to which they have not responded – at least not publicly) and that we too will not do drastic things in response. I mean, what WOULD be a rational response now that the cat is out on TikTok, Twitter, CNN, Fox and the rest? There would always be someone unhappy with said response – hence, decision making paralysis. Trying to make hundreds of parties happy equals making nobody happy equals “rather not make any decisions than making the wrong one for which later you will be torn apart on Twitter”.
In America everyone is an expert and everyone has an opinion and everyone questions everything and everyone has some kind of an agenda – so it is impossible to actually have a long-term national policy on anything and make any decisions of national interest “quietly”. In places like China or Russia such decisions are made daily and nobody questions/challenges them but then again, their leaders today are much more responsible with the weight of those decisions so they do not need to air every detail of everything on TV and the public still knows there are responsible adults in the room. In America, on the other hand, we have a perception of public decision / consensus process – but too many midwives and the babies end up being in charge while the midwives are arguing on what to do….
It’s a systemic fault.
Respectfully, this is what makes America great. We are ungovernable and we like it that way.
The most effective way to manipulate people is to convince them that they are free to choose and unmanageable.
Agreed
Being ungovernable is our strength
That’s why you pay taxes, right? To a government that cannot govern… Sounds logical to me.
An interesting comparison and analysis of “democratic” and “authoritarian” regimes in terms of their effectiveness in protecting national interests.
The responsibility should be borne by the decision-maker. The greater the burden of responsibility, the more people’s lives depend on the decisions made. If the decision-making function is smeared on a large team, then, it turns out, there is no one to bear responsibility.
Haven’t kept up with the Twitter Files, have you?
I just refreshed TheGatewayPundit & saw this article. Maybe it just got shot down???
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/massive-explosion-billings-montana/
Same link now — way to go, Gateway Pundit:
“Montana Governor and Emergency Services Confirm: NO EXPLOSIONS Occurred In or Around Billings, Montana on Friday Night”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/massive-explosion-billings-montana/
Funny, the “explosion” is literally on film. Was on the Daily Mail on Friday, shot from a cellphone. Looks like a small EMP pulse directed at the balloon’s electronics.
Now if this isn’t a HUGE embarrassment, I don’t know what is — Blinken postponed his China trip in fear of a weather balloon:
“US delays top diplomat’s China trip over balloon”
https://www.rt.com/news/570927-blinken-china-trip-balloon/
What was shot down over Billings, Montana just recently?
Watching the Republican hysterical twitter soy-rage over a balloon is something to behold.
Meanwhile, I don’t remember seeing any freakout over the NSA literally recording all of our phone calls!
But wait, there’s more! Second balloon spotted over Latin America: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-another-chinese-spy-balloon-traveling-over-latin-america
No doubt they are trying to figure out the secret ingredient for fresh flour tortillas (it’s love)
Nice!
As you indicate, China, Russia, and most of all, the USA have killer satellites all over the world. A small nuke set off at the edge of the atmosphere would EMP the US back to 1900. And let us not forget the half a century of illegal U2 flights.
https://sputniknews.com/20230204/montana-officials-confirm-no-explosion-occurred-within-state-after-unsubstantiated-video-emerges-1106965410.html
And the hype goes on!
Wow. Not only “spy balloons”, but now “spy fridges”!:
“Chinese spy fridges are making the new Cold War even chillier”
https://www.rt.com/news/570523-china-fridge-track-us/
If they’re sending in the balloons, the clowns can’t be far behind.
As the lady sang,
“… Don’t bother, they’re here.”
Balloons are a construct of the white male patriarchy.
All of them will be redistributed in the spirit of egalitarian equity.
If you see a balloon, say something witty and laugh.
Paging comrade Xhou Baiden, your ice cream balloon is ready, please pick up the RED courtesy phone.
Let them eat…balloons.
Up, up and away in a beautiful balloon! (Fifth Dimension 1967)
There was the man in CA who tied balloons to his lawn chair and got to airplane altitude.
He survived and did not receive a Darwin Award.
It was test run for the Clown World early alert system as sirens sounded.
All your balloons are belong to US.
“Remember Gary Powers? He piloted a U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, flying at 70,000 feet. The United States mistakenly believed the Soviets had no weapon system capable of taking out a plane at that altitude. We learned the hard way that our intelligence had some major gaps.”
That’s the official story. His U2 was sabotaged forcing him to to crash land, which ended Ike’s coming peace disarmament conference to cut military spending in half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyNhE4Y2FCY
If I recall the story from Prouty’s books is that the U2 has a bottle of liquid hydrogen which is used to help restart the engine in the event of a high altitude flame-out (a common occurrence early in the program). This bottle was apparently left empty (possibly on the orders of Richard Bissell, Robert Mueller’s cousin), making a downing much more likely. I’m a bit of an aerospace geek and have never managed to find another source for the existence of this hydrogen bottle. Still classified or just a good spy story?
IDK about liquid hydrogen, but hydrogen peroxide thrusters were a common maneuvering device on upper atmosphere aircraft. Chuck Yeager lost control of the NF-104 when the rockets only carried him into the limbo zone between effective aerodynamic and thruster control, and was unable to orient the craft nose down for windmill starting once the craft had descended to an altitude where the jet engines could work.
