The US used a Sidewinder missile on a F-22 Raptor jet to shoot down the flying object over the Yukon on 11 February. Image Courtesy: Lockheed Martin
Unidentified flying objects have become all the rage — they have been spotted in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and even Ukraine. Over the past two weeks, there’s been a hysteria over the Chinese spy balloon and other aerial objects being shot down by the Joe Biden administration, which has only worsened fraught ties with Beijing.
On Friday, US president Joe Biden in one of his most extensive remarks on the matter said that there was no indication that the three objects shot down in North American air space — one was taken down in Alaska on 10 February, another over Yukon in Canada on 11 February and the third on 12 February over Lake Huron — are tied to China’s spy balloon program and are likely from private entities.
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said on the objects shot from the sky over Canada and the US. “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”
Now, even as questions continue to swirl over what these objects were and what purpose they were serving, there’s also another question that’s being asked: Did the US take down a $12 (Rs 993) inflatable launched by a hobby group in Illinois rather than some spy balloon or object?
Spy balloon or hobby club’s inflatable?
It seems that one of the flying objects shot down by an American F-22 with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was, in fact, a small, globe-trotting balloon by an Illinois-based hobbyist club.
But, how did this theory come about? According to a report by Aviation Week, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade’s (NIBBB) silver-coated, party-style “pico balloon” reported its last position on 10 February at nearly 40,000 feet off the west coast of Alaska.
Interestingly, projections showed that the object would be floating over the central part of the Yukon Territory on 11 February — the same day a Lockheed Martin F-22 shot down an unidentified object in the general area.
Moreover, NIBBB’s balloon also was cylindrically shaped, the same description the White House officials have provided for the flying object that they took down over Yukon territory.
Reports add that the amateur radio pico balloon K9YO-1 was on it’s seventh circumnavigation of the globe after being aloft for 123 days.
Incidentally, these “pico balloons” range between $12 (Rs 993) and $180 (Rs 14,900) and are naturally buoyant above 43,000 feet.
If these claims are proven to be true, then it means the US used a $200 million F-22 Raptor and a $400,000 Sidewinder missile to bring down the innocuous balloon. For those who don’t know, the Sidewinder missile, made by Raytheon Technologies, is a heat-seeking, supersonic, short-range missile. The 84-kg device is powered by solid fuel, and it has a length of 9.9 feet.
When Aviation Week contacted government agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) did not acknowledge that harmless pico balloons are being considered as possible identities for the mystery objects shot down by the Air Force, while a NORAD spokesman told the publication, “I have no update for you from NORAD on these objects.”
What’s a pico balloon?
Very simply put, pico balloons are very small flying objects with payloads so small that the entire vehicle — balloon, electronics, and antenna — is less than 20 grams. They are “super pressure” balloons, meaning the balloon is filled with lifting gas and sealed before launch. The balloon expands as it ascends until it reaches an equilibrium and maintains a relatively consistent altitude.
In fact, the US has a sizeable pico-ballooning community and enthusiasts of this activity are now worried that the recent sightings of flying objects and the subsequent action of taking them down could pose a threat to their hobby.
Tom Medlin, a retired FedEx engineer and co-host of the Amateur Radio Roundtable show, owner of three pico balloons in flight in the northern and southern hemispheres was quoted as telling Aviation Week that there was a fear that their balloons could be shot down next. “I hope that in the next few days when that happens we’re not real trigger-happy and start shooting down everything.”
Explained: Why are so many flying objects suddenly popping up in American airspace?
What we know about the three flying objects now?
Details about the three flying objects that the US shot down are still not clear. The Biden administration has been pushed to provide more information, but it is still not forthcoming.
As of now, we know that on Friday, the US shot down an unidentified flying object over the Arctic Ocean near Alaska. The following day, an American F-22 downed the object over the Yukon Territory. NORAD had sent American fighter jets, which were soon joined by Canadian fighters, to track the object. On Sunday, the US took down another object over Lake Huron using an F-16 fighter jet that shot the object with a Sidewinder air-to-air missile.
John F Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, said that the object shot down near Alaska was much, much smaller than the spy balloon and compared it to the size of a small car. Meanwhile, the object over the Yukon was described as cylindrical smaller than the spy balloon shot down over the Atlantic the previous weekend.
The object that was downed Sunday had an octagonal structure with strings hanging off, US officials said.
With inputs from agencies
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