Comment by lysace

7 days ago

Fox News first reported that the airborne object was intercepted after raising concerns of a potential drone operating near the southern border. Officials later concluded the object was not an unmanned aircraft but a party balloon, a U.S. official told the outlet.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-shot-down-party...

US military shot down party balloon near El Paso after drone suspicion, official says

Would be funny if they used some new fancy laser weapon to, let's say, discombobulate this imminent threat, as indicated by other reports.

30 comments

lysace

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jacquesm  7 days ago

Just think about the terrorist potential here. Buy a $10 party balloon, let it go near a major airport and they'll panic and shut down the airport. That's a lot of havoc for a couple of bucks.

  • ribosometronome  6 days ago

    Panic, shut down the airport, and reveal their top secret methods of defense against actual attacks.

    • kakacik  6 days ago

      And imagine the mayhem with 20 balloons, or 100. Very easy in trigger happy situation, a child is all you need.

      But what do we know, maybe it was an evil terrorist party balloon. You see, the wall just needs to be a little higher to protect that beautiful country from all southern evils.

      6 replies →

  • retired  7 days ago

    Schiphol Airport has large No Balloons signs when you go down to the train station. Aluminum balloons can create havoc on the overhead power lines. It recently shut down the train service for the morning.

  • ErroneousBosh  7 days ago

    Hast du etwas Zeit für mich?

    Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich

    Von 99 Luftballons

    Auf ihrem Weg zum ... well, El Paso as it turns out.

    the English rewrite of course starts:

    You and I in a little toyshop

    Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got

    Set them free at the break of dawn

    'til one by one, they were gone...

  • cucumber3732842  7 days ago

    >Just think about the terrorist potential here. Buy a $10 party balloon, let it go near a major airport and they'll panic and shut down the airport. That's a lot of havoc for a couple of bucks.

    And rather than see the government have egg on face people (probably a majority here) will vote for politicians who promise all sorts of licenses and regulations on balloons because of it and then in 20yr when I complain and remind them that once upon a time every store used to sell balloons with no KYC BS they'll act like I'm some sort of barbarian, screech, wring their hands, clutch their pearls, etc.

golem14  7 days ago

99 Luftballons

  • lysace  7 days ago

    The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defence ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves.

    In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "'Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go."

    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons#Lyrics)