Ongoing ‘spy balloons’ entering NORAD air space - up to no good

[Bigtime]

Haha, this is amazing. The U-2 rules.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1628530142422130689

[Faust]

Spy balloon sent data to China in real time - report

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65169855

[JohnnyB]

Not so much attention for this report I guess...

Chinese spy balloon did not collect information over US, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - A Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States earlier this year before being shot down did not collect information as it went across the country, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

"We assess that it did not collect while it was flying over the U.S.," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters.

The balloon spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before the U.S. military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast on Biden's orders.

https://www.reuters.com/world/chines...on-2023-06-29/

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Not so much attention for this report I guess...

….

Hey everybody! Did you hear the news about that thing that nobody talks about anymore? The balloon story? Well the Chinese government is free and clear of any wrong doing so we can all go back to thinking about it quickly, to remind ourselves that the Chinese government is innocent, and then we can go back to forgetting about it again.

Let’s all post about it too though to announce that we also read the news and often see an article and think to ourselves “hmm…well there ya go” and continue on with our lives.

[Coach]

I don't buy that for a second.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

….

Hey everybody! Did you hear the news about that thing that nobody talks about anymore? The balloon story? Well the Chinese government is free and clear of any wrong doing so we can all go back to thinking about it quickly, to remind ourselves that the Chinese government is innocent, and then we can go back to forgetting about it again.

Let’s all post about it too though to announce that we also read the news and often see an article and think to ourselves “hmm…well there ya go” and continue on with our lives.

It was weeks of hype and fear being driven by the news media over that event. The last post in here is a BBC report citing 'US media' as their source for claims that the balloon was sending data in real time. Now that there has been time to do a proper investigation, we have a statement from the Pentagon indicating that narrative was basically fabricated bs. Still, the bs is what a lot of people were left believing, and since corrections to a more boring truth don't catch eyeballs to sell ads, most people won't ever hear/read the correction.

As a result of the frenzy that people got whipped up into over that event, it still gets cited by politicians, the media, and in day-to-day life, even though it turns out it wasn't actually doing any spying over the US and it doesn't seem like it was even intended to go over the US with any such intent.

Next time "spy balloons" get trotted out as part of a political or media narrative, it's worth knowing that it didn't actually spy and all the hype and fear isn't grounded on actual substance.

[Fuzz]

The balloon spent a week in February flying over the United States and Canada before it was shot down by a fighter jet off the Atlantic coast, on orders from President Joe Biden.

The sensors from the suspected Chinese spy balloon were later retrieved from the ocean.

There was concern that Beijing was using the balloon to gather information as it passed over US military bases.

Chinese officials say it was a civilian weather balloon and that the US overreacted by shooting it down.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66062562

Here's the problem with dealing with the CCP. You can't trust anything they tell you, and they will gaslight you every time they put out messages. It's not really possible to over-react, because you can't trust anything coming out of the CCP. Because of that, the reaction was appropriate.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66062562


Here's the problem with dealing with the CCP. You can't trust anything they tell you, and they will gaslight you every time they put out messages. It's not really possible to over-react, because you can't trust anything coming out of the CCP. Because of that, the reaction was appropriate.

Your rational brain clearly stops working where it collides with your ideological bias if that's the kind of nonsense you actually believe.

[nik-]

the irony

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Your rational brain clearly stops working where it collides with your ideological bias if that's the kind of nonsense you actually believe.

Are you suggesting people should trust the CCP? Because, you know, that's not a very good tactic. It's like, kind of a big thing they do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_China


Also hilarious how "recognizing facts" is akin to "ideological bias". There is nothing wrong with being cautious around an adversary who regularly uses deception.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Are you suggesting people should trust the CCP? Because, you know, that's not a very good tactic. It's like, kind of a big thing they do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_China


Also hilarious how "recognizing facts" is akin to "ideological bias". There is nothing wrong with being cautious around an adversary who regularly uses deception.

In fairness to JohnnyB, the Pentagon also said it wasn't doing anything.

Both historically reliable sources of truth, the CCP and the Pentagon.

[Locke]

"As God as my Witness I thought the balloons were just a brilliant new Dim Sum delivery mechanism....Dumplings from Above!!"

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Are you suggesting people should trust the CCP? Because, you know, that's not a very good tactic. It's like, kind of a big thing they do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_China


Also hilarious how "recognizing facts" is akin to "ideological bias". There is nothing wrong with being cautious around an adversary who regularly uses deception.

I'm not really suggesting. I'm directly making the point that your statement "It's not really possible to over-react" is substantially misguided, to say the least. It basically says that when it comes to China, any reaction, no matter how extreme and disproportionate, is justifiable. Any rational and thinking person would recognize that's pretty dumb and that careful and measured responses should obviously always be what we hope for between the US and China.

Unfortunately, in this case we saw the negative impact of overreaction when a high-level diplomatic trip to improve relations was canceled and a tonne of public hysteria about the Yellow Peril was whipped up over a balloon that wasn't even collecting any data. It was basically nothing. The overreaction to it has made relations worse. That's a bad thing.

Also, if anything is hilarious, it's deflecting to "China lies" in response to early media hype around unsubstantiated 'facts'. Of course China lies. So does the US. So does Canada. Every country lies. But this incident looks like the media grabbing a story and building a fear narrative because the real facts aren't as exciting. This narrative has been so effective that terms like "spy balloons" are now being thrown around by politicians in both the US and Canada, leveraging this fear narrative for their own interests - another negative consequence of overreaction.

Originally Posted by Coach

In fairness to JohnnyB, the Pentagon also said it wasn't doing anything.

Both historically reliable sources of truth, the CCP and the Pentagon.

For sure, the Pentagon could be lying about it not having been recording anything, but why tell that lie? I don't see the motive. It seems more likely that the reports at the time saying it was a balloon maybe sent near Guam which had then been blown way off course into the US are more credible. Biden has also recently said the Chinese government was embarrassed because they didn't even know it was there. Now the Pentagon is saying it wasn't even recording over the US. Maybe they are lying now, but it sure looks like the most likely explanation, just the most boring narrative and one without any utility in getting either ratings or political support as compared to talking about "CCP Spy Balloons!"

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Locke

"As God as my Witness I thought the balloons were just a brilliant new Dim Sum delivery mechanism....Dumplings from Above!!"

I am open to having dumpling drones sent my way any time.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

It was weeks of hype and fear being driven by the news media over that event. The last post in here is a BBC report citing 'US media' as their source for claims that the balloon was sending data in real time. Now that there has been time to do a proper investigation, we have a statement from the Pentagon indicating that narrative was basically fabricated bs. Still, the bs is what a lot of people were left believing, and since corrections to a more boring truth don't catch eyeballs to sell ads, most people won't ever hear/read the correction.

As a result of the frenzy that people got whipped up into over that event, it still gets cited by politicians, the media, and in day-to-day life, even though it turns out it wasn't actually doing any spying over the US and it doesn't seem like it was even intended to go over the US with any such intent.

Next time "spy balloons" get trotted out as part of a political or media narrative, it's worth knowing that it didn't actually spy and all the hype and fear isn't grounded on actual substance.

And what's happened as a result of all this nonsense? Asian Canadians/Americans being discriminated by others in North America. I suspect the same nothing-burger will come out about these spy police stations in Canadian cities. But there again, the damage will have already been done.