Internet Bursts With Memes After Chinese Spy Globe Goes Off

The downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon created a stir, angering Republicans who wanted it to take off sooner and embarrassing Democrats and President Joe Biden, whom they accused of appearing weak.

But for much of the general public, the entire episode was a source of amusement as security experts and politicians speculated on something as seemingly innocuous as a balloon.

The claim that three Chinese balloons had entered the US during the Trump administration, but were never shot down or mentioned publicly, further trivialized the ordeal.

Donald Trump has denied this, saying China would “never” have sent a spy balloon over the United States on his watch, despite the Pentagon’s claim that it happened during his presidency.

His son, Donald Trump Jr., mocked the former president, shared a meme depicting him as a giant balloon baby and suggested he should fly over China in retaliation.

Donald Trump Jr. mocked his father by suggesting that an inflatable balloon depicting the former president as a baby should be flown over China in retaliation.

Some used the drama as an opportunity to poke fun at Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has reacted negatively in the past to light-hearted suggestions that he looks like Winnie the Pooh.

Comparisons between Xi and Pooh first surfaced in 2013, after Chinese social media users began circulating a pair of images that placed an image of Pooh and his slender tiger friend ‘Tigger’ next to a photograph of Xi. walking with then US President Barack Obama.

In 2014, a photographed handshake between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe coincided with an image of Pooh clutching the hoof of his grim donkey friend Eeyore.

The adorable but goofy bear became a symbol of dissent in China and government censors soon began deleting images mocking Jinping on social media. In 2018, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh movie ‘Christopher Robin’ was denied a Chinese release.

In 2013, Chinese netizens circulated images (above) that placed an image of Pooh and his slender friend ‘Tigger’ next to an image of Xi walking with then-US President Barack Obama.

Military enthusiasts were quick to point out that the downing of the balloon marked the first air-to-air “death” for the F-22 Raptor fighter jet even though it has been in service since 2005.

“Shooting down the China balloon was indeed the first air-to-air kill for the F-22,” said Rebecca Grant, an Air Force systems specialist and president of IRIS Independent Research. Bloomberg in an email. “The Americans watched as a hostile aircraft was shot down over our skies.”

The F-22 first flew in 1997 and entered service in 2005. However, it did not make its combat debut until 2015, when it began flying missions against Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq, conducting guided air strikes on ground targets.

Defense Publication War zone he said it ‘may be the highest altitude air-to-air kill in history’ as well. The F-22 fired a Sidewinder missile at the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet. The balloon at the time of impact was between 60,000 and 65,000 feet.

The top speed of a Sidewinder missile is 1,900 mph, and each missile costs around $380,000.

Military enthusiasts were quick to point out that despite having been in service for 17 years, the downing of the balloon marked the first air-to-air “death” for the F-22 Raptor.

Some mocked the Department of Defense for allowing something as seemingly innocuous as a balloon to create such drama.

Others were amused by the Chinese claim that the balloon was just a weather balloon that had gone astray. The Department of Defense strongly rejected those claims.

“The balloon, which was being used by the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to monitor strategic sites in the continental United States, was shot down over United States territorial waters,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

It was a surveillance balloon from the People’s Republic of China. This surveillance balloon deliberately traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident that it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites,” the Department of Defense added in a statement.

Some were amused by the Chinese claim that the balloon was just a weather balloon that had gone astray.

Donald Trump Jr. even encouraged Montana people to ‘do their own thing’

Since the Biden administration took so long to remove the balloon, it was suggested that the rifle-wielding Americans in Montana should try to shoot it down themselves.

This above photo was posted online with the caption: ‘point of view: you’re a chinese spy balloon flying over montana’

Some memes joked that the Biden administration was taking so long to remove the balloon that Americans with rifles in Montana might try to shoot it down themselves.

Donald Trump Jr. even encouraged the people of Montana to “do their own thing.”

“If Joe Biden and his administration are too weak to do the obvious and shoot down an enemy surveillance balloon, maybe we’ll let the good people of Montana do their thing,” he tweeted Friday.

“I imagine they have the ability and determination to do it all themselves.”