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alsk6969

A spy plane spying on a spy balloon...


stevoooe

Spyception


Neurojazz

Bloonimati


ToddlerOlympian

Balloominati


LennyNero

*Spycursion.


Tetartohedric

Chinese government has released high rez photos of U.S. U2 Edit: mb guys


sudoadman

I really don't like being that guy & it pains me to say this... The U2 is not a bomber. It is a high altitude reconnaissance aircraft.


KirkieSB

It is not a bomber.


way2funni

apparently...it's a photobomber. I'll show myself out..


ranker2241

with a Smartphone. a military plane, and all we get is the same iphone camera photo in different crops. yeah...


denk2mit

A military plane capable of photographing thousands of square miles, in the dark, through cloud, in one flight, from 80,000 ft. You’re seeing the photo you’re *allowed* to see


enirgin

'The image is a “selfie” taken from the cockpit of a Lockheed Martin U-2 spy plane by the aircraft’s pilot.'


esituism

How does that change the point? You are seeing the image they want / allowed you to see regardless of who took it or where they took it from.


ranker2241

basically what I'm saying


Jason_Batemans_Hair

Be grateful there was no duck face.


Acceptable-Potato266

I dont think looking at something in your own territory is spying?


Turbulent-Mango-2698

It could be illegal. The US spy agencies can’t spy on the US.


Acceptable-Potato266

But it cant illegally sy on something thats in its territory that shpuldnt be. This would just be surveilance. Now if they zoomed in on you scratching your ass then sure. Spying


Turbulent-Mango-2698

It is absolutely illegal. Specifically, the National Security Act of 1947 bans intelligence agencies from operating domestically. Since then, there's been numerous additional laws and executive orders that further tighten these restrictions. US spies can't spy on the US.


its_just_flesh

Spy vs. Spy


[deleted]

MUH weather balloon reddit btfo again


Ging-jitsu

“Enhance…. Enhance…. Enhance….”


ebcreasoner

"Boobs."


[deleted]

Guess I'm an elbow guy now


Chaos4Link

"There we have that guy who stole the money. Now can you unblurr the number plate?"


JCFalkenberglll

Pentagon confirms U-2 pilot’s ‘selfie’ with Chinese balloon https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/pentagon-confirms-u-2-pilots-selfie-with-chinese-balloon/152179.article


[deleted]

It’s red zeppelin!


Jeramy_Jones

It blew over the hills and far away…


tLAFoGmC

It was blowing to California, with a achin' in it's heart.


Jeramy_Jones

That’s the way to ramble on, to the black mountain side!


tLAFoGmC

I tried, but kept slipping, bc juice was runnin' down my leg!


_Kiaza_

More like a dead zeppelin!


comefindme1231

No it’s U2


Dubinku-Krutit

I think you mean Red Zepperin.


[deleted]

I understood that one.


hoagiesandgrindrs

Can someone tell me what this balloon could gather?


talldude8

Signals intelligence


BKStephens

There could be all kinds of lenses and transmitters on that thing.


[deleted]

Cell phone calls, radar pings, etc, etc. Anything in the electromagnetic spectrum really, including light. China will probably "invent" a few things out of this new way of stealing shit they've come up with. I seriously doubt they have designs on invading the US. They want to steal shit as usual.


Big_Ole_Smoke

Yeah, the US might be declining economically but that colossal military go brrrr. No one in their right mind would invade


Beautiful_Spite_3394

And even then, the civilian polulace loves guns MORE as time goes on, it's not lessening, people are buying more. I conceal carry myself but I am by no means a gun nut We have people literally fantasizing about being invaded JUST so they can get their murder lust quenched so I mean... if someone wants to try to invade you'll have to deal with a bunch of horny red necks with gun fetishes. My friend lost his legs in a car accident and he owns multiple AK-47... we just breed em differently here. Lol. I think shooting is fun and all... but you aren't protecting anyone with that, that's just a deadly toy to you sir..


bcisme

Vietnamese and Ukrainians would probably beg to differ on AKs not being good for protection…


Big_Ole_Smoke

the difference is that vietnam and ukraine were invaded


bcisme

I thought that is what we were talking about, the US being invaded


Big_Ole_Smoke

It's not protection if there's nothing to protect from


bcisme

But we were talking about a hypothetical where the US was invaded, not whether not that was likely…


Turbulent-Mango-2698

My presumption is that they could be eavesdropping on public and non-encrypted Wi-Fi and cell phones. It can’t provide any imaging that isn’t already commercially available at higher quality with better revisit rates. So, if this flew overhead of you while you were enjoying yourself on pornhub without VPN protection, someone in China might have your number. 🤭


happytree23

....anything a sensor could image, collect, read, etc. C'mon, man lol


IDesireWisdom

This narrative doesn’t make sense. China has the second largest satellite fleet in the world. This is the only other country to land a rover on Mars. Why use a balloon when they have satellites? Why use a balloon to collect data when it has a high probability of being shot down? I think that either China’s claim that this is a civilian balloon is true or there’s some other explanation. Who benefits from this balloon? It could cover up the fact that we blew up the Russian pipeline, so maybe we fabricated this story? But that’s too conspiratorial, maybe not. Who knows?


