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balloon, China, former newsreader, Mark Alford, missouri, right wingnut, social media, that ridiculous hat
Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF
Steve Trimble February 16, 2023A small, globe-trotting balloon declared “missing in action” by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10.
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“I’m guessing probably they were pico balloons,” said Tom Medlin, a retired FedEx engineer and co-host of the Amateur Radio Roundtable show. Medlin has three pico balloons in flight in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
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Launching high-altitude, circumnavigational pico balloons has emerged only within the past decade. [….]it was possible to calculate the amount of helium gas necessary to make a common latex balloon neutrally buoyant at altitudes above 43,000 ft. The balloons carry an 11-gram tracker on a tether, along with HF and VHF/UHF antennas to update their positions to ham radio receivers around the world. At any given moment, several dozen such balloons are aloft, with some circling the globe several times before they malfunction or fail for other reasons. The launch teams seldom recover their balloons.
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In fact, the pico balloons weigh less than 6 lb. and therefore are exempt from most FAA airspace restrictions…
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Yesterday, from Mark Alford (r):
Mark Alford @RepMarkAlford
We need to identify UAPs sooner and act swiftly to remove any UAP that threatens our airspace and sovereignty before it flies over U.S. soil, not after.
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7:11 PM · Feb 17, 2023
Just a few responses:
💤💤💤
Mark Alford @markalfordkc
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You’re right!!! America is asleep alright!!! Wake up…the wolf is at the door!
8:49 PM · Feb 17, 2023
BS Li’l Marky. The big bad wolf [….]?
You are wrong Mark. TFG was the one asleep. They were flying over the US and the orange gut was golfing.
Give it a rest, Mark (r). Your balloon envy is tiresome.