Well... you’re saying that “the official story” implies that the gun would function differently depending on the direction it’s fired, which is the thing I’m trying to address. But fair point about your actual belief being that the system isn’t rotating.
why would the momentum continue if the balloon is no longer attached to the spinning object
What’s going to stop it? A teensy bit of resistance from the wind? The wind that gets thinner and thinner the higher up you get? And anyway, hot air. An object in motion will stay in motion unless an opposing force acts on it, and I’m not seeing the source of the force which would counteract the balloons natural x-component of its velocity in your example.
Well... you’re saying that “the official story” implies that the gun would function differently depending on the direction it’s fired, which is the thing I’m trying to address. But fair point about your actual belief being that the system isn’t rotating.
What’s going to stop it? A teensy bit of resistance from the wind? The wind that gets thinner and thinner the higher up you get? And anyway, hot air. An object in motion will stay in motion unless an opposing force acts on it, and I’m not seeing the source of the force which would counteract the balloons natural x-component of its velocity in your example.