{"id":2375,"date":"2023-02-21T18:18:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T19:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=2375"},"modified":"2023-02-22T08:51:57","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T09:51:57","slug":"the-great-american-balloon-panic-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2023\/02\/21\/the-great-american-balloon-panic-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great American Balloon Panic of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 16th<\/sup> of February 2023 grave fears were expressed for the plight of a hobby balloon launched by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB). Their balloon has gone missing. The fear is it was shot down by the USAF with a heat-seeking missile. Why the Air Force would have used a heat-seeking missile on a $12 hobby balloon is a mystery, because the balloon had no on-board propulsion or other technology that would emit heat. There must have been some really nefarious tech on-board that balloon. To their credit, NIBBB is not as yet pointing fingers at the USAF, but the disappearance comes on the heels of other balloons similarly shot down, if indeed their balloon was popped by the USAF. This is a developing story. For more, read on\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

The NIBBB are a dedicated and motivated bunch<\/span><\/a>, pictured below:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/nibbborg.files.wordpress.com\/2022\/10\/group-picture-2.jpg?w=1024\"<\/span><\/p>\n

They have the following entry on their site:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPico Ballooning is a part of Amateur Radio also known as Ham Radio or Hams. We\u2019re 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\u2026Other Hams can receive our signal and are reported on a computer using WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporting) from anywhere through the internet. Our total package of transmitter, antenna, and balloon weigh less than an ounce, that is really small.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The NIBBB made the papers<\/span><\/a> with their story. The FBI has apparently spoken to them<\/a><\/span> about their activities. There are some pretty shady-looking characters in the photo above. It\u2019s the normal-looking ones you have to watch out for, you know? (sarcasm) In seriousness, ham radio was an interest of mine in my teenage years along with my interest in electronics and trains, the latter recently described<\/a><\/span>. But the NIBBB is not the real story here, is it? (Sorry guys, but keep up the great work! You\u2019ve made the Big Time! Respect.). No, for the real story we start with an old favorite of mine from those earlier years:<\/span><\/p>\n