Neil Armstrong got his start riding rockets testing those Hydrogen Peroxide thrusters on the X-1B. Yeager’s NF-104 accident was memorably depicted in the film ‘The Right Stuff’ and more recently parodied on ‘The Simpsons’, with Grampa Simpson taking the NF-104 up in place of his test pilot friend. After the crash he is picked up on the side of the road by Jack Kerouac, who asks him to dispose of his rambling, repetitive first draft of ‘On The Road’ and mail his polished final draft. Of course the final draft is promptly sucked into a jet engine leaving only the the first draft for Grampa to mail. “Man was he mad when he read that book, started drinking like a fish!”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2MHAj3H9RTc
Who knows? The book “American Dreyfuss” claims the microdot secrets in the pumpkin, which Alger Hiss supposedly betrayed, were 35mm negatives of the new standard for the colour of fire extinguishers on American warships. Every Public Library had a copy.
From what I gather,
1. PRC has issued a statement saying the balloon is a Chinese weather balloon gone astray.
2. MilSpecOps Monkey puts the altitude of said balloon at just above commercial airline space, well within ordinary aircraft operating altitudes and well below the edge of space.
3. US DoD has issued a statement saying said balloon has changed course–ie. controlled flight.
4. Canada is tracking a second balloon in Canadian airspace.
5. A third balloon is reported over Latin America and headed for US airspace.
Ancient Native American legends have it that when magical balloons currently found over Canada, Latin America and USA, converge over Washington DC and are aligned in a particular formation, something terrible will happen to those freaking out in the Pentagon and the White House… I wish.. What’s the worst that can happen? Kids are amused?
Great Cthulhu arises from sunken R’lyeh and the world ends.
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! Iä iä Cthulhu fhtagn!
The report of a balloon currently over Canada appears not to be true. PRC apparently has a track record of “losing control” over “weather balloons” into the airspace of other countries such as Japan and India in recent years.
I think the Chinese knew that their balloon / whatever it is would be spotted at the lower altitude – and that nothing would be done about it.
They did it to demonstrate American weakness and it worked a charm.
And US called them weak for lack of response to Pelosi visit to Taiwan. Who looks chicken weak now?
Or they just didn’t want to see Blinken. I can relate.
Expecting US gov to order Taiwan, South Korea or Japan to release two balloons from their stock over China. Which of course is different from balloons on the ground.
“We learned the hard way that our intelligence had some major gaps….”
LOL. Wouldn’t be the first, or last time for that.
Little girl: “Oh no mummy! I lost my balloon!”
Mummy: “It’s okay darling, I’ll get you another one. Let’s watch this balloon fly to heaven.”
Moments later…
US military: “DEFCON 1! DEFCON 1! ALL FORCES ON MAXIMUM ALERT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THE CHINESE ARE COMING!! ARGH!!!! WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!”
Little girl: “Mummy, why are all the soldiers running around, pointing at my balloon and shitting their pants?”
This is hilarious.
Maybe it was accidetal but one balloon sending the US into a frenzy. It’s like pulling a string Infront of a cat. How the rest of the world must laugh at crybaby America terrified of a Chinese balloon, trembling in feat over whether to shoot it, ‘what is it?’ they moan.
Yes the bubble has truly burst.
One loose balloon has bought home to the players and the citizens of this good country the realization that they too are vulnerable, accessible and have enemies galore who are very smart and can go BOO and scare them silly.
Maybe they really are out to get ya America, maybe it’s just the cat playing with the mouse. Run hither small one , see how we make you run.
Either a brilliant psych op, testing wind for weaponization of balloons, or just yeah, a few loose balloons. Dastardly winds.
Sounds like a “hot air balloon.” A commenter above asked if it was possible that the balloon could NOT have been detected long before it reached Montana.
Timing seems too perfect—-great distraction from the unfolding disaster in Ukraine.
It would be great to have Larry’s expert opinion on whether (“weather?”) the balloon could have traveled as far as it did WITHOUT being detected?
Frankly, I do not believe the US has untethered balloons flying high overhead, spying on the United States or anywhere else. I also do not believe the Chinese balloon is anything more than a weather balloon.
Balloons cannot be steered other than by having them change altitude. They are literally “blown by the wind.” As a result, they are unable to either remain stationary or fly a predetermined path.
This whole “Chinese Spy Balloon” story US propaganda and fear mongering.
Blinken is so full of hot air the Chinese may mistake him for an invading balloon. That’s why he cancelled his visit. Let’s face it. His ass is the right shape. And when that ass flies…Could get nuked and splat everywhere.
Absolutely.. the Americans have completely misunderstood the Chinese intentions. Having just celebrated the New Year the Chinese were in high spirits and launched a good will balloon as a sign of friendship to the good folks in the US. Why would they have anything other than good intentions.. don’t forget they built your railroads.
