Mystery object falls from sky, area sealed off by military: 'Weather balloon', say officials

[Ichingcarpenter]

Simply nobody will be giving any credence to officials in America who have stated that a mystery object which fell from the sky this week - after which the surrounding area was evacuated and sealed off for some time by police and military personnel - was just a "weather balloon".

Reportedly, large numbers of government operatives from various agencies converged urgently on a residential neighbourhood in Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday night after an unidentified object fell from the sky there. News reports describe the object as "something odd", with some eyewitness accounts saying it resembled a balloon and others suggesting that the crashlanded artifact had a structure similar to "styrofoam". According to local TV news:



One person told authorities it was making a strange noise.


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/02/mystery_object_falls_from_sky_area_sealed_off_by_military_weather_balloon_say_officials/


http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/suspicious-package-investigation-underway

[dipsydoodle]

1. Graphic missed out

Last edited Fri Aug 2, 2013, 10:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Whether to or not.

[Baitball Blogger]

40. The only thing that's missing is the chips and guacamole.

[Tx4obama]

50. DUZY !!! :) n/t

LOL

[MADem]

51. That's a rather lurid condom....hope it wasn't made/dyed in China....

That coloring rubbing off could scare the living snot outta a person!

[Berlum]

2. I, for one, welcome our new Mystery Object Overlords

[KansDem]

3. Ah, it's the old weather-balloon-falling-from-the-sky trick!

[heaven05]

20. exactly

What's wrong with the truth? We can take it, I think.

[HereSince1628]

4. I suppose weather balloon is a limited hang-out for DOD surveillance blimp

Pentagon to deploy huge blimps over Washington, DC for 360-degree surveillance now being tested over DC and adjacent areas.
http://rt.com/usa/army-raytheon-jlens-blimps-594/

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Those are Barrage balloons

they help us defend ourselves from the Nazi blitz.


Geez we're at war or haven't you heard?

[HereSince1628]

6. Well, if they ARE barrage balloons, apparently

US HSD doesn't want us to know we need them in the air over Virginia, and prefers us to think of them as Weather Balloons.


Do you suppose that the Army of the Potomac is getting ready to invade NE Virginia again? I've noted that the US Army has gone all retro with "blue coats" in recent years.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. either that or I fear the redcoats will try to burn DC again

Or the aliens...or

We need this surveillance to protect us from
Gordon Freeman.

[1awake]

12. Gordon?

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[Dash87]

17. Aliens are more likely.

[stonecutter357]

18. I won't half life 3 NOW.

[Marrah_G]

44. If they do, let them win dammit.....

Then everyone can have healthcare!

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

37. No, no. no.....

.....this was over Norfolk. This means it must be a replay of the Peninsular Campaign. After all, Fort Monroe was closed a couple of years ago.

[1-Old-Man]

46. In 1968 the NSA was using a similar balloon in Viet Nam, it blew away, into Cambodia

and I can assure you all hell broke loose to get it back - which we did/

[Civilization2]

7. Domestic spy drone?

[global1]

8. Alls Well = That Roswell.......nt

[Demeter]

13. DUZY!

What a punster!

[Nye Bevan]

9. I for one welcome our styrofoam ship-piloting overlords (nt)

[bowens43]

11. weather balloon? bullshit - it's swamp gas

[Archae]

15. Nah, a CIA spy balloon

Seriously, that's what the Roswell crash was.

[VWolf]

14. This situation is easily handled

by a standard-issue neuralizer.

[Brigid]

16. Oh noes!!! Somebody call the "hair guy!!!"

[Liberalynn]

29. He's "not saying it was aliens but it was the aliens"

Wonder how quick History 2 can get a crew out to Virginia?

[Brigid]

32. They probably already have one on the way.

[Orrex]

19. It's not a balloon; it's an airship!

[intaglio]

21. When I checked the images

Before reading this I said, "That is styrofoam insulation surrounding a balloon instrument package,"

If course there is no large weather dependent organisation that operates from Norfolk that might have a remote sensing device aloft ... is there?

Sorry, this needs to be in creative speculation or better on the Fortean Times board.

