For at least a week the eyes of America and the media has been on the “Chinese’ balloon floating over the US….now the country can rest quietly the damn thing has been shot down.
US Air Force fighter jet on Saturday shot down a balloon launched by China that was suspected of spying as it floated over several states and inflamed tension between the nations. The balloon came down in the Atlantic Ocean, off the South Carolina coast, the AP reports. Recovery efforts began immediately. President Biden afterward praised the US forces involved. “I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible,” he said. Military leaders decided the operation would pose the least danger to people on the ground if the balloon was shot down “when it got over water within our 12-mile limit,” Biden said, per the New York Times.
F-22 fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia were deployed, per CNN, and fired a single AIM-9X missile at 2:39pm ET when the balloon was about 6 nautical miles from Myrtle Beach. The FAA had imposed ground stops and closed airspace over parts of the Carolinas earlier in the afternoon, saying the move was to “support the Department of Defense in a national security effort,” per the Washington Post. The Coast Guard also had told sea traffic to leave the area, anticipating debris would be scattered over a large area. The military tried to time the operation so that crews could reach the debris, projected to fall in US territorial waters, before it sinks.
Calling the operation “a lawful action” in a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said China was using the balloon “to surveil strategic sites.” The balloon, which was floating at an altitude of 60,000 feet, had been spotted Saturday over Charlotte and South Carolina’s Greenville County. Jeffrey Billie of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, saw the balloon come down, per the Times. “It was two fighter jets dancing with this thing going around and around it,” he said. Next, a third jet appeared and fired the missile as the balloon moved over the water. “Then, of course, the round big white ball that we saw—all of a sudden it looked like a shriveled Kleenex,” he said. Another Chinese balloon is over Latin America, Pentagon officials said.
Can we put this to bed?
But not before I share something I read on Twitter…..
The Halfway Post@HalfwayPostBREAKING: 6 local conservatives in South Carolina have accidentally shot themselves in gun accidents while attempting to shoot down the Chinese balloon.
In Saner Thought 
This must be satire. No hand-held weapon fired from the ground would reach the height the balloon was travelling at, surely?
Best wishes, Pete.
I agree but we are talking about gun nuts that think they can solve all problems with their guns. chuq
There is no way this balloon event will ever fade from public view as long as there is a single word of anti-democrat propaganda they can squeeze from it.
Tomorrow there will be shiny keys for the public to loose their collective minds over. chuq
John this wasd not the first time this thing has happened…..
The official said that Chinese balloons “transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the prior administration and once that we know of at the beginning of this administration, but never for this duration of time.”
Fox News reported that at least one Chinese balloon flew over Florida and Texas during the Trump administration, but President Trump and former top officials in his administration strongly denied the claim.
Later, an unnamed senior Biden administration official claimed to Fox that the balloons that transited over the US during the Trump administration were only “discovered” after he left office. “They went undetected,” the administration official said.
chuq
The republicans on my conrol site are telling me that anything about balloons transiting during the trump administration is a lie,
Not what officials are saying….but everything is a lie to those people. chuq
I am from SC and have heard nothing regarding the 6 conservatives but I quite sure someone shot at it. I mean it was only above forty thousand feet.
I am sure it was satire….but plausible. chuq
How can we rest knowing that our President took so much time to decide to shoot it down, that it went across our country first?
And I believe it was flying at 66,000 feet.
I am sure it was the chance of it being harmful in some ways….waited until the harm was minimized chuq
No clear land between Alaska and Carolina, eh?
Or possibly much needed media exposure for propaganda purposes…..just saying chuq
Reblogged this on https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
If this were true in South Carolina, the Chinese would speak of a perfect mission. 😉 terrible these boys. xx Michael
It is a satire….but is believable……chuq
Thanx Michael for all your re-blogs I appreciate the help Be well chuq