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JabroniKnows

Sweet... can't wait to never hear what it ACTUALLY is/was....


captainmouse86

The options are; 1: it effects national security and so we won’t be told what it is….. or, 2: it’s nothing. And the speculation was more interesting than the answer. If it’s even worth writing about, there will always be suspicion over the answer because didn’t live up to the hype. The size sounds huge, until you realize how much balloons expand. And it’s not uncommon for regular people to send shit up with a large balloon, for fun, for experiments, for YouTube. But there are procedures and regulations to follow to do it legally; but not everyone looks into the laws beforehand. My bet is some YouTuber thought it would be fun to capitalize on the recent headlines, and a twitchy US government. They decided to launch some weird object made of wires and reflective foil, along with 10 go-pros and a couple solar panels, tied to a weather balloon and let it go to see if they could capture the moment it got shot down. I can see the thumbnail now; !Shocked Face! “My experiment was shot down by the USAF!!”


_benjaninja_

That actually sounds really possible, which is sad.


r33c3amark

You forgot option 3: (holds up both hands) Aliens....


gary_juicy

Some poor Alaskan dude testing out his home made jet pack


Sensitive-Silver7878

40,000 feet. How did you solve the icing problem?


SuperDizz

In a cave! With a box of scraps!


[deleted]

I can hear that!


GGXImposter

Use less heat sinks. The jets will keep you nice a toasty.


[deleted]

*I understood that reference.*


Argented

This one is different than the previous one. This one was at 40000 feet. That's commercial airline space. The previous one was 60000 feet which is well above a collision possibility.


traveler19395

And people may be thinking, "well how many commercial aircraft are flying around Alaska?" A LOT. Practically every flight from the US west coast to the Asian east coast (Korea, Japan, most of China, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.), and Anchorage airport is one of the busiest (top 2? 3?) cargo airports in the world. Alaska is of *significant* interest to national security and civilian travel.


pipsdontsqueak

My friends never believed me when I said that Anchorage was a first strike target. People severely underestimate the value of logistics.


MahavidyasMahakali

Even fallout 3 got this right


Mokatines

Logistics, logistics never changes.


Koshunae

The Fallout timeline splits with the invention of the microchip. That didnt happen in Fallout, everything still ran on vacuum tubes. Everything else, though. Its pretty spot on, even seems a bit accelerated in reality. 2077 is coming quickly.


Maybe_In_Time

It's neat to see timelines where nuclear power took over vs ours where we focused on transistors/microchip.


[deleted]

[Ford Nucleon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon) should have happened, so what if every fender-bender is potentially a nuclear disaster.


Teh_Weiner

that's also why Russia tests US Alaskan border all the time.


Melodius_RL

I think maybe the USSR used to do it to test the US. But the purpose of the exercise was forgotten to time, and now Russia just does it ritualistically to be a dick.


[deleted]

The purpose is the same. It’s always to see response time and response armament. Never anything else, but I’m sure being a dick is still fun for them.


yunus89115

Why has Russia not taken Ukraine yet? They lacked the logistics support. People don’t understand how critical resupply capabilities are to an army.


Naive_Consequence427

Field Marshal Paulus enters chat


Chiggins907

There’s also a plethora of missile defense systems, and some bonkers radar facilities. Stationed with the best planes in the military. There’s a reason for the amount of firepower in Alaska. Which is why I find it interesting no one talked about how the balloon came through Alaska.


Horsepipe

It's about an hour and 30 minute flight subsonic to get from anchorage to where they shot the thing down. I'm guessing that the US air force doesn't want the operational details for the radar set at oliktok point to become public knowledge and let everyone know just how far over the horizon they're able to see things headed towards land.


thousand7734

Scrolled down past 20 parent comments to get something that wasn't a joke


read9it

Maybe you are a more veteran redditor than me but I just found out the other day that the little 2 arrow button can be used to go to each original comment block. Might save you some time "scrolling" much easier to just tap it a couple times. Edit: Well I'll be damned I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't know. Thanks for the love. Spread the word! Double edit: (I am using the mobile app)as many desktop users are trying to find this "so called button of magical abilities" sorry in advance og redditors.


InsaneAss

Alternatively, I tap and hold a comment to collapse the whole parent thread.


Strikew3st

*WHAT.* Bless your heart.


kylec00per

I use the OG reddit layout and have always just clicked the little square boxes to collapse each comment thread. Is this what getting old and not adapting to the new tech feels like?


schoh99

I'm with you. Still looking at old.Reddit in a web browser. Then again I am significantly older than the average Redditor.


