Lets be honest, the US military are not sending F16s and F35s into airborne tactics with C135 refueling tankers because a balloon used by a bunch of nerds is showing on radar.
The line about “new settings” being used is bogus because there’s multitudes of evidence by FAA and military radar operators that show they’ve been seeing and tracking these things for decades.
When F18A pilots upgraded their FLIR pods from AG73 to AG79 around 2012, objects started appearing all over the East coast off Virginia close to the ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone).
It’s because of these military pilots and dozens of Commercial pilots coming forward with their stories that the US govt has been forced to address it all publicly. Its all out there now and the stigma is becoming less heavy even though they are prohibited from mentioning the names of the airlines they fly with.
It’s nothing new, although Govt are pretending it is. That goes for “Chinese Balloons” also, military pilots have testified those have been around for donkeys and their systems get blocked or jammed as soon as they enter the ADIZ. Why the recent one was allowed to travel the way it did cross country is up for debate but its a useful excuse now to pin the “what are they” on the objects that are clearly moving in ways that defy not only physics but the technology used in propulsion.
Which is most likely why a tactical force was sent up over Lake Huron, because of it’s strange movement on military radar. Nothing more. The US would need a whole new fighter wing if they were sending stuff up for private balloons all the time.
