Chinese spy balloon carried ‘multiple antennas’intelligence - US State Dept.

[Trigger]

This gets even funnier. The balloon in the Yukon could have been a hobby HAM radio balloon. “ . . . an Illinois-based hobby group which uses $12 balloons with ham radios for a cheap high-altitude hobby says the object shot down over Yukon Territory on Feb. 11 likely belongs to them.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/i...2-pico-balloon

[Tabasco]

If we are doing Cthulhu mythos, the Hounds of the Tindalos material through corners of less that 120 degrees. However, the risk is greatest for time travelers.

I don't remember any of that. My H.P. Lovecraft reading days were in my 20's when "Plan A" was to be a rock star. And I could eat a pint of Hagen Daaz in front of the TV...

[Chance]

This gets even funnier. The balloon in the Yukon could have been a hobby HAM radio balloon. “ . . . an Illinois-based hobby group which uses $12 balloons with ham radios for a cheap high-altitude hobby says the object shot down over Yukon Territory on Feb. 11 likely belongs to them.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/i...2-pico-balloon

[Chance]

Something interesting from this week's Wired newsletter: The Loon Collection. From the newsletter:

Loon began inside [Google's] “moonshot” lab and later “graduated” to become a separate unit.

First announced in 2013 with a public demonstration in New Zealand, Loon had long ago met and surpassed every single allegedly groundbreaking milestone [a Chinese company rep] was bragging about. Altitude? Using specially fabricated materials for its skin, Loon had no problem sustaining heights above 60,000 feet. Circumnavigating the globe? Cassidy says “At least one of our balloons went around the world 14 times,” contributing to a total of over 40 million kilometers in the air. Networking three balloons? “At one point we had several dozen in the air at the same time,” Cassidy says. “All of them networked.” What made the Loon balloons even more impressive was how much they were able to steer themselves by taking advantage of AI-powered predictions of wind currents, informed by real-time government weather data. Armed with that data, the balloons could autonomously change altitude to find a favorable wind direction. And it was all controlled by software that could be operated by a staffer’s laptop or cell phone.

There is a 430+ page PDF from the Loon collection with some detailed technical run downs, all of which Google / Alphabet open sourced when the company shut down. A connection between Loon and the Chinese program is pure speculation, but it's interesting insight into the types of research that are underway in this area.

[rdtompki]

No doubt Raytheon (or whatever they are now) is adding a balloon mode to the Patriot system. Will be first tested in Ukraine, but expect to see a Patriot battery coming to your local abandoned K-Mart parking lot.

Oh, and Lockheed Martin is upgrading the F-35s with a high altitude hoover mode.

[HCM]

[LHS]

That came real close to ruining my keyboard with expectorated coffee

[RoyGBiv]

YES!!!!!

Sharing!

[texasaggie2005]

The Drive: U-2 Pilot’s Selfie Flying Alongside Chinese Spy Balloon Leaks

[feudist]

I don't remember any of that. My H.P. Lovecraft reading days were in my 20's when "Plan A" was to be a rock star. And I could eat a pint of Hagen Daaz in front of the TV...

A pastiche from the Mythos by Frank Belknap Long.
Also part of an excellent trilogy by Caitlin Kiernan, my favorite working writer of Lovecraftian weirdness.