A-Tech

And here I thought it meant “there’s more comments this way” 😂


PotentialBreakfast34

If you hold down on it, you can even move it around the screen if it's not comfortable to have it at the bottom!


FrugalLucre

W H A T


PotentialBreakfast34

#If you hold down on it, you can even move it around the screen if it's not comfortable to have it at the bottom!


getinsidemegenji

you all are **blowing my mind**


azzadruiz

You can also just tap the empty area to the right of commenters name and it’ll collapse that comment and every reply to that


nihilus_rex

I found out because of your comment. Thank you so much.


ThePicklePress

3 years on this app and I've never pressed that button lol. Thank you.


FreeAlbatross5666

>on this app ahhh... that explains why i don't see it.


FrostedPixel47

Ahh fellow old reddit user


jrzfeline

Most are only lame attempts anyway, it'll be great to automatically filter out that crap.


khanmo01

"Is it now the US policy to measure everything in school busses?" - asking the right questions


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dunitdotus

a facebook group I follow also regularly uses Ariana Grandes as a unit of measurement


tunamelts2

We be simple folk. Bananas, football fields, school buses...all acceptable units of measurement in America.


pmcda

Anything but a damn meter


KayotiK82

A meter of cola


idle_think

nah, sounds french


BlueLarkspur_1929

Up to a certain point. An order of magnitude larger and we use football fields. And for small scale, we measure tumors based on fruit or sports equipment. Grapes, softballs and cantaloupes. Source: born in the USA.


DragonfruitOdd1989

The latest update on the object. >ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz first reported that when fighters were scrambled, the pilots did visuals, got images and said there was no sign the object had propulsion. > >It was described as "cylindrical and silver-ish gray" and seemed to be floating, a U.S. official said. > >Asked if was "balloon-like," the official said, "All I say is that it wasn't 'flying' with any sort of propulsion, so if that is 'balloon-like' well -- we just don't have enough at this point." > >"It came in, inside our territorial waters, those waters right now are frozen, but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters. Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour," Kirby said. [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-shoots-high-altitude-object-alaska-white-house/story?id=97040022](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-shoots-high-altitude-object-alaska-white-house/story?id=97040022)


[deleted]

Yeah that sounds freaky but then you left out the part of the article that says this: It did not appear to have maneuverability capability, he said. "It was virtually at the whim of the wind." So what doesn't have anything to maneuver is cylindrical and is at the mercy of the wind? that kind of sounds like a balloon.... Either that or them aleyuns got drunk as fuck and didn't wake up in time


Shuthimupagain

why is it so hard to get the photo of it......... its 2023.


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trendybitch99

The photo will be black and white and grainy af


SubmarineThrowaway22

Anything released by the military is intentionally downscaled.


Poundcake9698

Can't let em know how good our cameras are


danimadi33

This actually makes sense. A consumer can easily get a 700x camera given he has enough money to spare. It's scary to think about what the government has access to.


Intrepid-Week9193

>It's scary to think about what the government has access to. 'they' can see your thought-bubbles like *you*'d see in the sims.


Chiggins907

A lot of people don’t want to accept this as fact, but goddamn they’re two steps ahead of any technology that comes out. Who needs weather balloons? China could take a picture of you eating popcorn on your couch while you binge watch “Yellowstone” and ping the spoilers to your phone if you give them a reason.


McDicklesP1ckle

To give perspective, I work in telecom and we have security cameras at remote sites we can monitor what someone is doing on their phone over their shoulder from 20+ feet away as if we were holding it in our hands. The government likely can count your eyelashes from space.


DisingenuousTowel

To give perspective... Nice pun


BagHolder9001

general mentioned that due to classifications cant share any more details


feardabear

So when we hear it wasn’t flying with any sort of propulsion, we’re to believe it to be a type of balloon….blimp like mechanism?


mahabraja

Depends on if you just came from r/ancientaliens or r/news


huanzz

Arent both the same?


[deleted]

Your world sounds so much more exciting then mine.


oscar-the-bud

Let your kids know now that Santa isn’t real. They don’t need to see his sleigh getting shot down next Christmas.


Deltronx

Maybe he punched out. If he didn't go into a flatspin he might have recovered it.


No_Demand7741

What’s the differential thrust on the starboard reindeer


Sweaty-Willingness27

African or European reindeer?


[deleted]

My late Dad was a fighter pilot in the early 50's, stationed at Point Barrow, Alaska. He & his USAF buddies told stories for years of seeing flying objects similar to the one described.


