I find it difficult to believe that a space craft capable of interstellar travel, created by an advanced civilization, would be shot down by an AIM-9x…
I find it difficult to believe that a space craft capable of interstellar travel, created by an advanced civilization, would be shot down by an AIM-9x…
When a humorous reply is pulled down because of mention of the real country responsible, what is the point of continuing with this?
Probably just mylar party balloons. Real question is why cant our trains stay on the tracks?
Could be it is the "Interstellar Aliens" equivalent of a message in a bottle. Hoping it would reach an intelligent species to play chess with. If that were the case, it may have been launched a few million years ago.
I like that idea a lot better than balloons with bottles of biological bad stuff..
Rick Potter
DIY journeyman,
FWW wannabe.
AKA Village Idiot.
Proud Pilot.jpg
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Because the rigors of interstellar travel are far more extreme than the explosive powered shotguns that are air-to-air missiles.
Lots of assumptions in that but... if you can't deal with the shrapnel from an air-to-air missile, how can you deal with hitting space debris at near light speed?
Maybe the aliens went through a worm hole?
Or maybe its just a man made object. With the prevalence of cheap UAV tech, spy balloons, etc., do we really need to jump to aliens without any supporting evidence? JMO.
Regarding Aliens, for a while I thought Don Henley was spot on with "They're Not Here, They're Not Coming", Then Mulder and Scully pointed out that "Humans are Aliens", then I remember that Neil Young pointed out a while back that "Maybe the star of Bethlehem wasn't a star at all". It helps to believe in something... I have capitulatied to believing in a Mystery?
Last edited by Maurice Mcmurry; 02-15-2023 at 6:37 PM. Reason: spelling
Here’s some food for thought…
Particularly the “Hypothetical explanations for the paradox” section. My favorite is basically, intelligent life destroys itself before getting the chance to meet other aliens.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
Its a new Amazon delivery service
Amazon have identified they can aviod more tax by storing items off planet
I think I heard that the 3 objects other than the balloon were of different shapes. Leads me to think it's a test of stealth capability vs our radar systems. And it turns out that our radars have blind spots or we would have seen those objects before they crossed our shores. So now we know that, and will have better radar soon.
Brian
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher
It seems there are advertising balloons about the size of a small car in square and rectangular shapes with strings below. no idea how high they could go
about $150 on AliExpress
Free Shipping 2m Large Inflatable Helium Advertising Cube Ball Inflatable Square Balloon For You - Inflatable Toys - AliExpress
White Rectangular Large PVC Helium Balloon With Custom Logo Printing K7161-2 - Bikidi Inflatables Co., Ltd. - ecplaza.net
Hobbyist woodworker
Maryland
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.
When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.
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. (Not even Santa can hide!)
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?