I never knew this was a thing/hobby.
Does not appeal to me per se but it does sound pretty interesting and cool.
I’d not have thought a balloon could remain aloft so long. Its neat it went around the world multiple times.
If this WAS the case, why couldn’t the pilot simply have identified that it was a balloon rather than a cylindrical object with no known propulsion? Why was the government reporting so obtuse and tangential?
You must not deal with the government very often. With all the hoopla and hysteria over the Chinese spy balloon, I’m surprised they aren’t firing missiles at flocks of geese. Long range balloons with position and altitude reporting capabilities are a good, and inexpensive, way to map global wind patterns. The pre-stretching that Paul mentioned makes the envelope more durable to withstand the daily expansion and contraction caused by sunshine and darkness. I guess you could say that, since the balloon was made in China, that this was actually a Chinese “spy” balloon. 
So IF this is the object taken down, no attempt was made to analyze any radio transmissions emanating from it ? The signals woulda been in the clear and ought to have been easily decoded. The frequency of the transmissions ought to have been recognized as falling within the ham bands, as well … tipping off what they were. Maybe they need to start sending some Navy ‘Growlers’ up before expending missiles?
Well … great test of the AIM-9X.
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Right now High School boys all over the country are buying large weather balloons and attaching rolls of tinfoil underneath them just to watch the news to see if an F-22’s will shoot them down.
Question 1: It only weighted 1/2 ounce? And an AIM9 can detect and hit that? Also any hobby plane I fly over 1/2 ounce must be registered and flown below 400 feet. Question 2: Does the FAA require notification of a launch of an object that will travel to the stratosphere? Weird.
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Unmanned balloons are regulated by Part 101. There are some notification requirements, but only if the balloon payload weighs more than four pounds. And once it’s above 60,000 feet, it’s on its own.
Currently there are no transponder requirements, just some kind of radar-reflector (which could be the gas bag if made of the right material, apparently).
Here’s a link to the regs:
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-101
The FAA is developing a Letter of Agreement (LOA) in which the FAA authorizes deviations from ADS-B Out equipage requirements for balloonists in Class C airspace. The FAA is working with operators in New Mexico and Colorado to develop LOAs which contain specific operational information for the airspace that will allow them to operate without ADS-B Out for a limited time. Each operator, whether a commercial business or individual pilot, will sign a LOA with the FAA to confirm they know the proper procedures in the Class C airspace that surrounds the areas. Alternatively, a representative of a balloon festival or association/society may enter into the agreement on behalf of its participants or members if certain conditions are met. The LOAs will be valid through March 2023.
Cue the opening scenes of, “1941” and Rudy Frasca’s P-40.
These balloons carry very small payloads and have limited power capacity. The Amateur Radio transmitters are putting out only 30-100 milliwatts of RF. There are ADS-B chips in development in that range. Tie into the GPS and it might be possible to implement this.