Balloons and rumours of balloons

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1. From the DoD’s desk, essentially proving conceptually that indeed it only meant to look like an intrusion but is a shared effort as both sides are the same Luciferian team. The very first paragraph – the incident is far from over – indicates how they control the narrative even before the scheme scenario begins.
   https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/china/balloon.htm

   Intelligence: Spy Balloon
   The Chinese balloon with what appeared to be a solar array hanging beneath it drifting high above the US raised a feeding frenzy of alarm from elected officials, though the balloon is almost certainly a wind-blown scientific apparatus.

   The balloon was shot down off the Carolina coast the afternoon of 04 February 2023 and an operation was launched to recover the debris. The Biden administration had previously hesitated to shoot the balloon because of risks to people on the ground from falling debris.

   The Chinese government confirmed on 03 February 2023 that the balloon discovered by US authorities in US airspace was its property, although it clarified that it was “of a civilian nature” and used for “scientific research.” A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “This balloon comes from China and is of a civilian nature and is used for scientific research such as meteorology. Due to the influence of the westerly wind and limited control capabilities, the balloon deviated from the intended course.”

   China also expressed regret that the balloon strayed into U.S. airspace. Chinese officials criticized the United States for exaggerating the incident. China stated regrets that the balloon strayed into the territory of the United States due to force majeure, and will continue to maintain communication with the United States to properly handle the accident.

   The balloon was observed flying over Montana earlier in the week by a commercial aircraft, after flying over the Aleutian Islands and Canada, according to a U.S. official. Montana is home to US land-based nuclear missile silos. The Pentagon said the balloon flew over several “sensitive” areas.

   In recent years, high-altitude balloons have also appeared over Japan. For example, in 2020, a high-altitude balloon was discovered over the northeastern region of Japan, with a cross-shaped object suspended below it. Japan’s defense minister said at the time that the balloon was being closely monitored.

   The balloon was about 60,000 feet above the central continental US and was moving east, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said 03 February 2023. The balloon “has the ability to maneuver,” Ryder told reporters, but he did not provide specifics. He also flatly denied the Chinese government’s claim that the balloon serves a civilian research purpose, saying that the US knows it is a “surveillance balloon.”

   US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his trip to China this weekend in light of the incident, which he called a “clear violation of our sovereignty,” but said lines of communication will remain open to resolve the issue.

   “SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!” the former president wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump, who has announced a bid for the 2024 presidency, tied his criticism to a wider vow to curtail Chinese espionage if elected. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is expected to launch her own presidential bid later this month, also called for the US to shoot down the balloon in a Twitter post. The former governor said “Biden is letting China walk all over us.”

   Sky lanterns, also known as Chinese lanterns, are airborne paper lanterns that are most commonly used in celebrations and festivals in Asian cultures. They consist of a paper shell stretched over a frame, with a candle inside. When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, causing the lantern to rise into the air like a hot air balloon. In ancient China, sky lanterns were once used strategically in wars by the Chinese.

   High-altitude balloons have a history of 200 years. In modern times, they are also called high-altitude scientific balloons, which refer to unpowered aerostats that fly freely in the stratosphere. High-altitude balloons can fly in close space and carry out scientific and technological research activities.

   The “immersive” in-situ detection has brought scientists a wealth of first-hand information, which has greatly promoted the disciplines of atmospheric physics, space astronomy, and cosmic rays. observational research. At the same time, the high-altitude balloon can also be used as a platform for remote sensing experiments, space load experiments, microgravity science experiments, life science and genetics experiments.

   Gu Yidong, academician and octoral supervisor, was director of the academic committee of the Space Application Engineering and Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, chairman of the Chinese Society of Space Science, member of the Chinese Committee of the International Space Research Committee (CNCOSPAR), and a technical consultant for manned spaceflight engineering.

   In 1977, Gu Yidong initiated and promoted the development of China’s high-altitude scientific balloons, carried out long-term and systematic research on the design and development of balloons, developed and released a series of high-altitude balloons and put them into use, making China the third country in the world with a capacity of 400,000 cubic meters.

   Gu Yidong led the establishment of China’s high-altitude balloon system, organized and directed more than 180 high-altitude balloon scientific exploration and technical experiments, achieved important results, and promoted the development of China’s space scientific exploration. It is the pioneer and foundation of China’s high-altitude scientific balloons and major academic leaders. His main contribution to the application of manned spaceflight is to creatively solve the problems of application system integration and the combination of science and engineering, leading the application system to complete all the scheduled scientific and application tasks of the five spacecraft with high quality and excellence.

   Jiang Luhua, director of the Balloon Vehicle Research Center of the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the “China Science Daily” that high-altitude balloons are an important means of scientific exploration in the stratosphere, but he is not optimistic about its commercial prospects. “Because of the characteristics of low cost, quick results, and heavy load, high-altitude balloons are still ideal platforms for some space and atmospheric science experiments.” Jiang Luhua said.

   The research and application of high-altitude balloon technology is entering a rising period in our country. In the near-space pilot project recently deployed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, high-altitude balloons will be used as an important means of observation. At the same time, the high-altitude balloon polar expedition will also march to the Antarctic.

   Adjacent space refers to the airspace between the bottom of the stratosphere and space, 20 to 100 kilometers above the ground, including most of the stratosphere, the entire mesosphere and part of the ionosphere. It has become a hot area for developed countries to develop and apply in recent decades. However, in terms of detection means, the aircraft cannot stay at this altitude for a long time, and satellite remote sensing detection is also hopeful.