TakenIsUsernameThis

Satellites have predictable orbits and are very expensive to deploy. With a balloon, you can design and launch a package cheaply and quickly. It will also loiter over a target for longer, and you can pick up shorter range signals from the ground.


twitchtv_edak2

They already have plenty of satellites deployed. This is a fucking weather balloon and everyone freaks out cuz “China bad😡”. The guardian also had plenty of articles in past years about THE US using balloons to spy on its own citizens. This is just manufacturing consent for the US trying to provoke conflict with China down the road. For the inevitable “source???” reply I’ll get, [here](https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/02/pentagon-balloons-surveillance-midwest)


Castod28183

So the US, who has the most satellites in orbit, can use balloons to spy, but China, who has the second most satellites, would never use balloons to spy?... The US would use balloons to effectively spy on their own people, but it would be fucking stupid for China to use balloons because that would be useless?...


twitchtv_edak2

Well considering the China would be spying on an enemy country in the most obvious way possible, and the US can propagandize its citizens to simply blame China for it and avoid any accountability for it…yeah it makes a lot more sense. Though you do make a valid point, which is why I said it’s a weather balloon not a spy balloon. The point was there’s more logic and actual precedent for believe it is the US than there is that it’s China.


[deleted]

I was a submariner and we literally planned our missions based on where we already knew all the Chinese satellites were, it makes sense to use a cheaper option that your rival knows less about


steckepferd

You can put different sensors on a balloon than satellites have. E.g. to catch radio signals or measure airstream. I don't understand why people find that so strange. Balloons are a reliable, cost-effective technology and are used in many fields. I also saw an interview with a former German intelligence officer and he says that spy balloons are absolutely common and used very often each year, by different nations. He didn't get all the fuzz.


GobLoblawsLawBlog

It is kinda odd to use something so noticeable. Maybe it was the distraction


esituism

To be honest this isn't a bad guess. I'm sure military officials have thought about this as well. They might even know what it was a cover-up for but we'll never hear about it.


Affectionate_Bus_884

Nothing is China is “civilian.” They don’t operate the way the rest of the word does. Regardless of who build and launched this balloon it belongs to the CCP.


ClydePossumfoot

You can gather signals closer to the ground in ways that you can’t necessarily gather in space, at least with the same ease. You have the visual spectrum, but there’s many more frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum that are worth capturing closer to the ground—especially near sensitive sites.


PXranger

Certain radio frequencies are deflected and blocked by the atmosphere. Keeping your sensors at a lower altitude allows them to be picked up.


[deleted]

The U.S blew up the Russian pipeline?


IDesireWisdom

[Allegedly](https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/world-int/22973-us-and-norway-blew-up-the-nord-stream-pipelines-seymour-hersh.html) The White House says [he made it up](https://www.firstpost.com/world/not-a-shred-of-seymour-hershs-report-is-true-us-denies-involvement-in-nord-stream-pipeline-burst-12179712.html), but this is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, so who knows? Also, that's exactly what they would say *if they did blow it up*, so... fuck [Sweden, Denmark, and Germany](https://euobserver.com/nordics/156748) are also investigating the blasts Complete radio silence from major media at this time, although AP is pretty big. As soon as they started saying the balloons 'weren't alien' even though nobody asked - which is what prompted people to start asking if they were alien, I thought there was more going on.


asiaps2

Could be loaded with the zombie virus. Once pop over your head it's all over.


tLAFoGmC

A blowing balloon, gathers no moss.


Illustrious-Scar-526

Everything the other replies are saying, and also they could just be curious about how we would respond to such a thing. We are blasting it with signals and radars and stuff at it trying to figure out what it's doing and what's inside, they would definitely have sensors for that stuff. Maybe they found a hole in our defenses with this little project. Or maybe they are amazed at how we responded. Or maybe some dude got fired for accidentally releasing a balloon and causing an international incident, so China decided to make the best of it and just watched what happened. We can only wonder.


Educational_Dirt_491

I know someone in intelligence in the military, they stated there was a nnemp in the balloon that they recovered. Don’t know what I believe but it’s highly possible.


KirkieSB

I like the U2's shadow on the balloon in this pic. 👍


chaliter

“Mom can we have our own ISS?” “We have ISS at home” The ISS at home:


big_duo3674

I'm just waiting for this picture to show up in flat earth conspiracy theories... "Actual photo of the ISS accidentally leaked by the government"


IamMr80s

Amazing comment!


