So it seems one of the "Chinese spy balloons" was not Chinese at all… #K9YO #balloon

https://hackaday.com/2023/02/18/the-usaf-almost-declares-war-on-illinois-radio-amateurs/

I guess given its size, it's hard for a pilot to see the call-sign on such a small object from that sort of distance. A QR code of the website would be similarly too small to be noticed.

The #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon story evolved quickly. Initially pointing out correlation of K9YO course/altitude/timing and the Yukon #military #aviation incident. The news got out. But we might never have proof unless debris is found. Canada called off its search. It's too remote.

"Did an F-22 shoot down an Illinois hobby group's small radio balloon?" by NPR / Bill Chappell / Becky Sullivan - Well-researched story summarizes what we know about #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon and Yukon #military #aviation incident it may have been in https://www.npr.org/2023/02/18/1158048921/pico-balloon-k9yo #avgeek

@knapjack: #NIBBB #PicoBalloon #K9YO #SidewinderShootdown

Seems to me the whole framing of this incident is backwards.

On Feb. 11, an NIBBB pico balloon destroyed an errantly-launched Sidewinder missile before it could lock-on to and potentially destroy any manned aircraft in the balloon's patrol area. The downed missile was the first such threat the pico balloon had encountered in its 100,000+ miles and 4+ months on patrol.

Four more, and NIBBB will rightly be entitled to claim the title "Ace". They are already entitled to display a sidewinder trophy silhouette on their launch facility.

"‘That could be one of our balloons’: Hobbyist says downed object may belong to amateur club" by @Politico / @mattberg33 - Description of Yukon "object" sounds like #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon. FBI has contacted the club. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/17/that-could-have-been-our-balloon-hobby-group-member-thinks-downed-object-may-have-been-theirs-00083462 #military #aviation #avgeek

"Mystery object shot down over Yukon may have been harmless 'pico balloon'" by @SPACEdotcom / @marsboy - First I've heard who got a response from NIBBB about construction materials/info on #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon. https://www.space.com/mystery-object-shot-down-yukon-amateur-ballloon #military #aviation #avgeek

NY magazine's "Intelligencer" column now has a piece on the #Balloon paranoia centered around the #K9YO pico balloon.

New info: "On Thursday, a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command said the FBI had contacted the [club that launched K9YO] but did not provide more details."

Last line is awesome. lol: "building something an F-22 blows out of the sky is a pretty amazing accomplishment"

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/did-an-f-22-blow-up-some-illinois-hobbyists-pico-balloon.html

Odd political spin on #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon calling it a "$12 balloon". Any Ham who has been involved in balloons can guess their expenses were more. Maybe $12 envelope, as on their how-to page. Add computer, GPS receiver, transmitter, solar panels. https://nibbb.org/technical-info/

Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade issued a statement on current media attention to #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon. They correctly consider it missing, without proof to connect it to the Yukon #military #aviation incident. https://nibbb.org/2023/02/17/a-statement-from-the-nibbb-on-current-events/

Of news coverage about #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon, the best was article was by Steve Trimble @TheDEWLine in Aviation Week which broke the story. I knew Steve was working on it because we were in contact about interpreting online data, sorting out what's useful. https://avgeek.social/@ikluft/109876682952747665 #military #aviation #avgeek (reposted to put it in the thread)

Of news coverage about #K9YO #HamRadio #balloon, the best was article was by Steve Trimble @TheDEWLine in Aviation Week which broke the story. I knew Steve was working on it because we were in contact about interpreting online data, sorting out what's useful. https://avgeek.social/@ikluft/109876682952747665 #military #aviation #avgeek

Unless I'm missing something, it seems like #K9YO-15 was not shot down by USAF, and is transmitting #APRS packets again? https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FK9YO-15&timerange=86400&tail=86400

> Updated: 2023-02-16 17:42:05 (3h20m)

(Raw packets at https://aprs.fi/?c=raw&call=K9YO-15 if you sign in)

#amateurRadio

"Amateur balloonist group from Illinois says small balloon last reported over Alaska ‘missing in action’: by CNN / Kristin Fisher - NIBBB #HamRadio club declared #K9YO #balloon missing without publicly stating a reason or blame https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/16/politics/illinois-balloon-group-alaska-missing #military #aviation #avgeek

"Hobby group may have the answer to what the US shot down over Canada last week" by Politico / Matt Berg / Lee Hudson - More on Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB), #K9YO and their educational #HamRadio #balloon projects https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/16/mystery-object-balloon-illinois-biden-00083355 #military #aviation

Still no data from missing #K9YO🇺🇸 #HamRadio #balloon. Daytime ended along course for Thurs Feb 16. Possibilities:
* too far north for solar panels to wake up
* shot down by NORAD🇺🇸🇨🇦 Feb 11 over Yukon
* weather
* balloon burst
* HF transmitter failed, VHF out of range
#aviation