   Internationally, the development of high-altitude balloons, especially the technology of long-duration balloon flight, has developed rapidly. So far, the United States has released more than 2,000 high-altitude balloons with a maximum load of 3.6 tons, France has about 3,000, and Japan has more than 800, with a maximum flight height of 50,000 meters. The technical advantages are obvious.

   China has a long history of high-altitude scientific balloon exploration. As early as 1984, the Chinese Academy of Sciences built China’s first high-altitude scientific balloon system. In the 1980s, it cooperated with the Japan Institute of Space Science and Technology to conduct a trans-Pacific flight from Japan to China. From 1989 to 1991, it cooperated with the Soviet Union. The longest cross-border flight in the northern hemisphere. Over the years, China has carried out about 200 high-altitude balloon flight activities. It can manufacture balloons of up to 600,000 cubic meters, with a maximum flight altitude of 43 kilometers and a maximum load of 1.9 tons.

   After a long-term investigation, the Balloon Vehicle Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences cooperated with the Inner Mongolia Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences to establish a new high-altitude balloon flight test base in China in Siziwang Banner, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia in 2017.

   Gu Yidong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed at the 610th Xiangshan Science Conference held in October 2017 that the stratosphere-tropospheric exchange detection on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau deployed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ near space pilot project, the near space and ionosphere coupling detection, and the near space response to solar storms. The three important research programs, including the China National Aeronautics and Exploration Survey, all use high-altitude balloons as the main detection tool.

   On 12 March 2018, when the National “Two Sessions” were held, the launch meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Class A strategic pilot technology project “Near Space Science Experiment System” (referred to as “Honghu Project”) was held in Beijing. Xiang Libin, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the party group, and leader of the special leading group, attended the meeting.

   At the meeting, Cai Rong, the person in charge of the Honghu project, reported the special implementation plan, and Wei Yong, the project leader, reported the goals of the special scientific research. With the general goal of “recognizable, retainable, and usable”, the Honghu Special Project would break through a series of key technologies and develop heavy-duty aerostats, long-lasting overpressure aerostats, reusable power aerostats, Three types of 5-type experimental platforms, including the balloon-borne near-space solar unmanned aerial vehicle system and the mid-level and high-level scientific detection platform in the near space, built China’s first near-space scientific experiment system, focusing on the near-space environment and ecosystem.

   In three typical regions including mid-latitudes, the near-space comprehensive detection with the most complete coverage parameters and the most complete altitude range has been carried out so far. The special project will deeply describe the weather, electromagnetic environment and radiation environment of near space, explore the environment of near space, reveal the biological effects of key environmental elements in near space, lead the international scientific research of near space, and improve the development and utilization capacity of near space.

   The system mainly uses high-altitude scientific balloons as the flight platform, which can support various space science experiments, space exploration and new technology experiments. In order to expand scientific and technological output, the Honghu Special Project has opened up some resources according to the annual scientific experiment plan, and solicited 2021 near-space scientific experiments and technology experimental projects in China.

   Freedom of innocent passage at sea (also called freedom of navigation) is well-established through customary international law and international conventions. However, freedom of overflight is not exercised according to customary international law, and no international convention on freedom of overflight (International Air Services Transit Agreement of 1944) is universally accepted. There have been efforts by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to revitalize the Transit Agreement. As early as 1901, the French legal scholar Paul Fauchille wrote an article entitled ‘’Le domain aerien et le regime juridique des aerostats’’ in which he referred to, inter alia, the freedom of the air. Some years later, John Westlake, a British lawyer, took an opposite view. He was in favour of recognising the principle of sovereignty in the air as the primary principle of public international air law and attempted to put an end to the transit rights of balloons and to the use of particular equipment such as wireless telegraph.

   The international recognition of absolute State sovereignty of airspace expressed in article 1 of the Chicago Convention extends up to the point where flight by conventional aircraft and balloons is possible.

   On 08 February 1956, during a news conference discussing U.S.S.R. protests of U.S. high altitude balloons violating U.S.S.R. airspace, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said “the question of the ownership of upper air is a disputable question. . . . What the legal position is, I wouldn’t feel in a position to answer because I do not believe that the legal position has even been codified . . . .” Later in the same news conference, Secretary Dulles answered a question by saying, “Yes, I think that we feel [that the U.S. has the right to send balloons at a certain height anywhere around the globe], although . . . there is no clear international law on the subject.”

   Although this appears to be a definitive statement, Secretary Dulles qualified it by arguing that the balloons were not interfering with aircraft rather than discussing sovereignty, saying there is a “recognized practice to avoid putting up into the air anything which could interfere with any normal use of the air by anybody else.” The next day Secretary Dulles said the U.S. position was that the legal status of the upper air and the spaces beyond it was still undetermined, and that recognition of any national claim there might raise questions as to the legality of other modern media, such as radio waves and even the projected space satellite.

   At the 33rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Warsaw, Poland in 2000, the Scientific Balloon Panel formulated a resolution to the COSPAR Executive Council requesting a task group be formed to study and report to the bureau on the technical aspects of overflight of scientific balloons (including altitudes, balloon sizes and payload masses, characteristics and features of payloads, and safety requirements) and possible international actions to enable the geographically-unrestrained and the peaceful free flight of such apparatus over all countries.

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