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18-02-2023, 08:58 AM
By TODD RICHMOND and HARM VENHUIZEN
an hour ago
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Decisions to shoot down multiple unidentified objects over the U.S. and Canada this month have put a spotlight on amateur balloonists who insist their creations pose no threat.
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Tom Medlin, the owner of the Tennessee-based Amateur Radio Roundtable podcast and a balloon hobbyist himself, said he’s been in contact with an Illinois club that believes the object shot down over the Yukon was one of their balloons.
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The incidents have left balloonists scrambling to defend their hobby. They insist their balloons fly too high and are too small to pose a threat to aircraft and that government officials are overreacting.
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White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby ...... pushed back at the notion that Biden’s decision to use missiles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to shoot down what were most likely balloons that cost less than US$20 was an overreaction.
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Medlin said the balloons he’s flying right now cost about US$12 and are about 32 inches in diameter.
The balloons carry solar-powered transmitters that weigh less than 2 grams and that broadcast a signal every 10 minutes or so that ham radio operators around the world can use to track the balloons’ locations, he said. He has a balloon up right now that’s been in the air for 250 days and has circled the globe 10 times, he said.
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The balloons are so light that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t regulate them and doesn’t require balloonists to file flight plans, Medlin said. He inflates his balloons with enough hydrogen to ensure they’ll fly at about 50,000 feet. That is well above most commercial aircraft, he said.
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Meadows said he anticipates that after this month’s incidents, the FAA will come out with tighter restrictions on balloons. He said he’s not overly concerned, since his balloon business is a side job
https://apnews.com/article/biden-politic...f147b4a318
an hour ago
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Decisions to shoot down multiple unidentified objects over the U.S. and Canada this month have put a spotlight on amateur balloonists who insist their creations pose no threat.
......
Tom Medlin, the owner of the Tennessee-based Amateur Radio Roundtable podcast and a balloon hobbyist himself, said he’s been in contact with an Illinois club that believes the object shot down over the Yukon was one of their balloons.
......
The incidents have left balloonists scrambling to defend their hobby. They insist their balloons fly too high and are too small to pose a threat to aircraft and that government officials are overreacting.
......
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby ...... pushed back at the notion that Biden’s decision to use missiles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to shoot down what were most likely balloons that cost less than US$20 was an overreaction.
......
Medlin said the balloons he’s flying right now cost about US$12 and are about 32 inches in diameter.
The balloons carry solar-powered transmitters that weigh less than 2 grams and that broadcast a signal every 10 minutes or so that ham radio operators around the world can use to track the balloons’ locations, he said. He has a balloon up right now that’s been in the air for 250 days and has circled the globe 10 times, he said.
......
The balloons are so light that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t regulate them and doesn’t require balloonists to file flight plans, Medlin said. He inflates his balloons with enough hydrogen to ensure they’ll fly at about 50,000 feet. That is well above most commercial aircraft, he said.
......
Meadows said he anticipates that after this month’s incidents, the FAA will come out with tighter restrictions on balloons. He said he’s not overly concerned, since his balloon business is a side job
https://apnews.com/article/biden-politic...f147b4a318
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