China Lake Naval Air Warfare Station, California.

First published February 7, 2023 at 2:09 p.m.

But before the pilot took the shot on Saturday, the US military wasn’t sure that the missile would actually work for this specific operation, a top US commander said on Monday.  

The F-22, which was operating at an altitude of 58,000 feet, used an AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile to take down the balloon, which was hovering between 60,000 and 65,000 feet, a senior US defense official told reporters after the mission.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of NORAD and US Northern Command, told reporters on Monday that he was unsure if the Air Force ever tested an AIM-9 against a balloon target at such a high altitude.

Business Insider by Jake Epstein, Christopher Woody, February 10, 2023

The CIA and the U.S. Military knew about China Spy balloon long before it was spotted by a civilian in Montana, thereby blowing the cover on the Chinese surveillance fleet and U.S. monitoring of the fleet. Now we get news that a Chinese satellite has been identified as the source of green lasers over Hawaii. From Zerohedge today:

Late last month, mysterious green laser beams were spotted from Hawaii’s tallest peak. Experts initially said the burst of laser beams was emitted by a NASA spacecraft though that was proven incorrect this week — with evidence pointing to a Chinese satellite. 

Space experts at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) initially tweeted on Jan. 30 that the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera “captured green laser lights in the cloudy sky over Maunakea, Hawai’i. The lights are thought to be from a remote-sensing altimeter satellite ICESAT-2/43613.” 

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/experts-believe-chinese-satellite-fired-green-lasers-hawaii

But on Feb. 6, one week later, NAOJ issued a correction on YouTube that specified the laser beams weren’t from a U.S. spacecraft but the “most likely candidate” was a “Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite.” 

“According to Dr. Martino, Anthony J., a NASA scientist working on ICESat-2 ATLAS, it is not by their instrument but by others,” a correction note on the YouTube video explains. 

“His colleagues, Dr. Alvaro Ivanoff et al., did a simulation of the trajectory of satellites that have a similar instrument and found a most likely candidate as the ACDL instrument by the Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite.

“We really appreciate their efforts in the identification of the light. We are sorry about our confusion related to this event and its potential impact on the ICESat-2 team.”

Even though the Daqi-1 satellite is supposedly an atmospheric environment monitoring spacecraft, there are many concerns after the spy balloon incident last week of space-base and even high-altitude surveillance equipment monitoring the US and allies. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/experts-believe-chinese-satellite-fired-green-lasers-hawaii

Here’s the video of the Chinese satellite firing bursts of lasers toward Earth. 

The decision, made by an interagency government group, focused on the scope of the Open Skies Treaty, a 14-year-old agreement that aims to increase transparency and international security by allowing member nations to fly over each other’s territory and monitor military installations or other objects.

The final decision to authorize the Russian flights was made after consultations in Moscow that wrapped up June 28, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the process.

Earlier this year, the Russian government formally requested that its specially outfitted Tupolev Tu-154 jet be allowed to conduct an overflight of U.S. territory. But some U.S. lawmakers and several top defense officials publicly voiced concern that Russia was using advanced camera technology that would be far more intrusive than in the past.

Within weeks of the 2020 election, the Trump adminstration withdrew the U.S. from the Open Skies Treaty and China wasn’t happy. It’s entirely possible that the Biden administration knew of the Chinese surveillance balloons and even tacitly approved of overflights over the United States. President Trump and members of his administration have all claimed that they were not informed of the China spy balloons.

The U.S. Navy continues to be in the news. Today we learned that the U.S. Military didn’t know if the Sidewinder AIM-9 would be able to kill the China Spy balloon. So it was a “test” and a success.

The first live-fire test of the Sidewinder AIM-9 mounted on an F-22 is BIG news for the Naval Air Warfare Station at China Lake.

First, we start with the hypothesis that the now-famous shoot down of a Chinese “weather” balloon was a perfectly executed test of both the Air Force and NORAD’s early warning capabilities as well as a test of the F-22 delivering a successful “kill” via the famous Sidewinder AIM-9 missile.

