Do you not understand the concept. It can be fitted with anything. You could have an object using part balloon, upper atmosphere, stealth, and part thrust to elevate it, manoeuvre it, and align it, carrying bigger payloads.

I don't really care what it was. Outside of making light of the topic.

Spy satellites are often tracked, out of orbit, easier to spot. At least now where Russia and India and a few others have successfully fired from ground to satellite destroying them, making appropriate missiles, look up those toys. These balloons are often in the blind spot, upper atmosphere. The same as hypersonic glide, which aren't re-entry vehicles. Re-entry vehicles spotted and calibrated by missile defense, on leaving orbit aligning and re-entering, but we'd all hate to actually test it. Hence like cruise, maneuverability, stealth, but cruise are becoming more detected by ground radar, trails and signatures, hypersonics are beating missile defenses, not only by their speeds, but that glide from the blind spot. Where it sooner takes lasers defense, or better countermeasures.

Who knows what it was doing. Except it shouldn't be doing it. Even as a weather balloon wasn't permitted access. And is still spying.

Bio weapon yawn. Potential but not enough to contaminate a continent, and then it hits China back in the face, if the contaminates hit the atmosphere and jetstreams.

Do you not understand the concept. It can be fitted with anything. You could have an object using part balloon, upper atmosphere, stealth, and part thrust to elevate it, manoeuvre it, and align it, carrying bigger payloads.

I don't really care what it was. Outside of making light of the topic.

Spy satellites are often tracked, out of orbit, easier to spot. These balloons are often in the blind spot, upper atmosphere. The same as hypersonic glide, which aren't re-entry vehicles. Re-entry vehicles spotted and calibrated by missile defense, on leaving orbit aligning and re-entering, but we'd all hate to actually test it. Hence like cruise, maneuverability, stealth, but cruise are becoming more detected by ground radar, trails and signatures, hypersonics are beating missile defenses, not only by their speeds, but that glide from the blind spot. Where it sooner takes lasers defense, or better countermeasures.

Who knows what it was doing. Except it shouldn't be doing it. Even as a weather balloon wasn't permitted access. And is still spying.

Bio weapon yawn. Potential but not enough to contaminate a continent, and then it hits China back in the face, if the contaminates hit the atmosphere and jetstreams.