Quote:
Originally Posted by MrLonzo
I've been wondering, and I've never heard this asked in the media -- why is it necessary to use a $400,000 missile to take down a high altitude balloon? Couldn't a small puncture using a low caliber bullet be more effective to provide a slow descent with a soft landing thereby providing easy recovery of relatively intact evidence?
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This scenario was tried by the Canadian Royal Air Force 1998 on a Canadian weather balloon.
Since the balloon went rogue, over 1,000 rounds were fired at it by two Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18 fighter planes after they spotted it over Newfoundland. The balloon was finally struck by the aircraft, but instead of popping or exploding and falling to the earth, it leaked helium very slowly and remained suspended in the air.