4 • 645 Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2023
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
On February 4, 2023, an F-22 fighter jet committed the first air to air kill in the weapons history. It was an alleged Chinese spy balloon near Myrtle Beach. In the days that followed the F-22 would score another kill, this time against a mysterious floating object above the Yukon.
But this second object hadn’t come from China. Hobbyists, in fact, think it might be one of their balloons. Across the world there is a small but dedicated group of people who love launching tiny balloons into the sky.
It’s been a weird month for the community. What with the fighter jets patrolling the sky and constant reports of UFOs. On this week’s Cyber, Motherboard reporter Becky Ferreria stops by to talk about the amateur balloonists who lived through the great balloon panic of 2023.
Stories discussed in this episode:
'Unfortunate and Amusing': Balloon Enthusiasts Undeterred by U.S. Air Force Shootdowns
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0:00.0 | It's got the code it's going to launch |
0:05.7 | It's a unit system |
0:10.1 | I know this |
0:11.6 | It's all the files of the whole park |
0:14.4 | It tells you everything |
0:16.7 | Sir he's uploading the virus |
0:18.5 | Eagle one the package is being delivered. |
0:22.2 | Hello out there on the internet. I am Matthew Galt, and this is Cyber. |
0:26.9 | On February 4th, 2020, and F-22 fighter jet committed its first air-to-air kill. |
0:32.4 | The first air-to-air kill in the weapons history. |
0:35.1 | It was an alleged Chinese spy balloon near Myrtle Beach, South |
0:38.2 | Carolina. And in the days that followed, the F-22, would score another kill this time against a |
0:42.2 | mysterious object above the Yukon. But this second object probably hadn't come from China, and |
0:48.3 | hobbyists, in fact, believe it is one of their balloons. And across the world, there's a small |
0:53.7 | but dedicated group of people who love launching tiny balloons into the sky. |
0:58.0 | And it's been a weird month for that community, what with the fighter jets up there, shooting |
1:03.3 | things down and the constant report of UFOs. |
1:07.0 | And today, motherboard reporter Becky Ferreira is here to talk to us about that amateur balloonist community. |
1:12.8 | She has spent time talking to them about the great balloon panic of 2023, and she's here to tell us all about it. |
1:19.3 | Becky, how are you doing today? |
1:21.1 | Oh, good. Matthew, how are you? |
1:23.2 | You know, I think we're both recovering from various things. |
... |
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