the question is partly WTF are these balloons doing
The second question is: if the amateurs in Montana hadn't publicized the photo of the Chinese baloon, would anyone have known about it?
And does this mean that this has happened before, but was kept secret because why?
The "leak" that several of these occurred under Trump but later it was admitted that no one told Trumpieboy about them sugggests this was so.
And maybe not just balloons flying and spying. Drones anyone?
Instapundit links to a 2021 article that mentions drones.that mentions this has been going on for years and that the experts in the Defense Dept are not doing much about it.
Yes, I realize that the idea that an adversary is penetrating U.S. military training areas unmolested, and has been for years, using lowly drone technology and balloons, is a big pill to swallow, but as one of the people who have repeatedly warned about the threat posed by lower-end drones for a decade...'
Nor is the fact that the Defense Department is still playing catch-up when it comes to the realities surrounding the drone threat, and not just to its forces abroad, but also to the homeland overall. The utter lack of vision and early robust interest in regards to this emerging threat will go down as one of the Pentagon's biggest strategic missteps of our time.
more here:
...then there are the green laser attack on Hawaii. What is that about? UKMAIL:
Scientists from the National Astronomical Observative of Japan (NAOJ) tweeted late last month that their camera had 'captured green laser lights in the cloudy sky over Maunakea, Hawaii on January 28.' Video footage showed a number of mysterious green beams shooting across the dark sky. The lights, wrote the agency, were likely from a NASA satellite. On February 6, however, NAOJ backtracked and said that the lights were 'likely' from Chinese satellite Daqi-1/AEMS.so they were reported by Japanese civilians at a US observatory, not the US DOD. Figures.
So what is this about?
Lasers are frequently pointed at planes and helicopters in the USA, most out of mischief but some might be a form of terrorism.
The lasers blind the pilots when they are preparing to land, meaning it could cause a crash. So are the green laser screens also a way to blind pilots in the area of Hawaii?
lasers are also used to make topographical maps. so maybe they are doing this to plan investing in real estate (/s).
But you know, the Chinese are using green lasers to blind the sailors in an area that is within the internationally recognized exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, to stop them from resupplying small military outposts on islets in the West Philippine sea.
From the Inquirer:
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has accused a Chinese coast guard ship of directing a “military-grade” laser at one of its vessels, putting the Filipino crew in danger. The PCG vessel was supporting a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Feb. 6.
......................
I mentioned the arrest and trial of Cardinal Zen in a previous post, but he isn't the only enemy of the Chinese state from being punished.
Recently, with little outcry in the west, the pro democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong are being brought to trial:
HONG KONG--The trial of 16 Hong Kong democracy activists charged under a national security law imposed by Beijing began on Monday with security tight for a case that some observers say will be a test of the city’s judicial independence. The defendants are those who pleaded not guilty out of 47 arrested in a dawn raid in January 2021 and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for participating in an unofficial primary election organized by democracy supporters in 2020.
this is only the latest trial of protesters of the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong, and those in the media who try to report the news
The staff members of Apple Daily were arrested last year during a crackdown on dissent after Beijing imposed the sweeping security law in response to the widespread anti-government protests in 2019. They were charged with conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security.
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update: Drones can be scary
Balloons used to spy on Americans by the American govt: UKGuardian 2019cle
Up to 25 unmanned solar-powered balloons are being launched from rural South Dakota and drifting 250 miles through an area spanning portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri, before concluding in central Illinois. Travelling in the stratosphere at altitudes of up to 65,000ft, the balloons are intended to “provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter narcotic trafficking and homeland security threats”, according to a filing made on behalf of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, an aerospace and defence company. The balloons are carrying hi-tech radars designed to simultaneously track many individual vehicles day or night, through any kind of weather. The tests, which have not previously been reported, received an FCC license to operate from mid-July until September, following similar flights licensed last year.
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