My boomers are generally distrustful of government, but it's taken this stupid balloon story for my dad (ex-Navy) to see how flagrantly fake the media is.
For the unitiated, if the balloon thing was real you'd never have heard about it... It's have been dealt with probably before reaching out airspace.
I get that but physically what are we looking at
My guess: A giant weather balloon with a chunk of old, useless satellite metal attached to it that is supposed to incite intrigue and/or paranoia in the weak minded. Controlled remotely.
A better question would be, given our technology and ability to track things (including the flight path of those supposed killer hornets a few years ago), lets see where the balloon sails to next. If it were a big deal, we'd know exactly where it goes, who launched it, and why. But if it (and the story itself) disappears by Monday, we'll know it was all theatre.
Theatre maybe, but still probably a touchstone to be referenced later when whatever happens happens. Basically a meme in real life so there is a solid national narrative when the cia decides to give it actual meaning (a nuke goes off, or emp, or war with china, or biden is ousted)