Silke Jasso
Officials have decided to put out a warning after several people are fantasizing about shooting down the reported Chinese Spy Balloon that is floating over the midwest. The balloon is located at an altitude of around 66,000 feet high above the air space where Airline commercials typically fly.
Safe to say the balloon is way above the altitude where a bullet could reach. The Department of Defense indicated that while military base action shooting is being considered, the concern of harming civilians by falling debris is their main concern.
Still, some conservative politicians went on Twitter asking their followers to shoot the balloon if they had the opportunity. Donald Trump Jr went out to tweet to his followers, “Perhaps we just let the good people of Montana do their thing…I imagine they have the capability and the resolve to do it themselves.”
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance went on to tweet an image of himself staring at the sky while posing with a rifle. House representative Ryan Zinke also told his followers to “ take the shot,” saying “in Montana, we do not bow. We shoot it down.”
There were others who weren’t behind the idea of shooting, trying to keep civilians safe, with Military News and Culture Outlet Task & Purpose issuing a “safety brief” on their Twitter. “Do not shoot at the balloon. It’s too high up. You will not hit it,” they Tweeted.
As far as why there hasn’t been anything done, according to CNN, officials stated that the balloon’s path carries it over a “number of sensitive sites” in the US.
The balloon, which is the size of three buses, has been seen floating around Montana, home of the underground US military intercontinental ballistic missile silos. US Northern command is now coordinating with NASA in order to determine the debris field if the balloon were to be shot down, according to a defense official.
“We have communicated to (Chinese officials) the seriousness with which we take this issue. … But we have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland,” an official told CNN.
You will not hit it that high up the bullet would return to earth and could hit someone over a populated area