Illinois hobby club fears its balloon was shot down by the USAF: report

[mystery-ak]

February 16, 2023 4:39pm EST
Illinois hobby club fears its balloon was shot down by the USAF: report
The downing of the three mysterious objects came after the Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the coast of South Carolina

By Bradford Betz | Fox News

   In the days since the U.S. Air Force shot down three unidentified objects out of the sky, questions linger about just what these objects actually were.

On Thursday, a report by Aviation Week offered an intriguing hypothesis about what one of those three objects could be: a "missing in action" globe-trotting balloon belonging to an Illinois-based hobbyist club.

Small pico balloons range between $12 and $180 and are naturally buoyant above 43,000 ft. These objects carry an 11-gram tracker, with HF and VHF/UHG antennas to update their positions around the world, according to Aviation Week.

The outlet noted that the shape, altitudes, and payloads of small pico balloons matched the descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and NIBBB for comment.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/us/illinois-hobby-club-fears-balloon-shot-down-usaf-report

[Elderberry]

Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down By USAF

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/hobby-clubs-missing-balloon-feared-shot-down-usaf

Credit: Scientific Balloon Solutions

A 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.

The club—the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB)—is not pointing fingers yet.

But the circumstantial evidence is at least intriguing. The club’s silver-coated, party-style, “pico balloon” reported its last position on Feb. 10 at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska, and a popular forecasting tool—the HYSPLIT model provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—projected the cylindrically shaped object would be floating high over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. That is the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object of a similar description and altitude in the same general area.

There are suspicions among other prominent members of the small, pico-ballooning enthusiasts’ community, which combines ham radio and high-altitude ballooning into a single, relatively affordable hobby.

“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.

The descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down Feb. 10-12 match the shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type.

More at link.

[Timber Rattler]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/illinois-hobby-club-fears-its-balloon-was-shot-down-by-the-usaf-report/ar-AA17Ahj6

In the days since the U.S. Air Force shot down three unidentified objects out of the sky, questions linger about just what these objects actually were.

On Thursday, a report by Aviation Week offered an intriguing hypothesis about what one of those three objects could be: a "missing in action" globe-trotting balloon belonging to an Illinois-based hobbyist club.

Per the report, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade’s (NIBBB) silver-coated, party-style "pico balloon" reported its last position on Feb. 10 at nearly 40,000 ft. off the west coast of Alaska.

Projections showed that the object would be floating over the central part of the Yukon Territory on Feb. 11 – the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object in the general area.

Small pico balloons range between $12 and $180 and are naturally buoyant above 43,000 ft. These objects carry an 11-gram tracker, with HF and VHF/UHG antennas to update their positions around the world, according to Aviation Week.

[Timber Rattler]

More:

THE US AIRFORCE MAY HAVE SHOT DOWN AN AMATEUR RADIO PICO BALLOON OVER CANADA

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/the-us-airforce-may-have-shot-down-an-amateur-radio-pico-balloon-over-canada/

Since the famous takedown of a suspected Chinese spy balloon, US jets have shot down a total of three more unidentified balloon objects, now confirmed to have been 'commercial or benign'. There is speculation that at least one these three objects may have been an amateur radio 'pico' balloon.

One part of the amateur radio hobby is launching high altitude balloons with various radio and other payloads. Larger amateur radio balloons launched in the USA require FAA clearance, need a radar reflector attached, and usually continually transmit APRS telemetry before naturally popping and falling back to earth after a few hours, just like a weather balloon.

However there is also the simpler 'pico' ballooning hobby, which involves the use of mylar helium party balloons to launch small solar powered payloads that are only a few grams in weight. They typically transmit low power WSPR at HF frequencies and can only transmit whenever there is sufficient solar power available. Amateur radio or SDR hobbyist stations around the world can pick up these transmissions, and report them on amateur.sondehub.org and/or wsprnet.org. Well built balloons can totally circumnavigate the globe several times over several months before degrading.

While termed 'pico', the party balloons used can still be roughly a meter in diameter on the ground, with some latex balloons potentially expanding further at high altitudes due to the low atmospheric pressure. These balloons can be legally launched from almost anywhere in the world. In particular in the USA there is no FAA clearance required to launch them due to their payload being much less than the limit of 4 lbs (1.8kg).

Explains why these things seem to be all over the place.

[Kamaji]

[mystery-ak]

topics merged

[DB]

And what happens if a commercial airliner hits one of these at 40,000'?

[Elderberry]

UFO shot down by $400K US missile may have been a $12 hobby balloon: report

https://nypost.com/2023/02/16/ufo-shot-down-by-400k-us-missile-may-have-been-a-12-hobby-balloon/

One of the UFOs shot down last weekend by the US Air Force with a $400,000 missile may have simply been a $12 balloon belonging to an Illinois enthusiast club, a report said.

The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade told Aviation Week on Thursday that it fears one of its diligently-tracked gasbags that recently went missing was mistaken as the mystery object taken out by the military over Canada on Saturday.

The Pico Balloon — a silver-coated, cylindrically shaped object — reported its last position at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska on Friday.

The K9YO balloon had circumnavigated the globe six times during a 123-day span before its tracking device went dark Friday.

The balloon was equipped with a small GPS transmitter and an antenna, allowing the group to track it with a ham radio.

The Air Force used Sidewinder missiles in their targeted attacks against suspected Chinese spy balloons and mystery UFOs, Fortune reported. Each missile comes at a price tag of roughly $400,000.

Pico Balloons, however, typically fall between $12 and $180 each depending on the type, Aviation Week reported.


The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade.

[Smokin Joe]

And what happens if a commercial airliner hits one of these at 40,000'?

While it could happen (commercial airline ceilings run up to 42,000 ft., It is pretty unlikely. But suppose one got sucked into the engines, it might FOD it out. The balloons run about a meter in diameter at ground level and the payload is usually well under a kilogram. Other than the unlikely event of getting sucked into an engine, it would be less damaging than a single bird hit or some hailstones.