The Chinese Spy Balloon Drifted, but the Boy Scout Balloon Got Smoked
Pfft!Every commander has to weigh risk, yet the same team soon treated far smaller, far less threatening objects as if they were airborne invaders from a bad Saturday matinee. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then serving in Biden's Cabinet, even postponed a planned China trip after the first balloon embarrassed Washington.On Feb. 12, 2023, an Air Force F-16 fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder at an object over Lake Huron.
- ▪Pfft!Every commander has to weigh risk, yet the same team soon treated far smaller, far less threatening objects as if they were airborne invaders from a bad Saturday matinee.
- ▪Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then serving in Biden's Cabinet, even postponed a planned China trip after the first balloon embarrassed Washington.On Feb.
- ▪12, 2023, an Air Force F-16 fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder at an object over Lake Huron.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
The Chinese Spy Balloon Drifted, but the Boy Scout Balloon Got Smoked David Manney | 7:19 PM on June 06, 2026 Department of Defense via AP Former President Joe Biden loved the tough-guy whisper, warning foreign bad actors with that famous one-word command, “Don't,” as if America's enemies were waiting for a stern hallway monitor before changing plans, while also treating ice cream as if it were a food group. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display("div-gpt-300x250_3"); //googletag.pubads().refresh([gptAdSlot["div-gpt-300x250_3"]]) }); Still, his balloon record may be the cleanest snapshot of his strategic instincts: China's spy balloon crossed the country, but a harmless balloon tied to a Boy Scouts project got blasted out of the sky.<span class="fr-mk"…
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