This was awesome to watch a US fighter jet take the shot on an enemy aircraft while standing in my driveway. I was out there with the neighbor when the four fighter jets swung away wide, and one made a hard turn toward the balloon. The jet took a straight path toward the balloon, and we saw the missile split off from the jet. It took several seconds for the missile to hit the balloon and it deflated and started drifting down.
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I think they did just shoot it down msm is actually reporting it
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/02/04/us/china-spy-balloon
They could have punctured that thing with regular rounds and then caught the electronics
As big as that balloon was it would have drifted for days. They were lying about its size being only the length of 3 school buses. After they blasted it with a sidewinder missile it took nearly an hour to hit the ocean. I drove to the ocean about 5 miles from me and talked to the hotel staff and he told me he gave up watching it after 15 minutes. It drifted at least 5 miles down the coast on the way down even torn to shreds.
Reports said the plane was flying at 58,000 feet when it fired at the balloon which was at 65,000 feet. This website puts the maximum altitude of the F22 at 60,000 feet.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-22-specs.htm#:~:text=The%20F-22%20and%20other%20fighters%20can,jets%20can%20perform%20tactical%20maneuvers.%20Speed.&text=The%20F-22%20and%20other,perform%20tactical%20maneuvers.%20Speed.&text=and%20other%20fighters%20can,jets%20can%20perform%20tactical