The Domestic Terrorists Behind The UFO Balloons

Via the New York Post, this is a photo of members of the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, which has at least provisionally claimed responsibility for the UFO brought down by an Air Force F-22 over Yukon Territory. (Grammatical side note: certain areas, notably Ukraine, are incorrectly paired with a "the". It's correct to refer to geographical areas that don't correspond to state entities with that designation, as "the Rockies", "the Caribbean", and so forth. However, to say "the Yukon" is incorrect, as it is a definite government entity, as is Ukraine. We don't say "the Arizona".)

Here's a thought experiment. The NIBBB has a website and appears to be an incorporated group with a bank account, among other things. What if the US Secretary of Defense were to have an aide contact the NIBBB and, purely as a public relations gesture, ask the NIBBB to tell him what their balloon cost and offer to reimburse them from the Secretary's personal funds? No need to write a personal check, just pay the amount to the Defense Department and have the DoD write the check.

In fact, it appears that the what the NIBBB calls pico ballooning has become a well-recognized sub-hobby of ham radio. The NIBBB says of itself,

We’re licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allowing us to communicate to other Hams throughout the World. Pico meaning small, we send a small transmitter, with GPS tracking and antenna on a balloon filled with Hydrogen, rising to 47,000 feet, and travelling with the speed of the Jetstream. As we travel, our GPS is able to locate our current location, and other information is gathered depending on what chips we have on our transmitter while using other programs to gather other inflight information.

In other words, the NIBBB is only one of what appear to be many pico balloon hobby groups that operate under federal license, with the status and position of each balloon tracked and fully available to the public (and of course the military). Thus, of the three UFOs that were shot down by F-22 or F-16 and half-million-dollar missiles over the past week, they were each in fact fully identifiable as such at the time, with their positions known at least to their sponsoring groups. Thus, although the NIBBB has claimed responsibility for the Yukon balloon, there are presumably two other groups that are just as capable of claiming responsibility for theirs.

In fact, further exploring the NIBBB site, I learn that another site called SondeHub already tracks every such pico balloon, and a page on the NIBBB site shows that such balloons already operate fully within federal regulations, and due to their small size and very light weight pose no hazard to aviation.

So, why can't Secretary Austin have an aide do what he can to contact all three groups, ask them what their balloon outfits each cost, and offer to reimburse them from the Secretary's personal funds? From what I read, the most expensive balloon outfit, complete with transmitter package, costs in the low three figures. My guess is that Secretary Austin could make that up by foregoing a few five-star restaurant lunches and stopping by Burger King instead, which might be good for him anyhow.

Other photos on the NIBBB website suggest there can be few more wholesome activities. I won't link to them here, because they show minor children working under parental supervision on what look to be school or scout projects.

But there's a bigger question. According to Aviation Week,

“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” says Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists.

The descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down Feb. 10-12 match the shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type.

. . . Aviation Week contacted a host of government agencies, including the FBI, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the National Security Council (NSC) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for comment about the possibility of pico balloons. The NSC did not respond to repeated requests. The FBI and OSD did not acknowledge that harmless pico balloons are being considered as possible identities for the mystery objects shot down by the Air Force.

“I have no update for you from NORAD on these objects,” a NORAD spokesman says.

Pico balloons, in short, are completely legal, individually licensed, operate within federal regulations, on that basis are no potential harm to aviation, and are comprehensively tracked. Efforts by both the group that sponsored one such balloon and a manufacturer in the industry to contact the relevant agencies and explain what they already should have known were ignored, and at least so far, none has acknowledged what the "UFOs"were other than to make a glib assurance they weren't military or something.

Wouldn't a good-humored acknowledgement, apology, and offer of pro forma reimbursement go a long way here? And maybe even go so far as to suggest they're gonna ease off on Catholic trads and school board protesters? Maybe FBI Director Wray could publicly deliver one such check and announce the FBI was gonna push the reset button.

Just a thought.