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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMystery object falls from sky, area sealed off by military: 'Weather balloon', say officials
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
(42,239 posts)Last edited Fri Aug 2, 2013, 10:18 AM - Edit history (1)
Whether to or not.
Baitball Blogger
(46,676 posts)Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)LOL
MADem
(135,425 posts)That coloring rubbing off could scare the living snot outta a person!
Berlum
(7,044 posts)KansDem
(28,498 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)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
(36,988 posts)they help us defend ourselves from the Nazi blitz.
Geez we're at war or haven't you heard?
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)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
(36,988 posts)Or the aliens...or
We need this surveillance to protect us from
Gordon Freeman.
1awake
(1,494 posts)[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
Dash87
(3,220 posts)stonecutter357
(12,693 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Then everyone can have healthcare!
JimboBillyBubbaBob
(1,389 posts).....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
(2,667 posts)and I can assure you all hell broke loose to get it back - which we did/
Civilization2
(649 posts)global1
(25,219 posts)What a punster!
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)bowens43
(16,064 posts)Archae
(46,299 posts)Seriously, that's what the Roswell crash was.
VWolf
(3,944 posts)by a standard-issue neuralizer.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Liberalynn
(7,549 posts)Wonder how quick History 2 can get a crew out to Virginia?
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Orrex
(63,169 posts)intaglio
(8,170 posts)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
(11,902 posts)marions ghost
(19,841 posts)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
(36,988 posts)ITS FUNNY....
intaglio
(8,170 posts)There's so much errr challenging (yes, thats a good word, challenging) material on DU at present.
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)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
(101,262 posts)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
(2,667 posts)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
(101,262 posts)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
(2,667 posts)Interesting to notice how evenly the sites are distributed.
hunter
(38,301 posts)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
(23,156 posts)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
(22,651 posts)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
(7,549 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)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
(17,469 posts)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
(289 posts)Trying to be a UFO
librechik
(30,673 posts)"welcome to the neighborhood (call 911!)"
MuseRider
(34,095 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)edhopper
(33,467 posts)they aren't gay.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)TYY