Unidentified Floating Objects

[steven lloyd]

Why the heck would anyone waste a good (and expensive) missle on these objects? Why not just use some 50 calibre bullets or whatever ammo is on board to do the job;

There's actually a pretty simple explanation for that.

[Silverstarqueen]

What a joke,,, me thinks Freeland was looking for ammo in her purse for her slingshot to defend Canada while trudie is basting in the sun down south..

What purse? I haven't seen Freeland with a purse.

[seewood]

Short version,,, we don't have the correct type of missiles to shoot these down. We have (basically) antique jets with antique weapons. The auditor general warned they had "become" outdated in a 2018 report.

The Aim 9 sidewinders are a heat seeking anti aircraft missile. A heat signature has to be sufficient for the seeker head to lock on. How a balloon generates enough heat is beyond me as the missile was designed to lock onto the heat from an aircrafts exhaust.
Perhaps why the F-16 over Lake Huron fired two as the first one missed.

next up was the Aim 120 sparrow which is a radar guided longer distant missile. I can see that one working as the head is locked onto a radar signal which a balloon would be able to produce.

Regardless, Canada does have Aim 9's and Aim 120's in stock, just likely 20+ years old as Canada is so cheap with its military a pilot might have one live fire practice during a 10 year career.

[dirtybiker]

I can't help but think there is a distraction side to this, otherwise we would
not know about it.
It would not be in the news.

What are the shysters up to now ?

[XT225]

Why the heck would anyone waste a good (and expensive) missle on these objects? Why not just use some 50 calibre bullets or whatever ammo is on board to do the job;

There's actually a pretty simple explanation for that.

...and what is the explanation for that? Surely our CF-18's have some kind of machine gun ammo on board at least. You would think if they wanted to just bring the object down with the minimal amount of damage so that it could be assessed properly and maybe in bigger pieces, standard ammo would have been the way to go! Isn't that kind of like using a 10 guage shotgun to shoot a grouse? (there won't be much left).

[steven lloyd]

There's actually a pretty simple explanation for that.

...and what is the explanation for that? Surely our CF-18's have some kind of machine gun ammo on board at least.

If you're still asking that already asked and answered many times question you might want to reconsider your "news" sources.

ETA: simple explanation - imagine trying to shoot a tin can placed on a pole on the side of the highway from the window of a rocket car traveling down the road at 800 mph.

[Drip_Torch]

There's actually a pretty simple explanation for that.

...and what is the explanation for that? Surely our CF-18's have some kind of machine gun ammo on board at least. You would think if they wanted to just bring the object down with the minimal amount of damage so that it could be assessed properly and maybe in bigger pieces, standard ammo would have been the way to go! Isn't that kind of like using a 10 guage shotgun to shoot a grouse? (there won't be much left).

The time a wayward Canadian balloon caused an international stir — and thwarted 3 air forces

"The top guns who couldn't pop a balloon," read one newspaper headline at the time, taking aim at the Canadian pilots.

But the snark was premature.

"It's a bit of a case of the pot calling kettle black," shot back Canadian Maj. Bernard Degagne on television. "In that the [Royal Air Force] also tried to bring the balloon down and were also unsuccessful."

Even the muscle of the U.S. Air Force couldn't bring the balloon to Earth, according to a BBC report.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/weathe ... -1.6737831

[Drip_Torch]

I can't help but think there is a distraction side to this, otherwise we would
not know about it.
It would not be in the news.

What are the shysters up to now ?

Too many eyes on the skies these days. They didn't want all the attention, but by keeping the first balloon quiet for as long as they did they aroused curiosity. Now there isn't much happening over continental North America that isn't getting noticed.

Latest news points out of the USA,

- No indication that three downed aerial objects were Chinese or spying.

- Officials also disclosed that a missile fired at one of the three objects, over Lake Huron on Sunday, missed its intended target and landed in the water before a second one successfully hit.

[Drip_Torch]

Romania & Moldova both report “strange objects in their skies” Romania scrambled military jets & neighboring Moldova temporarily closed its air space after authorities in both countries reported mysterious weather balloon-like objects traversing their skies.

Things that make me go hmm...

[Silverstarqueen]

"Russian bombers in no way related to floating objects."
https://globalnews.ca/news/9487095/russ ... ska-norad/

Just passing thru?

[Drip_Torch]

KYIV (Reuters) -Six Russian balloons were spotted over Kyiv and most were shot down after being engaged by air defences, the Ukrainian capital's military administration said on Wednesday.

It said the balloons may have been carrying corner reflectors and reconnaissance equipment but did not specify when they flew over the capital, although air alerts were issued in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"According to information that is now being clarified, these were balloons that move in the air under the propulsion of wind," the military administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

[Drip_Torch]

RCMP call off search for object shot down over Lake Huron
Police say search halted due to weather conditions and low probability of recovery

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/r ... -1.6751339

[seewood]

^^^ common radar reflector used on sailboats.

[Drip_Torch]

There were ropes hanging under the object shot down over Lake Huron.

[seewood]

There were ropes hanging under the object shot down over Lake Huron.

Makes me think of the meme where the fellow is all bandaged up in a hospital bed commenting about there I was minding my own business at 40,000 feet....

Biden commented tonight that all three were not military in origin.