What the heck is that? I asked.

[Basil]

Last night I was following my son's 737 as he flew from Ohio to Austin, TX when I saw a weird little ball on the flightrader24 app. When I click don it I saw it was at an altitude of over 57k feet and flying a very irregular flight path. The registration was N254TH and Type was BAL604.
After doing a bit of research I determined that it was a high-altitude balloon that is part of Project Loon, which is a Google effort to bring internet connectivity to rural areas that might not otherwise have internet.

 

[GregW]

So you can have internet from 10 PM 'til 12:30 AM if you happen to know the balloon is in range? Is St. Louis a deadzone for the internet? Looney would be a better project name.

 

[Basil]

So you can have internet from 10 PM 'til 12:30 AM if you happen to know the balloon is in range? Is St. Louis a deadzone for the internet? Looney would be a better project name.

You don't have to convince me.

 

[DrEntropy]

Next they'll be sending up bats with mirrors tied to their bellies, ala the exploding bat experiments in WW-II.

 

[PAUL161]

Probably a UFO!

 

[mikephillips]

I have seen a couple stories about solar powered electric airplanes designed to circle an area for up to a month at a time to provide a wireless connect point for rural areas. No pilots of course, just a computer.

 

[Gliderman8]

Next they'll be sending up bats with mirrors tied to their bellies, ala the exploding bat experiments in WW-II.

I saw an "unexploded" Japanese balloon in the Smithsonian Museum. It had multiple incendiary devices hanging down from a basket that was attached to a balloon. They were launched off of ships in the Pacific when the air currents were heading towards the US coastline.
The crude onboard microphones would pickup "city noise" and release the ordinance. Crude yes, but some actually worked and started fires.

Doc- Bats with mirrors is ridiculous.... Bats with wifi repeaters to distribute the signal is a better plan

 

[AngliaGT]

I believe one of them exploded on the Southern Oregon coast.

 

[DrEntropy]

Doc- Bats with mirrors is ridiculous.... Bats with wifi repeaters to distribute the signal is a better plan

I was thinking "green"!! Recycle all the little mirrors from defunct 35mm SLR cameras!

 

[mikephillips]

As I understand most were launched from mainland Japan to ride the jet stream. They set a few forest fires in the NW but didn't do the damage or divert resources like they hoped they would.

 

[Gliderman8]

I was thinking "green"!! Recycle all the little mirrors from defunct 35mm SLR cameras!

Well I have one of these gathering dust and there’s no stinking mirror

 

[DrEntropy]

Well I have one of these gathering dust and there’s no stinking mirror View attachment 80844

Mebbe repurpose all that Tessar 35mm glass to focus a short wave digital beam from the stinkin' itty-bitty bat belly mirrors? That way establish a "discreet subscriber" base. Like Elon's "Starlink" thing.

Besides, film is disappearing anyway. Mirrors are next.

 

[AngliaGT]

I found the story -Japanese Balloon Bomb

 

[Gliderman8]

Mebbe repurpose all that Tessar 35mm glass to focus a short wave digital beam from the stinkin' itty-bitty bat belly mirrors? That way establish a "discreet subscriber" base. Like Elon's "Starlink" thing.

Besides, film is disappearing anyway. Mirrors are next.

Pish posh.... no need for glass or mirrors, we have lasers in space that started fires in California

 

[DrEntropy]

Pish posh.... no need for glass or mirrors, we have lasers in space that started fires in California

ah HAH!! That explains it!

 

[AngliaGT]

Is that related to the Alien Spaceport in Mount Shasta?

 

[Basil]

Here's another one, different registration, launched out of north Texas now at almost 60k feet over south central Kansas.

 

[DrEntropy]

Here's another one, different registration, launched out of north Texas now at almost 60k feet over south central Kansas.

View attachment 80902

If that track were a Rorschach test, I see Pegasus!!