[woodsprite]

25. But Wallops Island isn't that far from Norfolk, is it? n/t

[marions ghost]

42. Could have been from Wallops

but there are other major military installations in SE Virginia. Accurate to say it is one of the most heavily militarized zones in the country, if not the most.

[Ichingcarpenter]

28. Local news story it happen

ITS FUNNY....

[intaglio]

34. Sorry,

There's so much errr challenging (yes, thats a good word, challenging) material on DU at present.

[1-Old-Man]

22. I have to ask, do meteorologists even use Weather Balloons anymore?

And just how does one end up over Norfolk undetected, one of if not the most militarized cities in the United States? One would expect that these days we would have some idea of what was flying around our skies.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Yes:

Twice a day, every day of the year, weather balloons are released simultaneously from almost 900 locations worldwide! This includes 92 released by the National Weather Service in the US and its territories. The balloon flights last for around 2 hours, can drift as far as 125 miles away, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere!



Weather balloons are the primary source of data above the ground. They provide valuable input for computer forecast models, local data for meteorologists to make forecasts and predict storms, and data for research. Computer forecast models which use weather balloon data are used by all forecasters worldwide, from National Weather Service meteorologists to your local TV weatherman! Without this information, accurate forecasts beyond a few hours would be almost impossible!

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/vef/kids/wxballoon.php

[1-Old-Man]

38. Thank you, but now I'm really confused. Why don't they come down all over the place every day?

You would think that just about everyone in the country would have seen one come down sooner or later if that many are being launched - and I have no reason at all to think otherwise what with the information you've provided.

Let me see. 900 a day for 365 days would come out to about 328,000 per year and making what is undoubtedly a mistaken assumption I'll say that they are evenly distributed so that would come out to about 6,500 taking off from and landing in each state per year. That might make them pretty rare to see in Texas but in a little state like West Virginia you'd think they'd be a foot deep on the ground. So why don't we see the things falling like snowflakes?

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. 900 is the worldwide figure; 92 in the US and territories

but more than just the National Weather Service release them (universities, perhaps?) so 75,000 are released each year in the US. And 20% are returned, so they are often found.

Map of the NWS sites releasing them:

http://www.ua.nws.noaa.gov/nws_upper.htm

[1-Old-Man]

48. Thank you very much for that. I had no idea.

Interesting to notice how evenly the sites are distributed.

[hunter]

47. We found one as kids.

My parents made us return it, but it was an interesting experience. They did let me unfold it so I could see how it worked.

Since before I could speak I'm always on the lookout for free electronics.

I'm not sure I could trust myself to return a government spy drone or similar equipment.

Some individual's remote control flier, sure, some Weather Service radiosonde, sure.

Something paid for in the black budget, maybe not... A little jet engine or high resolution spy cams would be too tempting...

[SheilaT]

27. Yes, they do. Lots and lots.

According to Wikepedia about 800 weather balloons are launched twice a day around the world. Sometimes additional balloons are launched if there's a need to get information on weather.

So there's always a degree of plausibility in any "weather balloon" explanation, simply because there are so many of them out there.

[Sunlei]

23. smaller than an ice chest. Can really tell what 'homeland security' freaks out over these days.

bet it won't be to long before balloons of all types are banned in only America. Homeland security gets another couple billion to regulate balloon users.

[Liberalynn]

26. Love that chart

[allan01]

30. re Mystery object falls from sky, area sealed off by military: 'Weather balloon', say officials

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/vef/kids/wxballoon.php

yes. nooa still uses weather ballons for observations . sometimes even have a device called a snode for data aqasition.. they are used for uper atmosphere readings.

[Kelvin Mace]

31. Well, 3rd row, 2nd from right

has to be swamp gas.

The primary hull is round indicating a 22nd century Constitution class starship, but the engine nacelles are from a 23rd century Galaxy class cruiser.

[NewThinkingChance40]

33. Stupid weather balloon...

Trying to be a UFO

[librechik]

35. "Take me to your block captain."

"welcome to the neighborhood (call 911!)"

[MuseRider]

36. Love your graphic!

[Berlum]

39. Meanwhile, 9-foot tall Beings land in Russia

[edhopper]

43. I hope for their sake

they aren't gay.

[TeeYiYi]

45. Anyone seen balloon boy lately?

TYY

[Fawke Em]

49. .