»Mr. johnson-Your explanation makes sense.
this the title of a video of some of the fear porn about this chinese balloon on the internet. this came from bitchute and is from theepochtimes.
90% of U.S. Would Die From Chinese EMP Attack From Space Balloon
i mean really- a balloon is going to take out the entire us power grid. sounds like the same bs that was one of the reasons the bush administration used for the renewed 2003 iraq war; only this time its china.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraqi-drones-not-for-wmd/
the japanese launched a pile of balloons to go toward american and canada near the end of ww2. they ended up all over the place. i think it is plausible that a chinese balloon meant to stay in its territory could malfunction and end up over here.
regards,
ralph
I also recall Francis G. Powers…and that his end came in the form of a helicopter “problem”.
It seems to me that the Chinese balloon probably serves more than on function. It’s exploited by the US as a distraction from the affray in 404, which is going badly for the fascist armies. It works for China too in terms of “ISR”… And the altitude may be deliberately low… I’ve read Revenge of Red Balloon” https://youtu.be/dcl1K3qzvvE
Perhaps China wants the US to shoot it down so that they can then do the same–on the same grounds–to those operated by the USA over or near Chinese territory (including Taiwan, no doubt).
I believe while the Russians play chess, the Chinese play Wei Qi. Perhaps there’s a clue there?
Maybe America knew the balloon was on its way -ain’t that fast and it gave blinken cover to cancel his meeting in China -maybe China downgraded it so no meeting with Xi or he didn’t want to explain the general who said war was on its way !
So Granny not only has the TSA looking down her panties at the airport, but the CIA has been looking down her blouse from 90,000 feet up? And now Chinese intel is getting a gander, too. At least they don’t tax us for the pleasure…yet!
(Monkey Werx is a great site, Larry, thanks.)
Strange, yesterday while watching the news (EU) the US was already blaming China and saying they are violating International Law. We all know what International Law means by the US…
Canada knew about the balloon since last weekend, but being a good little US stooge didn’t mention it so the US could have a huge roar of outrage at Chicoms “spying on America” when the thing crossed into US airspace. Having gained intel and taken high res pix of Micky D’s from British Columbia, through Alberta and part of Saskatchewan before wobbling into Montana territory, the balloon was thus all set to become a star of the US media.
I mean, why let the Canadians take all the credit for spotting this floating freak? No indeed. Obviously, Ottawa contacted Washington and it was decided to let the US warhawk fearmongers and patriotic chest-beaters have the first chance to roar like idiots about a commie plot. A few days later, when it was convenient. Besides, said balloon might have gone pop before it crossed over into the US. Seeing as the US is a navel-gazing country at the best of times, where the only interest in foreign countries revolves around how what they do affects the USA, who cares what it did over Canada stampeding buffalo? Not America!
So, this delay in announcing the balloon’s presence was the perfect setup for Blinken to bellicosely denounce China for a “violation of international law”, have a superfake fit that allowed him to postpone his forth-coming Chinese visit, and generally act like the buffoon he always is. Put those commies on their back foot for a propaganda lark, why not? Heh, heh. And of course, this time he’s got the Republicans on his side. America is beside itself with rage.
Shooting the balloon down and examining its electronic entrails might show it was indeed a weather balloon gone off course. And we can’t have that, now can we? No sir. It has been officially decided it’s a surveillance tool spying on the good ole USA. So instead, it will be left to drift across the US as the winds take it, while officialdom has a good long time foaming at the mouth about Chinese lawbreaking impertinence.
What an obvious put-up job.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-tracked-suspected-chinese-spy-balloon-over-canadian-airspace-since-last-weekend-sources-1.6259770
Re: fixed wing
I can’t find an online reference, but I’ve attended a talk where a presenter showed a list of 40+ US aircraft shot down by Russia – because these planes were intruding into Russian air space for the purposes of spotlighting Russian radar defense setups. An oblique reference to this can be seen here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/06/14/50-us-airmen-downed-by-soviets-never-were-traced/708453bc-9ba3-4664-b80e-2e4c455b3a60/
U2 was for reconnaissance as well as pissing the Russians off (see! you can see me but not shoot me down!). The SR71 did much the same.
As for balloons: the reason there is a convention not to shoot balloons down is because they are unpowered flight, cheap, low payload and are used for things like taking weather information. You can arguably say that there is little control over a balloon’s flight and the balloon can’t carry significant weaponry, so let them be.
As such – balloons can’t loiter but they can traverse very, very slowly. If you start putting engines on them, then they are powered aircraft and all bets are off.
The most important response today. Just as we never told about those dead airmen? US troops are dying in Ukraine today.. And they are listed as training accidents. Car wrecks. This is a painful subject for me, and I will not elaborate. I was involved in one of the secret wars. Men died. No medals. No benefits. it was not a “declared’ action. They were just dead. For nothing. And their families were lied to.