Roadrunner395 Published February 7, 2023

We also learned more about China’s Spy Balloon program and that it’s part of their global surveillance system including a “fleet” of balloons which gather sensitive communications and imagery.

It would be naive to say that this was just a failure of NORAD and a hole in American air defenses. Indeed, the CIA likely knew how much it cost, how high it flies and what it can carry. If the CIA didn’t know everything about the balloons, it’s an intelligence failure of unknown proportions.

Roadrunner395 Published February 7, 2023

At this point, we will assume that the CIA has likely been watching and tracking the CCP Spy Balloon fleet for at least five years. It’s even more likely that the CIA and national security apparatus were well aware of the program since its inception.

Footage from Chinese Communist Party-controlled state media has resurfaced that shows the testing of a balloon carrying three hypersonic missiles in 2018.

China’s CCP-run media aired the footage of the high-altitude balloon dropping the missiles onto targets on the ground.

The clip has been raising concerns on social media as the aircraft is not dissimilar to the Chinese spy balloon that just traversed, unchallenged, across the United States last week.

Slaynews.com by Frank Bergman, February 8, 2023 – 7:34 am

Also today, we learned that U.S. Navy, working with the CIA, deployed a super-secret team of divers who planted big bombs with timers that blew up Russia’s Nordstream 2 pipeline. The result? Europe is freezing and Germans are sending tanks emblazoned with the Iron Cross to Ukraine.

If the CDC and the NIH can conspire to create chimeric coronaviruses using gain-of-function science (bioweapons) at the lab in Wuhan China (or the many biolabs we were running in Ukraine), we wouldn’t be surprised to find out the CIA was funding and operating CCP balloons that can carry hypersonic missiles, not to mention blowing up Russian gas pipelines.

It’s safe to say a “State of War” has and does exist

In an interview with CBS News, Defense Secretary Austin says nuclear sites were “buttoned down”. China’s been flying a “fleet” of balloons and they’ve flown in a number of places. The balloons are designed to augment the Chinese surveillance system around the globe. China didn’t accept Secretary Austin’s call after the balloon was shot down.

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/02/08/austin-spy-balloon-forced-us-to-limit-movement-communications-across-country-so-we-didnt-expose-nuclear-capabilities/ (Video)

China Lake Naval Air Warfare Station, California

The U.S. Navy is completing the task of recovering debris from China’s balloon after a Sidewinder AIM-9 was launched by an Air Force F-22 Stealth fighter, taking it down off the coast of South Carolina. The Chinese Spy Balloon will soon disappear from the headlines, and we can get back to stolen top secret documents and impeachments.

In the meantime, what just happened?

First, we start with the hypothesis that the now-famous shoot down of a Chinese “weather” balloon was a perfectly executed test of both the Air Force and NORAD’s early warning capabilities as well as a test of the F-22 delivering a successful “kill” via the famous Sidewinder AIM-9 missile.

Second, assume that the balloon is a harmless spy balloon no more capable than any satellite crossing over the United States which they do by the hundreds every day and night. The balloon didn’t represent a clear and immediate danger to the national security, and it didn’t warrant informing the President (or the public) about it’s existence. It could very well be a civilian weather balloon that just happened to be spotted by some dude in Billings Montana.

Most importantly, the shootdown of the balloon represents the first “kill” by an F-22 using the Sidewinder. The irony and the symbolism behind the use of the Sidewinder missile to shoot down the China Spy balloon in 2023 and a trio of Chinese Communist MIGs over Taiwan in 1958 shouldn’t be lost. See the subtitle “The Legendary Sidewinder Missile Made Its First Kill Over The Taiwan Strait” at the bottom of the page.