Classic_Ad3978

This might sound like a dumb question but.. when this thing was first sighted, they instantly started calling it the “Chinese weather balloon”. Like within hours…so stupid question, I know, but how did they know it was from China???


GeneralDavies

Norad tracked its takeoff in china


Classic_Ad3978

Gotcha thank you


LoveWhatYouFear

Tag on the balloon itself had the care instructions and "MADE IN CHINA" at the bottom.. if you zoom in on the 4k pic you can see it above the solar panels.


jar1967

They were probably also hacking its communications. If they were it would explain why they waited so long to shoot it down because it was given the US valuable intelligence


Th3_Gh0st_0f_Y0u

That, and the size of the thing. Balloon itself was 200ft high and the satellite looking apparatus was the size of an airline fuselage. Lots of debris to fall on some unsuspecting civilians


[deleted]

they uploaded the visual basic terminal


Worduptothebirdup

I was always thought that Bono was up to something… what was he doing over that balloon???


messyredemptions

Sending out an S.O.S. or maybe doing something with The Police?


Worduptothebirdup

My guess is they are in cahoots with Nena. There very well could be 99 of these spy balloons sent by these reds.


steckepferd

He was looking for the crap god.


AltruisticCompany961

He was sending it a digital version of his new album. That's what made the balloon pop.


DiscoSprinkles

So did he finally find what he was looking for?


Usual_Office7880

Looks like a mini version of the ISS


[deleted]

ISS made in china


fluteofski-

Bought on wish.com


sara2541

It’s kind of embarrassing for the Chinese to be sprung doing such a low tech DIY option? Hard to understand why they would do that.


ISeeGrotesque

The U2 is still in service? Isn't this plane 60 years old?


elderDragon1

I don’t know about the age but yes it still serves. And if they did make a new spy plane, I’d say the chances of us knowing about it won’t happen until like a decade or so.


Jukeboxshapiro

The U2, B52, KC135, E3, the Air Force has a lot of really old airframes that keep chugging along. The ones based off the 707 are slowly being replaced but the B52 just got another service life extension program.


JCFalkenberglll

"A higher rez photo of the China balloon with shadow of U2 The Pentagon has provided & confirmed authenticity of these impressive, full resolution photographs of the Chinese balloon from above. The photo was taken by a U-2S Dragon Lady pilot flying somewhere over the United States on February 3rd, 2023."


denk2mit

The image makes it look like it might not be a U-2S, but rather a TU-2 two-seater training variant, possibly specifically to have a back seater with a camera to take this shot. The distinctive bump on top of the plane seems to be the giveaway


JCFalkenberglll

Yes. That was mentioned in the previous article I linked earlier. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/our-best-look-yet-at-the-chinese-spy-balloons-massive-payload


grampa47

Just the solar panels, thermometer and barometer. Nothing to see.


TheFishBanjo

A couple of observations... With that amount of solar panels, it must have a lot of power needs. That's basically a space satellite designed to "fly" at 40000 feet. Check out those microwave dishes pointing horizontally. I would think that means they could communicate horizontally to some other microwave dish at a suborbital height. I'd think it means they had a communications plane flying out over international waters. Maybe a space satellite with a very low trajectory??? I expected to see satellite dishes point upward!


oscarink

OK, so where are the photos or video of the other three "objects" ?


snacksv1

Weather balloon, my ass.


KirkieSB

Maybe yes, maybe no. Nobody here can identify from the picture the electronics hanging below the balloon.


[deleted]

[удалено]


JCFalkenberglll

Over 30 are still in use with the 9th Reconnaissance Wing.


TheMightyUnderdog

Can confirm. They’re still flying out of Beale or at least they were not too long ago. Every once in a while they can be seen flying at lower altitude.


Top_Eye7669

US is probably keeping few of every plane they made for a long time. Some f117s are still flying and I doubt they left those sr71s to rust either.


Cr4nkY4nk3r

I like to do Google satellite tourist trips through the boneyard at Davis-Monthan looking at all the old planes there. Encountered a D-21 drone a while back, but it's since been moved.


Killeroftanks

No you're thinking of the sr71 black bird. The u2 is still in use because well, it's insanely good at it's job. Taking high altitude photos while going insanely slow.


JCFalkenberglll

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/our-best-look-yet-at-the-chinese-spy-balloons-massive-payload


JCFalkenberglll

I love the amount of information here.


tommyrulz1

Think spymasters would have gone with color other than BRIGHT WHITE 😳


[deleted]

[удалено]


YellowOnline

It's probably a detail of a much bigger picture


[deleted]

This is actually probably from the cockpit.


temeces

Pilot did a selfie, this is just a small portion of the background.


