Gary Varvel for February 04, 2023

China is just showing that Biden is their property. No surprise there.

I can’t believe anyone in their right mind thinks it’s okay for China to have a spy balloon floating over the US. It can be easily taken down safely and should have already been as soon as it was known to be a spy balloon.

Can anyone think of a better way to deliver a bio weapon?

“The Big Guy” isn’t going to stand up to the communist Chinese.

Some simple questions: what is accomplished by shooting it down? Why is there so much concern over this when China (and the US) have so many better methods of spying? Why does the “shoot it down” crowd think they know better/more than the professionals whose job it is to analyze these types of actions? (disregard the last question as it was rhetorical: I recognize that everyone thinks they’re an expert on everything because, reasons)

It’s OK to send tanks to Ukrane and incite Putin, but China gets a pass? 10% for the big guy twice!

And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men.. don’t know what to do with a balloon. Y’all sure you’re getting your money’s worth from the defence department? Apologies for not handling it while it was over us.. but in our defence.. we don’t have one.

I’ve heard the direction this “balloon” takes is being controlled and info is being transmitted constantly. We should have the tech to scramble whatever is being transmitted or block it?

A funny one from Varvel! Dang it!

How appropriate!

Can’t wait to see how many people will call Gary a liar/idiot over this one..

Let stop blaming Fox propaganda Station. Their viewers have lazy brains.

People worry about a spy balloon while they’re scanning Tik Tok.

What a country.

Dunno about shooting it down. If you shot it down, you wouldn’t get to see what it was carrying (because it would be destroyed). Better to leave it up there until you can figure out how to bring it down without destroying the payload. It could be full of germs or viruses. We easily can figure out if it is sending anything back to China, and if so, what it is sending back.

We the people need to let our Senators and Representatives know that Biden and JCS is dangerous to our National Security.

Looks like our WOKE Progressive Brandon nut riders are taking the day off? We finally have something even they won’t defend…’bout time jeeze

No one believes that it was blown off course, my question is how did it get to Montana before it was detected? Military assets include but are not limited to, Malmstrom Air Force Base in Cascade, MT, and several Radar sites, and training sites. Also, Chinese companies own land in Montana.

Was this balloon launched in the United States is what I want to know? I may be a bit hyperbolic but the question needs to be asked.

Is there any way possible that we could actually reduce our dependence on China? Couldn’t more companies come back to the US, and/or find other countries where we could outsource manufacturing? This is getting very scary.

Good example of Gary wearing racism on his sleeve.

Yes, the balloon is a concern. The military is keeping close eye on it. Once it reaches water, there is a good chance it will then be brought down and recovered. Due to what it is, and not knowing if there is any kind of self destruct mechanism (bomb) on board, it’s not safe to bring down over land.

In the meantime, the USA military can intercept any and all transmissions. Relax people.

Now of course, if these were Chinese fighters or bombers, they would have been dealt with quickly. As, in that case, the risk of a shot down jet/bomber being downed would be less than letting them carry out their mission.

It’s all about level of risk.

For all the folks who want is shot down, it was the Military who told Biden not to bother. I assume they know somethings that we don’t??

Balloon had ‘intelligence value,’ official says

A senior U.S. defense official gave more details about the takedown, stating the balloon was hit at approximately 2:39 p.m. by a single F-22 fighter jet firing a single AIM-9X air-to-air missile.

“Fighter aircraft from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia fired a single missile into the balloon, causing it to crash into the ocean,” the official said.

It’s full of viruses! Shoot it down over Montana! They’ll refuse to get vaxxed and then die! Eh, it’s Montana, who’ll notice?

Who will you blame when the bird flu becomes a human flu?

Few of things in response to some of the comments. As I predicted, an F-22 was used in the shoot down as it has the ceiling for such an intercept. They used a missile WITHOUT a warhead to literally pop the balloon as it is much more precise than cannons. Our Intelligence agencies knew the minute it was launched and tracked it all the way from China to where it was ultimately intercepted. Where the debris landed the ocean floor is about 40-50 ft. deep so recovery will be a relatively easy task.

What I’m very interested in from a SIGINT perspective, is did it have a signal package onboard to transmit imagery and telemetry, possibly to satellites in orbit which would eventually be downloaded to China. Or, were they planning on downing the balloon somewhere to retrieve its info. Another possibility would be to eject the recording and storage device for a parachute recovery which is an old, simple and well used technique.

Thing is, if it did have a data transmitter, then the damage has already been done. Our Intel agencies know the answer to that, heck back in the day I have intercepted old Soviet Radiosonde signals. So why wasn’t it intercepted as soon as it entered our airspace over the Aleutians or at least the wide open spaces of Alaska if they wanted to be sure to examine the wreckage. Why weren’t the American people notified of the balloon when it entered our airspace? Hey, we get told when our Air Force intercepts and ‘escorts’ Russian spy bombers why not this balloon?

Well done, Gary!

and intel specifically didn’t tell Trump for state security