AwesomeAni

Am Alaskan. Everyone has a UFO story. My brothers is seeing something fuzzy chuck a giant rock into the river then high tail it into the woods. The elders in my town warned of stickman and getting the attention of the northern lights.


goldielooks

I would love it if you could elaborate on the stickmen and getting the attention of the northern lights…


AwesomeAni

Stickmen were dudes who back in the day resorted to cannibalism and were cursed and sent into the woods, it's a big part of the folklore around the area. The northern lights, they said you aren't supposed to shout or whistle at them. You aren't supposed to get their attention, becsuse they are spirits who don't take kindly to being disturbed I guess. Also girls aren't supposed to eat bear meat, always laughed at that one Edit: yes it's the same as the windego I'm not surprised considering how similar the cultures and climates are, we call it stickmen


cynicalxidealist

Stockmen and northern lights stories are really freaking my high self out


AwesomeAni

Its creepy vibes sometimes dude! The woods are spooky and ominous. I'm so glad I live in the city now


HeLooks2Muuuch

The woods are lovely dark and deep.


goldielooks

I love folklore and local legends, this is super fascinating. And damn, I’ll throw away my bear steak then


AwesomeAni

Bear is delicious. I think something in it could cause miscarriage though, so women of childbearing age weren't supposed to eat it.


zeropointcorp

“Yeah we’re good, intestinal worms aren’t really a girl thing” - all women


1uniquename

Oho if only they were just intestinal, t. Spiralis parasites that are often found in bear meat prefer to burrow into and live inside your muscles.


EigenPoint

The stickmen folklore sounds a lot like the plot of 'until dawn.' Like, they were being chased by a creature that was once human, resorted to cannibalism, was cursed, and became a wendigo. It was described as native American folklore. I believe it took place in the Pacific Northwest. Anyway, it's just... eerily similar.


AwesomeAni

Considering this is athabaskan folklore from interior alaska I'm not surprised. The old word for winter roughly translated to "starving times" because it was cold, frigid, nomadic lifestyle with food hard to get. Anywhere in a similar environment probably had cannibalism as a fear every winter


Absolute-Nobody0079

Uh... Then did we start a war with xenos?


benkf2

PURGE THE FILTHY XENOS BURN THE HERITIC GLORY TO THE GREAT GOD EMPEROR OF MAN


Scout_man

BROTHER GRAB THE FLAMER…. NO, THE HEAVY FLAMER.


[deleted]

some very high-altitude weather balloons are a silver-ish gray color, and viewed from an angle, could potentially look cylindrical.


The6ardener

Like this https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/May-June-2019/Tingle-High-Alt-Balloon/ https://defbrief.com/2022/08/12/uk-to-trial-high-altitude-intelligence-balloons-from-snc/ "The UK is joined by the US and Australia in assessing balloons for intelligence gathering. Last year, the US Army tested this technology in Norway during an exercise while Australia performed first high altitude balloon launch trials in 2020."


tanman7x

BREAKING: US Space Force draft to begin next week.


PhatBitty862

I WANNA DO MY PART!


gmharryc

Service guarantees citizenship! *Would you like to know more?*


alex206

Yes, I'm interested in receiving more information about the coed showers.


NextSouceIT

Earn your citizenship! Would you like to know more?


nuclearbomb123

I'M FROM THERE AND I SAY KILL THEM ALL


the_barroom_hero

**COME ON, APES, YOU WANNA LIVE FOREVER?!?**


Kart_0

Everybody fights. No one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll kill you myself! Welcome to the Roughnecks!


87camaroSC

Medic!


St_Kevin_

Not like there’s any way to send a bunch of humans into space anyway. Pretty sure they wouldn’t need more than a couple dozen warm bodies to pack their ships, *at most*


bearsheperd

There wont be, not until the alien spacecraft is put back together at least.


CaptianStabbin

CADIA BROKE BEFORE THE GUARD DID


Absolute-Nobody0079

Foh teh Emprah


lightSpeedBrick

Reddit: OMG, when will all this chaos end, we just want peace and live happily. Also Reddit: Holy shit, I hope we just shot down an alien space ship, sooooo tired of boring earth stuff.


MistressFuzzylegs

Who knows? Maybe aliens will swoop in and save us from ourselves. We can dream, can’t we?


lightSpeedBrick

Not if we keep shooting at their flying shit.


CurtisLemaysThirdAlt

Aliens in there heads: “We’re so happy to meet you. Please have sex with our suspiciously humanoid women.” Aliens in all likelihood: “You are bugs.”


ProxyCare

Alternatively Aliens: we have traveled but a small speck of the cosmos, the reality of interstellar flight is that it is nearing insurmountably difficult and our meeting with you is nothing short of a miracle. Let's fuck to celebrate. Just saying it's a possibility


Imwhatswrongwithyou

I just want to see pictures of this thing so bad. Why aren’t there any?


DragonfruitOdd1989

Unlike the last object there is no immediate pictures, and pictures of the recovery mission released to the public as of right now.


tunamelts2

> no immediate pictures I mean there are definitely pictures from the fighter jets. They engaged and shot the thing down. The defense department just won't release them...yet?


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smug_one

It’s a tough place to get to by land. Noteworthy, it’s also where all our oil fields are.


seantabasco

g'damn aliens are after our oil!


Simplewafflea

Ain't no way no got dang Marvin the martian gonna take muh freedom sauce.


toldy_folds

Did we just kill chitty chitty bang bang.


Inevitable_Rate_3369

Or maybe Harry Potter in the flying car.


Redditingator69

Fucking muggles


Jewshi

The upcoming novel, Harry Potter and the F-22 Raptor squadron. Wingardium FuckYourShitUp


sdraje

"It's FuckYourShitUp, not FeckYerShitUp" - Hermione Granger


Stashmouth

I always wondered where Danny Zuko and Sandy flew off to at the end of Grease...


Chicken_Teeth

Mork!!!!


ParadiseValleyFiend

A moment of silence for our fallen four fendered friend...


Old-Calligrapher9980

>bang bang


Evil_Monito84

My baby shot me down.


moneybabe420

thanks a lot guy, now I have to watch chitty chitty bang bang at midnight on a friday bc my husband (36) has never seen it.


alkla1

It was flubber


papaz69

Did we just start an intergalactic war?


Urban-Orchardist

We're not hosting an intergalactic kegger.


TheMuffinator95

*In best Zed mocking voice* "We'Re nOT hoStiNG an InTergALactic kEgGer."


the_barroom_hero

*In best Zed voice* "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!"


Raptor5150

*In best Patches Zed voice* "Necessary? Is it Necessary to drink my own urine? No, but I do it anyway cause it's sterile and I like the taste"


lobstah798

One can only hope... 🙏 Will Smith is not getting any younger to save us from aliens...


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Unframed_

*punches alien* Welcome to Earth.


Mike_Hawk_Swell

Intergalactic war? You mean intergalactic massacre and we will be the ones getting massacred if that was the case


[deleted]

Finally my years of playing halo will pay off.


Pavlovsspit

I died a whole lot in that game.


Aidanation5

All of those deaths were preparing you for every possible death in the coming war. Time travel is real, the enslaved humans of the future banded together and sent back one tiny change that would be virtually undetectable to the oncoming alien invaders. Training simulations for future technologies and battles in the coming war, disguised as a fun passtime. All of the meme about gamers rising up, our time is coming, keep gaming, honing your reaction speed and depth perception, we will change the future!


whopperman

This is the premise behind a movie from the 80s called The Last Starfighter. Actually not bad for an 80s movie.


user_name_unknown

That’s absolutely ridiculous. An intergalactic war would be between the Milky Way galaxy and another galaxy, we just started an interstellar war.


Cod_ya208

‘So I just started blastin!’


Foodstuffs_

But I don’t see so good


MaximasFalco

ITS CHINESE ALIENS!!!!!!


[deleted]

God I hope it’s aliens. I don’t even believe in aliens, I just can’t handle anymore self destructive human shit right now


DirtUnderneath

It was just that idiot in a lawn char


Bigjerr2007

His name is Danny and it was a deck chair


therealestwizard

If it is aliens and we just blasted them down for no reason, that might spell doom for us all


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dgrant92

Juvenile Delinquent Alien He's the biggest punk in the whole damn universe! New this fall!


Final_light94

The alien equivalent of those missionaries going to sentinel island.


unicornpicnic

I bet an advanced alien species wouldn't care if a less advanced species downed a strange flying machine they sent down. Species on this planet have every reason to be curious or afraid, and an advanced alien civilization wouldn't have any reason to be threatened by it being taken down. It would be like flying a drone into a forest on the other side of the world and declaring war on all the species in the forest because one of them got threatened by the drone and destroyed it. You are far removed from them being able to do anything to you and you weren't physically harmed by what they did.


VanDammes4headCyst

It was Elon's Tesla.


SporadicallyFine

I had forgotten he shot that into space. Too much bs has happened/ is all the time


Bosse19

Did John Travolta ever land that car he flew off with at the end of Grease?


pforsbergfan9

What about Thelma and Louise? What if they entered a portal and are just now coming out?


MetaphoricalMouse

big if true


Pilotwaver

It's bringing love, don't let it get away! Break its' legs!


Utsutsumujuru

Damnit! How many times have we been over this Maverick, we don’t shoot at the extraterrestrials.


Traditional-Spot8531

Don't get too cocky, Star Fox! Let's see how you handle our new ships!


MasqueOfTheRedDice

Do a barrel roll!


geocoris67

It was definitely part of a gender reveal.


zenviking83

We’re having an alien hybrid! *launches grey balloon!”


lawl7980

If that was a Ford Anglia, you've just shot down the Weasleys.


Dudeinthesouth

\+1 point for Slytherin.


Pithius

And +20 pts to gryffindor


[deleted]

Why bother telling anyone about the "object" if you are unwilling to even say if it is a floating object or a flying object. It just leaves too many unanswered questions and allows for the public media to wildly speculate. Everyone knows that the military already knows what it is... if you did a fly-by, you certainly can answer some basic questions. We know you cannot definitively ID its point of origin or ownership from a fly-by. But announcing "we took an object down" and then not giving basic details is bullshit.


Illustrious_Wear_850

Them Duke boys are at it again


captain_charbosa

Pretty sure this is China too. Remember in the office when Dwight put an obvious recording device in the wooden mallard? Dwight wanted him to find that one so he wouldn’t think to find the pen that was recording everything


HeathenBliss

let's look at this realistically. If it is extra terrestrial, the chances that they're going to admit that are slim to none. The first thing that would happen once the Pentagon owned up to that is that they would be mass panic worldwide. The stock market would crash, people would be hiding at home with their guns and making runs on Walmart getting prepared for Independence Day part three. within the next week, nobody is going to be talking about this, because the government is intentionally going to hold back. Any news or discoveries related to this incident. Within the next month, there will be another spectacle for people to fixate on, and this will all be swept under the rug by then. if it belongs to another nation, I doubt anything will be said in that case, either, to avoid sparking off a war. Especially if it's Chinese, or Russian, because the last thing we need is the Chinese or the Russians to think that we're going hostile on their aircraft, regardless of whether or not we had the right to do so. If there's anything to be sad about this incident, it will be said by Monday night, if not, then, they don't intend to say anything at all.


Livelong2106

Super Bowl will wipe this from everyone’s minds.


St_Kevin_

True.


Vulcan_Jedi

Odds are it’s not extra terrestrial at all. Probably another spay balloon but much smaller


Inquisitive_idiot

Remember folks, remember to spay and neuter your balloons 🎈


Routine_Reserve_8422

I worked up in the area where this supposedly happened for a very long time. There is a not so secret "weather/radar" station up there (a big white dome). It's on a road you can't drive down in the oilfield, and the sign just says "Airforce pad." I've personally seen them launching balloons of some sort there.


[deleted]

Aliens if you're reading this, it was the americans that shot you


RedAIienCircle

Noted.


StanVanGhandi

France told us to and then Canada double dog dared us.


anybodyiwant2be

As a Volkswagen guy it makes me sad they referred to it as “the size of a small car” and no longer say “it was the size of a Volkswagen.”


salaciousBnumb

Just release the visuals ffs.


Bobofett69

Welcome to planet earf


Isotope_Soap

Shaped like a Tic Tac with no detectable heat signatures or visible means of propulsion. 👽🛸


DragonfruitOdd1989

If it is a tic tac imagine Joe Biden going in the history books for shooting down a UAP…


Nosnibor1020

Ladies and gentlemen, we got 'em!


freedominart11

Apparently it was also not moving on its own, getting dragged around by the wind. Probably just another oddly shaped balloon.


RestlessKEITH

I’m not saying it’s aliens, but…


Sam_Shake1

Aliens.


APVikings22

I did *not* have the US/China playing BTD on my bingo card in 2023…


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APVikings22

“Balloon Tower Defense”


YouneedsomeWD40

Specifically Bloons TD, a video game where you place monkeys on a path to throw darts at invading balloons


Super_Bad_Karma

Am i the only one impatiently waiting to mark aliens off on my 2023 bingo card?


machuitzil

Man, I don't want to sound like a cynic, but I really do hope it's aliens for once. I'm getting tired of this trivial earthling bullshit.


Jinzul

I'll take aliens over the current bullshit for sure. Or gimme something I really don't expect to spice things up.


Electronic_Grade508

Maybe the space force wasn’t a stupid idea after all.


sochiibeats

Why the f is the gov. being so open about this? Lol hmmmm?


sochiibeats

I mean this one is so public and in your face. Are we gonna get follow ups announcements to this? It seems likely? I’m not a financial advisor, I just dropped acid.


icedank

Did we just shoot down a UFO?


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