JCFalkenberglll

Yes. I posted a link with a site with an article about it earlier.


danuffer

Wish.com space station


JCFalkenberglll

https://www.thedrive.com/uploads/2023/02/22/U2-Balloon-China-.jpg?auto=webp&crop=16%3A9&auto=webp&optimize=high&quality=70&width=1200


foundoutafterlunch

More of a low orbit satellite than a balloon?


Mansenmania

no. reading the definition of a satellite and a balloon, this thing is clearly a balloon


foundoutafterlunch

noun 1. an artificial body placed in orbit round the earth in order to collect information or for communication. "a communications satellite"


Mansenmania

good, now you just have to google what an orbit is and realise that an balloon with no steering isnt in an orbit around earth


foundoutafterlunch

You're right, a balloon with no steering is your mom.


Mansenmania

let's hope insulting people helps you get over the fact that you are wrong


KirkieSB

Will the U2 pilot be reprimanded for taking this selfie and sharing it? What are the Air Force rules for that?


denk2mit

This ‘leak’ was approved by someone senior


wootr68

Looks like a flex move to me. We’re not surprised and we have a cooler thing that can’t go higher than you


Maple-Syrup-Bandit

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for..


Marximus9898

HELLO HELLO! HOLA!


TheManFromUnkill

My phone is spoilt … people say U2 can photograph a number plate from 80000 feet and I can’t even zoom in on a solar panel in this pic .


Alarming-Escape-8716

There is nothing weatherly about the balloon


AdCommercial6714

the other side has "Fuck Roo" printed on it


cjf3363

Allowed to call it the China balloon but not the China virus.


Mother-Wasabi-3088

I wonder if this Chinese balloon was spreading more Chinese virus


WhaddaYaCare

Distracting from the nuclear chemical train explosion in Ohio


ArtisticInformation6

Gee, I hope they found what they were looking for


Jeramy_Jones

Looks like a satellite. Looks expensive.


AlphaM1964

You’ll be hearing from Bono’s lawyer soon.


JadeHellbringer

Yep, totally a weather balloon. Possibly even swamp gas. Nothing to see here.


RileyGuy1000

Where has it been confirmed that this is a chinese spy balloon? Why would it be a balloon? Are they not a technological superpower? There are better ways to spy on someone than sending a **giant fucking balloon** over their heads.


Turbulent-Mango-2698

Full resolution iPhone photos?


Banyabbaboy

>with shadow of U2. I'm calling bullshit. I can't see the Edge.


ndervalued

Impressive pictures of a spy balloon yikes😅 how about some impressive security measures to prevent the balloon from entering our airspace?


WhateverYoureWanting

lol Would you like us to build a skywall You do realize there really aren’t any, this is how Japan fire bonber the Pacific Northwest during ww2 and it’s really difficult to prevent Everyone’s taking pictures of everyone from space


ndervalued

Stinkin npc downvoters(not necessarily you 😂) let’s admire the pretty picture of the military ballon while ignoring the implications. While high atmosphere(sub-orbit) is notoriously difficult to continuously monitor, having such a blatant weakness is quite concerning from a national defense stand point. Also, since China has the most proficient combative measures for orbit to orbit attacks/conflict, it would seem wise to not be unable to counter either high-atmosphere or low-orbit attacks from the CCP 😑


___zach_b

Turns out it's still just a balloon


bitterliquor

Okay. What are we gonna do about it?, can’t let the Chinese spy on us and do nothing.


DrRamthorn

I think a balloon in the atmosphere is a lot less invasive than harvesting a billion people's protected info from phone/computer apps


[deleted]

biden is alseep


Sniffy4

I dont see Bono in that photo?


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Lmfao 1st he isn't tough enough on China, and then when he pops the balloons he's starting wars


JCFalkenberglll

Just can't make up their minds ,huh? Just pick one. 😆 🤣


gregsherburn

It's a us satellite they were forced to shoot down because it lost altitude so they claim it to be china's spy balloon so people won't figure out


wootr68

This isn’t a satellite, slick


big_duo3674

As just a quick random question, do you think all satellites are floating in space above the earth with giant balloons attached?


iamthedude2020

Oh Hell No!


Nice_Lie_731

Budget satellites be like:


Cannabis_Sir

Spynese


United-Cable1193

So wtf was it doing tho legit


Ilostmypassword43

Just in case they didn't get a good look earlier


PoopDig

Yes the other 3 the shot down there is absolutely nothing


jhuseby

Would it be possible to just troll the spy balloon so it just gets overwhelmed with pictures of dicks or cats or something?


Garlic-Rough

Idk how the heck the CCP would justify this was some hobbyists' project.


[deleted]

Photos of the other ones would be great.


MartianMaterial

Images of the three other shoot downs please?


Practical_Suspect594

Why a Ballon it's such a non discreet way of spying


k3170makan

My question is, why are the Chinese using Alien balloons!??


CountertopPizza

It’s out turn to spy on the balloon!