ON THE MATTER OF KNOWN AND UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS

An Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) is exactly that, an object not yet identified.  The object can range from something we'll never identify to weather balloons to alien flying saucers to whatever.  I had a three part series in August of 2021.  Feel free to glance at them, beginning with the first one.  Then Part 2 dealt with that confusing "official" government report that maybe went too far in giving credence to the subject, ending with Part 3 on best films and documentaries.

To begin, two-thirds of Americans believe in extraterrestrial intelligence life.

Of interest here is that around half of our population senses that some of those UFOs, like flying saucers, are linked to some intelligent life in our universe.  Here is a breakdown of who believes.

I searched for a while and could not find any poll of scientists.  I do know that when I worked on NASA's search for extraterrestrial intelligence program at the Ames Research Center, zero percent believed in flying saucers, the kind you see in movies.  In fact, it was lower than that, for to bring the subject up was almost verboten.  About technical people in general, there is a feeling that any initial physical contact will not be face to face, but more their AIrobots and us.

What I'm leading to are those objects in the sky, four which have been shot down by our fighters.  More and more, there seems to be a feeling that these balloon-like objects are all over the place, and most of them are benign, with many scientifically and commercially important.

• Most in the past were to monitor the weather.
• 2000 serious "balloons" are launched into the sky daily.  
• Google, for example, sends up hundreds of self-navigating objects the size of tennis courts to beam internet to rural and remote areas.

• Simply, balloons are far cheaper to use than satellites, with higher resolution because of closer distance to the earth's surface.
• Each Sidewinder air-to-air missile that was used to bring down those Chinese and other objects cost $400,000.
• A few graphics.

The first shot down was of Chinese origin.  Some background.

• Wu Zhe graduated from the Harbin Institute of Technology, which in 2020 was sanctioned by the U.S. for military activities.  
• In 2002, at the age of 28, Wu was involved in the incorporation of Deluxe Family, a key company in this sky system.  Wu was the largest shareholder.
• In 2007, nearly 16 years ago, Wu, an aircraft design expert at Beihang University, a military institution in Beijing, gave a lecture about the military value of balloons.
• In 2015, Wu and Wang Dong formed Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology to produce near-space vehicles, and after this initial shoot-down, this firm and five others have been sanction by the U.S.  Wu is linked to four of these organizations.

• 
  In 2019 an airship developed by Wu circumnavigated the globe at an elevation of 65,000 feet, about the same height as the one first shot down.
• There are obvious military applications for these balloons, but one promising economic future is to establish a much cheaper network of them for your mobile phone and streaming network.
• A key question is what exactly is eminent domain in space?  Satellites regularly cross country borders.  Can they be shot down?  I guess so, as there isn't any international space law.

The USA has been using these high altitude balloons since 1947, and one of these fell in Roswell, New Mexico, initiating much of the flying saucer craze.

Then there are the ubiquitous Known Flying Objects (KFO), like communications satellites.  In 2019 a Google originated project, Loon, was launched to create a fleet of stations in the stratosphere.  These balloons need to stay up for a long time, and Loon reached 312 days.  However, both this and Facebook's Aquila seemed to have bitten the dust.

Helium is used to buoy those balloons because hydrogen, while cheaper, can explode and more easily escape the enclosure.  Helium is 1/8 the density of air, while hydrogen is 1/16.  Helium is inert.

In any case, for now, KFOs in the form of space satellites have won the competition against balloons at lower altitudes to control communications.

Amazon announced a $10 billion plan to launch 3000 satellites to 370-390 miles up there through Project Kuiper.  In case you are wondering about space pollution, 8100 satellites have been sent out by 40 countries, and many have dropped back to Earth.  Thus there are today approximately 4900 satellites in orbit, 1900 operational, and the rest have become space debris.

Says Elon Musk, all that stuff above is not noticed by anyone, but he too has Starlink, another satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, to expand coverage to 48 countries, plus perhaps next year a global mobile phone service.   To follow, his Starshield project will have 12,000 KFOs, maybe expanding to 42,000.  Whatever he says about the invisibility of KFOs, astronomers are petrified.  For public support, he is helping Ukraine, absorbing the $20 million/month cost of free internet.  Also, will help guide future artillery and rockets.  Musk has already been called by Russia a war criminal.

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