Military tracking high-altitude balloon flying over Western U.S.::The U.S. is tracking a small, high-altitude balloon that is drifting across the country but poses no threat to national security, the military said Friday.

  • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    You can’t tell me they didn’t work out a plan the last time this happened. Deflate it slowly with a laser, tow it to a secure area with a drone and reverse engineer it. Seems like a solvable problem.

    • bean@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      How do you ‘slowly deflate’ a balloon with a laser? Haha I feel like it’s a pop or no pop situation

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        It’s a mylar balloon. They don’t tear catastrophically at a small puncture.

        Mylar is reflective, though.