Quote:
Originally Posted by RICH1
Launched from China and we noticed them over Montana!
Dry run? Embarrassing
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Japan tried that in WW II. Not surveillance balloons but balloons with bombs attached. They launched 9,000 of them, presumably as reprisal for Doolittle's raid on Tokyo in 1942, and with very poor results considering the number launched. A lot of them never reached the mainland, though one got as far as Michigan. They caused a few fires, and some picnickers were killed in, I believe Oregon, when they found one and tried to pull it out of the woods.
Seems like a rather primitive way to gather intelligence on the part of China. Once launched those things go where the wind decides they should. I'm pretty sure China has a lot more reliable means of gathering data than with random balloons.