What's your best guess on the UFOs we've been shooting down?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A tiny, tiny injection of reality amongst the humor...

Bad Dad was USAF and for a time stationed at NORAD (Cheyenne Mtn); radars have been adequate for decades - having famously detected the moon rise via DEW line installations.

A giant golf ball near Kirksville MO was part of our "I Spy" car ride game on the way to grandmas house when we were kids. I never thought much of it other than wanting to be the first to see it. Years later I learned about it from an Air Force Colonel who had been stationed there. It is a big radar and part of NORAD. He said that it could detect a fly ball in Yankee stadium. It is still there and still functioning but the base it is on is now like a ghost town. Previously 100 Airmen worked there. Now it is operated by a few Air-people and a massive computer.

[Brian Tymchak]

I read a couple news reports quoting DOD saying they have a sensitivity-type filter to mask off background noise. When they turn the dials toward "more sensitive" these things show up. However, they also say it is auto dealer floppy balloons, advertising stuff per Mike Soaper's note, gangs of reflective foil party balloons my drunk frat brothers unleashed, "Lawnchair Larry" of 1982 fame; etc. Hence the filters.

Me - I'm rooting hard for the Aliens solution. There have long been three things I wanted to learn before I die - Watergate "Deepthroat" ID - got that one; Where is Jimmy Hoffa? - possible, but not likely; show me some real aliens - still got a shot.

Well howdy Kent!! Been a long, long time. How are you my friend?

The White House stated this was not alien. So,,, you may indeed get your wish granted.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Well howdy Kent!! Been a long, long time. How are you my friend?

The White House stated this was not alien. So,,, you may indeed get your wish granted.

Howdy back. Now, if one turns out to be an alien vehicle carrying Hoffa's remains..........

[Doug Garson]

I think some billionaire had a birthday party and the ballons just got away.

[Mike Soaper]

Atmospheric pressure at 35,000ft ASL (~analogous to airliner operating altitude) is a bit less than 1/4 of sea level pressure. So, a balloon must to be able to expand to 4X its 'launch' size, or bleed off 3/4 of its gas charge.

At 50,000ft ASL, pressure drops to ~1/9 of sea level.

Certainly possible, but the 'stretch' and/or pressure regulators required might be a bit much for a $150 Mylar advertisement?

Malcolm, yeah, i was wondering about how those advertisement balloons would handle the gas expansion, just guessing but maybe they have a inexpensive spring loaded disk dump valve to keep the users from over inflating and rupturing the balloon?


It appears pico(small) ballooning is also a thing. This 4-6' simple balloon is said to have reached 30,000 ft


Pico Balloons by Doug and Mark - DM17 - 2019-12-26

[Maurice Mcmurry]

In today's news I see speculation that the latest ones were indeed hobby balloons. Sending up a toy and a cheap camera has been a YouTube trend for a while. It is likely that hobby ballooning will be banned or regulated, if it is not already.