Pompeo bombastically ejaculated all over Nick Robinson on Radio 4 Today programme giving one of those splendid Fat American performances John Belushi mastered so well as son of Albanian immigrants
How Americans produce such self-inebriated trash beggars belief …….no doubt Pompeo is coked up for these revolting performances
Pompeo bombastically ejaculated all over Nick Robinson on Radio 4 Today programme giving one of those splendid Fat American performances John Belushi mastered so well as son of Albanian immigrants
How Americans produce such self-inebriated trash beggars belief …….no doubt Pompeo is coked up for these revolting public performances………..wow do Chinese and Russians and Indians look so normal in comparison
The amount of paranoia over these weather balloons is amazing. There’s nothing that the US has that can’t be seen from existing satellites. Hell, just use Google Earth and you can count how many panties your wife has hanging on the clothesline. Almost. People need to calm down. Orson Wells could rebroadcast War of the Worlds and people would go apes..t again. Everyone going gaga and not focusing on what’s really important. We’ve spent 100 billion on Ukraine and I saw two guys eating out of a garbage can the other day. That’s something to worry about.
Yup.
But when you do bad stuff in the world and make big enemies you get a bit paranoid in case it’s payback. There is a smell of that around this Administration. Fear.
“Out damn spot!” Said Lady Macbeth. But the blood would not wash off no matter how hard she rubbed. To others no spot was visible.
A balloon is highly visible, as is a drone (which drones with sound as well). Therefore Russian engineers are developing combat robots which have AI recognition of enemy targets (say, an Abrams or a Leopard 1 or 2) and can operate autonomously for two days in row.
Source: https://www.kp.ru/daily/27461.5/4716203/
Russian “terminators” arrived in the NWO zone: how combat robots will change the tactics of protecting Donbass
Military expert Litovkin said that Marker combat robots are more effective than UAVs in terms of intelligence
It became known that four Russian combat robots “Marker” arrived in the Donbass. Experts are working on their application. They will install powerful anti-tank weapons. Now there is a “loading of target images”. And the development of “combat algorithms”. Both the wheeled and tracked versions of the vehicle arrived in the NWO zone. This car with a hybrid power plant will last more than two days without refueling. She is ready to counteract, for example, American Abrams tanks or German Leopards. The wheeled “Marker” can reportedly move autonomously for up to 60 hours, and carry a machine gun or rocket launcher, or a drone.
The caterpillar version of the robot is suitable for installing a 12.7-mm Utes machine gun or a block of RPG-26 anti-tank grenade launchers. The robotic platform is positioned as a constructor for creating models of warfare in the future.
The Marker platform is a joint project of the National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics of the Advanced Research Foundation and the Android Technology NGO.
KP.RU turned to Viktor Litovkin, a military observer, a retired colonel, for comment.
– Do you imagine the real possibilities of “Marker”?
– Let’s first test it in real combat, for example, in the NWO zone.
– What is a combat robot in the 21st century?
– It is a rugged, off-road, self-contained platform. On which an effective and rather small-sized reconnaissance and combat unit is installed. Plus a secure communication unit. In general, a complex of blocks is the most effective configuration.
– Is a complex of such a combination of equipment of multidirectional action more effective on wheels or on tracks?
– It can be assumed that, rather, on tracks. But more importantly, what kind of self-tuning this system has. What software does it have. What are the inputs for specific goals and objectives? This system, the Marker robot, should instantly inform its operator that it has found a given target. According to the program, it is obliged to give out the coordinates of the target and its ability to repel an attack per second. And the operator must be able not only to confirm, for example, a defeat, but also to coordinate a quick escape from the return fire of the target if it is not hit or if tasks change abruptly.
– Why is a ground-based “Marker” better than a copter or UAV?
– The copter is almost always clearly visible to the enemy. And because he is almost always visually vulnerable. And the “Marker” moves on the ground. And it is potentially undetectable until a certain moment, before the robot reaches the target.
– “Marker” can carry many times more combat and reconnaissance equipment than any air copter?
– Due to its layout – most likely, yes. But so far it is difficult to say how much more effective it is to use it – that’s why they are now testing it in the Donbass.
– Do the Americans have combat robots that are more effective than ours?
– It is necessary to ask narrow experts. But this is unlikely.
– “Marker” can be assessed more like a reconnaissance aircraft – or more like an attack aircraft?
– In general, we have a Uran-9 combat robot. It was shown at the Army 2022 exhibition. Which could both fire and conduct reconnaissance. And go one on one with the calculation of the bunker or bunker. Yes, the chance of his defeat is quite high. Him, this robot, of course, sorry. But the person is more sorry.
– Does the “Marker” have a fairly wide range of equipment that allows you to track the movements of both ground and air targets, and in any weather and at any time of the day?
– With such a serious availability of equipment, one can assume both high “all-weather” and high vulnerability. But it is even more logical to assume that the developers have invested in good protection of such an expensive combat robot from detection. Moreover, it must be pointed out that the same “Uranus” is a ready-made, assembled robot, which is regularly controlled at a certain distance. But “Marker” – according to today’s data – is a platform on which you can hang equipment in almost any direction. And to assemble the equipment in any combination.
– That is, such an all-weather “terminator” that does not burn in fire and does not sink in water?