Then as today, the CCP lays claim to Taiwan, our crucial ally as well as a sole-source semiconductor manufacturer. When the balloon entered the airspace of the United States it became a perfect opportunity to test the F-22 and the Sidewinder as well as to identify, monitor and capture the data from a Chinese spy and weapons delivery system. It was clearly a balloon serving as a potential weapons platform and it was capable of carrying a payload in the tons and was reportedly 20 stories tall. We have it all courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

The Air Force and Navy’s joint strike capablilites include IBAR, which stands for Integrated Battlespace Arena. IBAR is a real-time, lightning fast communications capability for in-the-loop hardware simulations and for command and control during wartime on the battlefield. It’s called the battlespace arena now.

IBAR brings it all together and the U.S. Navy now has surface ships equipped with a lethal integration of multiple weapons systems, including high energy lasers and F-22’s with Sidewinders. Both assets will play a part in filling the any domain awareness gap if it exists. The U.S. Navy can identify and track UAE’s traveling at 13,000 miles per hour!

No see ums are tiny flies that can leave itchy bites on you. They bite and disappear before you see um. For purposes of this article, we have to take solace in the fact that everything we hear from the the mainstream media or the Department of Defense will be misinformation and disinformation.

Any balloon related threat risks will be assessed and dealt with when the time comes at whatever the cost. If the Navy can see over the horizon to identify an extraterrestrial “Tic-Tac” descending from 80,000 feet, it can identify China’s spy balloons floating slowly at 60,000 feet. We now know we can find them and shoot them down with a Sidewinder AIM-9 and so does China. That’s now a deterrence to China.

It would be naive to say that this was just a failure of NORAD and a hole in American air defenses. Indeed, the CIA likely knew how much it cost, how high it flies and what it can carry. If the CIA didn’t know everything about the balloons, it’s an intelligence failure of unknown proportions.

In a memo dated February 1st, sent to his command subordinates on Friday January 27th, Air Force General Michael Minihan, a four-star general in charge of the Air Mobility Command, warned that war with China is likely by the year 2025:

January 27th, Air Force general warns troops of war with China by 2025, disagreeing with Pentagon assessment. Story by Mike Brest • Jan 28

“This is an authentic internal memo from General Minihan addressed to his subordinate command teams,” Lindsey Wilkinson, an AMC spokeswoman, told the Washington Examiner. “His order builds on last year’s foundational efforts by Air Mobility Command to ready the Mobility Air Forces for future conflict, should deterrence fail.”

By the end of February, everyone under his command with weapons qualifications will “fire a clip into a 7-meter target with the full understanding that unrepentant lethality matters most,” the memo said. “Aim for the head.”

Washingtonexaminer.com By Mike Brest, Defense Reporter  January 28, 2023 10:41 AM

A few days later, the balloon was reported to be over Montana after a resident in Billings posted pictures on social media. It then drifted through the heartland of the country passing by a number of military bases.

Fox News is now reporting on a press call with NORAD General Glen VanHerk. The balloon was permitted to enter the United States to be surveilled:

Gen. Glen VanHerck says NORAD got special authority to surveil the balloon within US airspace.

VanHerck says the officials are preparing a more in-depth briefing for top-level lawmakers in Congress. The Gang of Eight is expected to hear the briefing, a group composed of the House and Senate leaders of both parties, as well as the chair and ranking member of both the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy had called for a Gang of Eight briefing regarding the balloon this weekend. VanHerck did not offer details as to when the lawmakers will hear the update, however.

Foxnews.com By Anders Hagstrom | Fox News Published February 6, 2023 2:11pm EST

The term “loss of confidence” is typically used as the reason a commanding officer of a U.S. Navy destoyer is fired after a deadly collision with a cargo ship or an oil tanker. If the Air Force announces that officers have been fired as a result of a “loss of confidence”, then you should be very concerned. The Spy balloon “scandal” comes at a time when the country has lost confidence in Biden as well as the top brass in the military.