– This is a must see. Well, here we have a tank support combat vehicle (BMPT). She appears to be over 20 years old. There were reports that now there are more than a dozen of them on the front lines. Is there any information on how effective they have shown themselves?
– Did the Americans use combat robots?
– In Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Syria – with varying degrees of effectiveness. As for the “Marker” – it is still such a … thing in itself. The possibilities of which we are still, truly, unknown.
That’s a great video which brings a bunch of needed facts to this (non-)issue.
Anyone who thinks the US cannot “lose” in Ukraine should think again. Balloons, UFOs, new wars, Chinese spy fridges, “pandemics” and so on will fill the media space, and vapid minds will move on. Who remembers Afghanistan these days?
I thought the Chinese were running out of balloons.
They still have the dumb ones.
Clown world needs balloons, c’mon man…
Monkey Werx? This is the guy who piled a bunch of BS so high saying that the military was going to intervene after Trump was defrauded. That election crooks were going to be held at Guantanamo. I can’t take this guy seriously. I thought he was running a false hope operation…along with that X22 report guy. If I’m wrong about him, then maybe I should listen.
The gringos were deprived of the Stupid Bowl for an extra week thanks to the clot shots, so the balloon bullshit was inserted into the national “dialogue” to take up the slack till next weekend. Gotta keep the boobs happy and distracted, doncha know!
These balloons look like a perfect platform for executing an EMP attack over America’s vulnerable electric grid.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the reason the US won’t shoot it/them down is because of some payload that would contaminate a large swath of US soil if blown up (i.e. radioactive core turning it into a dirty bomb).
Zero credibility.
Payload for such balloons is very low.
If you want to explode a nuke in the atmosphere – there are plenty of ballistic missiles (i.e. ICBMs) that can do it just fine.
Or drop from a satellite.
Spy balloon this may (or may not) be – a military threat, it is not.
Can’t believe anything anyone even remotely connected to this ruling class regime of creeps
This whole balloon crap is a big nothing burger
More propaganda and distraction
The imperial regime is loosing in Ukraine time to shift the narrative
Hey, everyone Look over there a Chinese balloon the size of a blimp.
Your last paragraph is spot on. Our “Leaders” are corrupt, lying plutarchs serving the oligarchs who rule. We build weapons to line pockets while Russia has built weapons to win.
It’s become obvious that our military is not to defend us. It exists to exploit other countries for profit. Read War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler, USMC, Double recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
If Smedley Butler was alive today and elected to Congress, he could be a member of the “Squad”.
You might find the following interesting:
Treaty on Open Skies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Open_Skies
Only recently have US(2020) and RF(2021) have withdrawn from this treating.
*Only recently have US(2020) and RF(2021) withdrawn from this treaty.
Now Biden has to shoot the next balloon to show he has balls.
What if it’s filled with bioweapon? anthrax?
I mean it’s like 100% take down next time cos he da man.
So. Perfectly conditioned. Primed and ready.
Like in relationships
Sometimes the worst thing is not knowing where you stand.
The known unknowns of butty prof Rumsfield.
Visit Taiwan again Pelosi.
On WWIII
Excellent deep analysis, Odessa will be the trigger.
https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/prospects-for-world-war-3-dedicated
I agree about Odessa. It is the big objective in the South. Will the US fight WWIII over a city that is historically Russian?
What I read is well written and very thoughtful. I am astonished at the degree of evil in the US government. The partnership of evil private corporate interests with government politicians and bureaucrats has swelled their heads and emboldened them to attempt total control of US citizens in every area of society and every area of life. Absolute power does corrupt absolutely.
Far removed from the battlefield, these evil predators are just as blood guilty as those directly sending conscripts to their deaths. The words of the article are true, that every man who is now being forced into the Ukrainian army will either die or be wounded or be captured by the Russians. They are speed bumps in the trenches to delay the inevitable. What choice do they have? They have motivation squads behind them.
I hate to say it and dread to see it, but WWIII would be akin to a rabid animal (the US) being put away. What a tragedy for loyal US citizens. However, the blood of innocent people in every country cries out from the ground.
Larry this is a little off topic as related to this post, however it addresses some of your other post concerning the inability of the collective west to produce enough arms to keep up with the Russians. I really like the video vignettes you post and I was reminded of a scene in Gone with the Win. it was at the beginning at a party when the announcement was made that the south had declared war on the north. As the scene unfolds the young southern Gentlemen start boasting on how they were going to (paraphrasing now) kick those Yankee Asses. Then Rhett Butler throws cold water on the whole conversation by stating (more paraphrasing) that he did not know of a single cannon factory in the south.
Let me elaborate on this subject if you will. I spent over 40 years as a technician and engineer on industrial processes, motor controls and instruments. I saw first hand the gutting of our industrial base. I personally (lucky) did not suffer as many of my colleagues did as my career mainly focused on the municipal sector (you can’t outsource water and wastewater treatment) Not only was the production out sourced, in many cases the engineering, drafting, and model making. I think it will take a whole generation to bring back our industrial base. This will not happen because of the investment needed to do so. Case and point: about a year ago one of the corporate officers of US Steel stated that US Steel was not in the business of making steel but making profits for it’s stockholders. This reminded me of a quote by Marx concerning the production of goods and services, that financialization (making money on money and not on goods and services) would be the downfall of capitalism. It looks to me like this where we are at and they (the corporate Capitalist) have only themselves to blame.
It’s hard to believe how such a nothing-burger of a story could be potentially elevated into a Casus Belli, but it seems that Blinken is trying to do so. Is it because the Chines aren’t taking any other of the baits being offered?
Weather balloons are a pretty common thing. Look on Ebay or Amazon, and you can pick one up for next to nothing. Gettting them to go where you want is something else, mind you. Some years ago I was following the exploits of a few groups of radio hams to get such a balloon to circumnavigate the globe. They would launch a balloon attached to a box of electronics that broadcast a call sign and a GPS location at regular intervals and get their community to track it, overlaying the results on Google maps. Balloons released from the same spot just days or even hours apart would follow totally different courses, drift across random hostile countries, occasionally loop around on themselves a bit, then finally die either by bursting or the electronics dying over some remote location. I think that one was recovered once by someone hiking into a remote location, but none ever landed anywhere populated. Even if it had, the payload was necessary light and held inside a big insulating polystyrene box, so wouldn’t have fallen particularly fast anyway. Here’s the website if you’re interested. the various flights are detailed individually under the side menu High Altitude Balloons.
http://qrp-labs.com/flights/u4b18.html
Small planes of immigrants rarely are spotlighted in the media flying into various cities.
The video is an eyeopener as to what the government is doing to us flying large planes of illegals and seeding the country throughout with trouble and a destructive strain on resources.
Regardless of the outrage machine or the status of these balloons under international law this story is both important and possibly ominous. I think everyone looks past the Chinese “force majeure” explanation and recognizes these balloons as intelligence gathering overflights.
Because they can monitor the ground at times when spy satellites are not overhead they could be fine tuning intelligence gathering for final entry of targeting coordinates. Whatever the Chinese learn will presumably be used for their own purposes but also passed on to Moscow. As the Sarmat next generation Russian ICBMs near operational deployment it makes sense for the Russians to double check their own intelligence before initial choice and entry of targeting coordinates.
The reason the Sarmat missiles are different is that their hypersonic capabilities mean that they will be the first to strike in any Russian nuclear salvo aimed at the US. The limited initial number of warheads must be aimed at the highest priority targets which most damage the US ability to respond. Now that SMART on-site inspections have been suspended these balloons seem like a possible last minute substitute.
All of this reinforces my intuition that Russia intends to be fully prepared for all levels of escalation coincident with its launching of a major offensive in Ukraine.
Obviously the central premise of this comment is destroyed by subsequent events. The fact that the US waited until the balloon was leaving US territory to destroy it belies the notion that it had any serious intelligence gathering potential, for China or anyone else’s. China’s version seems all but confirmed by the blatant psyop war propaganda now emerging. I should learn to wait longer before taking any element of the US version of events seriously.
Ol’ NSA had a dirigible go ROGUE back in the 20teens , breaking loose of it’s handlers(moorings) and crashed in the I-95 corridor. THE HORROR- back when Snowden exposed DA SCHWAMP:)
I remember reading in Soldier of Fortune magazine an article saying that the U2 was not blown up by a Soviet missile, but by a bomb planted in the plane in Turkey by saboteurs, and that the missile story was given to suppress the colosal security breach at the Turkish NATO base……Larry, any thoughts on that?
Immigration – Darien Gap series Yon/Bracken/Ramirez
https://michaelyon.com/dispatches/the-invasion-continues/
https://www.oscarblueramirez.com/en/migrants-in-colombia-heading-to-darien-say-the-us-border-is-open/
https://twitter.com/rangerholton/status/1619242332599222272
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el_UGdPlGqg
https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/3459818/heart-dump-from-the-frontlines
https://michaelyon.locals.com/post/3465499/us-government-is-facilitating-and-causing-invasion-of-united-states
Larry, I’m still hung up on the fact that the NY Times is propagandizing the US population with impunity. How exactly does this relationship between the editors and the deep state work? Who is really running things over there/everywhere? How does the State Department control private media companies?
Thank you much and great piece as always.
A good place to start is Udo Ulkotte’s book. As he served as editor of Germany’s largest paper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung it focusses on the CIA’s control of the German & European press, but is doubtless applicable elsewhere.
https://www.amazon.com/Presstitutes-Embedded-Pay-CIA-Confession/dp/1615770178
monkeyW has a nice breakdown of a certain baltic boo boo from last fall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPUwgaAScp8
see 11:15 mark and beyond…
According to Russian RT (quoting Fox News) the Chinese balloon has been shot down. At the moment, an operation is underway to collect the wreckage.
Larry, everything you write is grounded in reality and rock-solid common sense. I especially liked your pointing out, at the end, the absurdity of a spy balloon raising a louder hue and cry by “American” politicians than an actual ongoing invasion by millions of criminals illegal alien parasites — future Democrat-voting Marxist Socialist government dependents all.
I suspect that this in-your-face balloon is intended as a legal trap for the US. Either allow the balloon to fly and acquiesce to intel going virtually straight from that balloon to Russia, or attack it and set a precedent for attacking US satellites over Russia. With international law so vague as to what altitude exceeds national airspace, precedent is everything. The only protection US satellites have is lack of legal precedent for destroying them. Losing American satellite intel and communications would be a disaster for Ukraine.
I think you’re on to something. The “explosion” captured on film over Montana was probably the U.S. military destroying the balloons’ electronics so it could no longer transit. Its unclear why they didn’t do it while it was over Alaska or Canada; they obviously knew
Mission Accomplished.
Sometimes a Weather Balloon is just… a Weather Balloon. Since it was easily Visible to many Nation’s Civil and Military Radar since it left China (or perhaps from a Ship) the fact that it was not “Discovered” (revealed) until it was over the FUSSA, I am strongly inclined to believe that the principle of “LOOK! A SQUIRREL!” is in play here.
Given that the High-Altitude Winds during Winter in the Northern Hemisphere are rather unpredictable, a Balloon, even with Altitude Control and Electric Thrusters is likely to go off-course. I would also Not be Surprised that someone from China’s NOAA (Weather Office) didn’t give other countries a Call and say, “Watch Out, our Weather Balloon is out of Control”.
As far as the “International Law” aspect, the FAI, the International Aviation Federation, recognizes for purposes of Records for Flight that the Division of Air and Space is 100 Kilometers. That is a technical definition, where an Airplane has to Fly so Fast to maintain Altitude, that it is essentially at Orbital Velocity, but the Air will still Drag it Down without Power being applied.
Biden and baloons: https://m.vk.com/video-70903182_456245245
West was always good in PR, didn’t DC top brass understood how pathertic they looked and made the whole US nation look those days?
Pop the f-g baloon. Or let it fly and get lost. Don’t make that tiny spec into top international news for days!
Really, such a cringe…
I kinda feel buffled.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust
Remember the story? It was a shame that allmighty behemoth USSR couldn’t make his mind and decide what to fucking do.
We became the international lolcow then.
I really feel cringe for US rulers now…
I think today was american Rust moment.
Rulers paralysis
USA TV: biden goes ahead with a PLAN to shoot the balloon
The plan, dudes!
The strategic operation, no less!
They should’ve shoot it in an hour after deyectiom, and do it casually. Or ignore it.
Instead they made the whole world laught at them for days.
“Rust’s flight irreparably damaged the reputation of the Soviet military. This enabled Gorbachev to remove many of the strongest opponents to his reforms. Minister of Defence Sergei Sokolov and the head of the Soviet Air Defence Forces Alexander Koldunov were dismissed along with hundreds of other officers. This was the biggest turnover in the Soviet military since Stalin’s purges 50 years earlier.”
1970’s military academy grads like Milley and Austin will now remove every officer that spoke out against trans in military and all the rest of the leftist lunacy. The era of orchestrated incompetence marches on…
https://t.me/indeec1937/9439
(not sure if true or not, but the point: USA for days to come is everyone’s laughing stock now)
The operation of the baloon interception was jointly conducted by an aircarrier(sic!), navy AVACS, a apck of F-22, a flying tanker, some board guards helicopters and some USN support ships.
USA suffered no casualties
RIP Sky King
Ah, I estimated the whole affair cost $27 million, but hell after reading your post its probably closer to $127 million!
Well…thank God we are safe once again! It looks like the U.S. flyboys have misseled that pesky Chinese balloon out of the sky. Conveniently done over the Atlantic so as not to have any parts lying about that may resemble meteorological equipment.
One of our governments less stellar moments in history. Even worse is that we now have half a country or more that now fear Chinese weather balloons.
Dear Mr. Johnson,
How is it possible that we are always
misinformed or wrong informed?
A gentleman of a certain age enters a bar.
He sits at the bar and watches.
Not far away sits a relatively young beautiful woman, she is alone.
The man addresses the bartender
-Please send her a bottle of Champagne Français, from me…
-I must tell you aren’t lucky, sir, let me tell you confidentially… she is a lesbian…
-Oh? That doesn’t change reality at all- answers the man.
The bartender sends the bottle of Champagne to the lady and she gives a graceful nod to the man.
Then the man gets up and goes to sit next to her at the table.
-Thank you for the Champagne, you are very kind, she tells him.
-Oh! that’s nothing, next to the suffering of war!
-I sympathize with you!
-What a horrible thing Putin and the Russians have done
in Lesbia !
This is the worst gender reveal party ever. It’s way too expensive, took too long, and I couldn’t even see if it was pink or blue at the end.
So, they popped the balloon. Their arms might not work so well against those pesky Rooskies in Ukraine, but they nailed that balloon like it was a sitting duck. But then again, I guess it was a sitting duck. It took them a while to sight it in – following it all the way from the Aleutians. Trudeau didn’t notice it in Canada, likely because he was adjusting his blackface.
Why didn’t they shoot the damn thing down when it entered Alaska? Or over water between the Aleutians and the mainland? It reminds me of the old Viet Nam era poster of an old guy with a reefer in his mouth and a pilot’s helmet on with the caption”sleep tight tonight, your Air Force is awake.”
If the US was actually worried about it, why didn’t they shoot it down on the Pacific side? Incompetence? Or did they finally shoot it down because of public opinion? Couldn’t they just jam the signals? I don’t see how a balloon could loiter though, the jet stream would move it, wouldn’t it?
“I conclude they are really not serious about doing something substantive”
Start with not co-ordinating right wing death squads to damper leftist reformist movements?
Just a thought…I would be funny as hell if the Chinese sent the U.S. government a bill for the cost of the weather balloon.
Ha, yeah and using a F22? The mission probably cost $27 million with operational time, fuel, maintenance and the missile.
Our tax dollars at work.
If I’m not mistaken, that’s the F-22’s first air-to-air combat win.
Very well written article. Crystallised very nicely what I’ve been thinking in a 1000 foot view.
The US developed some surveillance balloons fifteen years ago. They can be seen at low altitude along the border. The first to deploy were supposed to be much higher over all the major cities beginning with DC in 2010. Wonder how that turned out? You don’t suppose that they up and decided not to do it? Yeah, right. Maybe somebody else has the answer to that question.
As a few here have suggested — rightly so — I have to wonder if this whole balloon boondoggle isn’t a deliberate distraction meant to mask other news of HUGE significance:
US sends long-range missiles to Ukraine
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/04/ypjw-f04.html
The White House announced Friday that it would send long-range missiles capable of striking nearly 100 miles into Russian territory to Ukraine, in one of the most significant escalations of US involvement in the war with Russia to date.
Following Washington’s tradition of the “Friday afternoon news dump,” the announcement was timed so as to garner as little public attention as possible.
The pliant American media supported the Biden administration’s goal of keeping the American public from understanding the consequences of this action. This massive escalation of the war against Russia received effectively no media coverage. It was not featured on the front pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or Washington Post, and was not reported on the evening network news shows.
The weapons system, known as the ground-launched Small Diameter Bomb, is a rocket-launched maneuverable glide bomb with double the range of the HIMARS missiles Washington has already provided. …
Read that the US shot the Chicom-balloon down, but it has not been recovered, yet. Too bad. Thinking it was, in reality, a giant airborne fortune cookie and the always nice Chinese put one of those 5D inscrutable strips of paper sayings inside for us to read – maybe even the winning lottery numbers – as a diplomatic gesture of good will, of course.
F22 hanger queen total program cost $1.7 Trillion. And she gets her first kill.
What if Roswell ’47 was a balloon?
How about a disco balloon with reflective mirror coating!
The “official” narrative is that the Brandon Circus didn’t want to burst the balloon of diplomacy as comrade commissar Blinken is due to meet with the CCP.
Dank meme of the day-the pregnant man emoji with the caption, we must stop disinformation.
Obviously the central premise of this comment is destroyed by subsequent events. The fact that the US waited until the balloon was leaving US territory to destroy it belies the notion that it had any serious intelligence gathering potential, for China or anyone else’s. China’s version seems all but confirmed by the blatant psyop war propaganda now emerging. I should learn to wait longer before taking any element of the US version of events seriously.
Thinking about this, the best way to deal with this would have been
1. Shoot it down the moment it hit US airspace
Failing that
2. Leave it alone and completely ignore it. The message being that it is nothing important and not worth our time.
The ruling junta handled this is in the dumbest possible way and came off looking like impotent fools.
Worthy of note:
Trump, top national security officials refute claim that Chinese spy balloons transited US under [Trump] administration
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-top-national-security-officials-refute-claim-chinese-spy-balloons-transited-us-under-last-admin
“Senior official” now asserts this was discovered AFTER Trump left office:
Chinese spy balloons over US during Trump admin ‘discovered after’ he left office: senior Biden official
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/chinese-spy-balloons-over-us-during-trump-admin-discovered-after-he-left-office-senior-biden-official
Balloons could also be a stop gap if WW3 involves the de-satilighting of space… Balloons could be constructed and deployed in mass for a few hundred thousand each and provide the GPS and high bandwidth low latency connectivity advanced militaries are now dependent upon to function..
Your recent link to Nena’s 99 Luftballons reminded us that those ‘grosse Krieger’ (great warriors) think that they are Capt Kirk in their jetfighters so they couldn’t just loose off a dozen rounds of 20mm cannon at so large a target – they had to use Sidewinders ($600K@) – at least one of which missed FFS.
Jeeez, talk about boys with toys.
A worthy summation of all this silliness from wwo of Larry’s esteemed VIPS colleagues:
“Spycraft or Not, Shootdown of Chinese Weather Balloon Using 5th-Gen Jet Looks ‘Silly’, Observer Says”
https://sputniknews.com/20230205/spycraft-or-not-shootdown-of-chinese-weather-balloon-using-5th-gen-jet-looks-silly-observer-says-1106993766.html
Should be “two of Larry’s esteemed VIPS colleagues” above. [Damn typos!]