Tucker Carlson asks some questions and points out the lies told by the Biden administration. The media was busy praising Biden’s delayed response only to find out that President Trump reacted the same way when during his term in office, on three separate occassions a spy balloon was allowed to encroach on U.S. airspace without interference. That wasn’t true either. Trump didn’t know, nobody knew until after Biden took office. Questions of who knew what and when remain unanswered, but we know that Trump didn’t do it:

High altitude balloons can carry payloads that weigh over a ton. The CCP balloon could easily be used to deliver a nuclear bomb, a bioweapon or an EMP weapon. The balloons are apparently maneuverable and able to monitor and threaten military bases throughout the world. There should be no question that the U.S. Military and NSA have full knowledge of the threat risks and capabilities of China’s spy balloons as well as balloons with weapons payloads.

China is not happy, claiming that the huge balloon floating over the center of the U.S. was a “civilian airship used for research, mainly meterological purposes”. We expect that the CCP has already arrested the civilians involved and sent them to a Uyghur concentration camp.

Could the China ‘spy’ balloon be linked to Montana’s nuclear missile sites?

A suspected Chinese spy ballon was traveling over a number of sensitive sites in the US, a defence official has said, triggering speculation its location and route could be linked to Montana’s nuclear missile sites.

A Pentagon official told a press briefing in Washington DC the suspected balloon had been spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday.

It had first flown over the Aleutian Islands, through Canada, and into Montana.

The official said the balloon – which China confirmed responsibility for – was still over the US but declined to say where it is now, Reuters said. Officials said steps had been taken to “protect against the collection of sensitive information”.

Pentagon Spokesperson

“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the statement read. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.

“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.”

Chinese Government

For five days after the balloon was spotted over Billings Montana by a civilian, the U.S. did nothing. Biden didn’t call a National Security Council meeting or hold meetings in the Situation Room. Although Speaker Kevin McCarthy was quick to call on Biden to brief the “Gang-of-Eight”, he’s been patiently waiting for nearly a week to get that briefing. We suspect he knows that China Lake is quietly celebrating the shoot-down of Red China’s balloon by the Navy’s premiere weapons test facility.

The Navy and the Air Force knew at the time the “civilian airship” arrived off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The CIA had to know. There’s just no way someone in the U.S. Military or the nations intelligence apparatus didn’t know. Together with spy satellites, the U.S. deploys a wide range of assets, including AWACS and ships capable of monitoring everything that flies. There are definitely not no-see-ums, unless they’re UAE’s in which case we can probably see those too!

The Navy’s premiere research development test and evaluation facility at China Lake can lay claim to the shoot-down of the CCP spy balloon on Sunday. The AIM-9 Sidewinder became China Lake’s claim to fame stretching back to the Vietnam War but it’s first use was during the 1958 war between Mao’s People’s Liberation Army and the Nationalist Chinese led by Chiang Kai-shek.

Dogfights over the Taiwan Strait 63 years ago provided the perfect opportunity to test America’s promising new missile in combat.

A first successful Sidewinder engagement occurred on September 24, 1958, apparently over Quemoy, with accounts indicating that three more missile kills were achieved before the end of the day. In all, 10 MiGs were reported destroyed by ROCAF Sabres, the remainder being gun kills.

According to accounts published in the West, 31 MiGs were shot down by ROCAF F-86s over a six-week period during the 1958 crisis, for the loss of two F-86s in return. This was part of a frantic pace of operations, in which the Nationalists flew between 100 and 200 sorties each day, with a similar number being flown on the PLA side.

Thedrive.com BYTHOMAS NEWDICK|UPDATED SEP 29, 2021 6:13 AM

The Sidewinder was initially developed in the garage of William B. McLean and is described as an “in-house” research project by Wikipedia.

The development of the Sidewinder missile began in 1946 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS), Inyokern, California, now the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, as an in-house research project conceived by William B. McLean.

Wikipedia

Perhaps someday, after he’s left the White House, the illegitimate President of the United States will recall the day he chased down and tackled a Chinese pop star wearing balloons. In the meantime, we hope we aren’t attacked by China’s spy balloons: