So, it’s clear that the first object we shot down was a Chinese surveillance balloon. It isn’t clear what it was surveilling, but the front page article in today’s New York Times about a Professor Wu who for years has been designing balloons such as these both for peaceful and potential military purposes is fascinating. I would assume that “people” knew about this activity, and it seems to me that is not surprising and, from China’s perspective (and potentially ours), makes sense. And what about the thought that the Chinese system would not be too different from Elon Musk’s Starlink? Should China shoot down Starlink? What really is Starlink anyway? If you haven’t read the article, do so.

So we watched it for a week or so, and then shot it down off the coast of North Carolina. Should we have shot it down sooner, or should we not have shot it down at all? Was there really a danger to people on the ground if it was shot down over Alaska or Montana?

Was it the first balloon like this that China sent over our territory? Did they have reason to believe that we would shoot it down, or was this a surprise? What about all those Republicans who yelled that we should have shot it down over Alaska as soon as we saw it? What about Trump, who said that the Chinese would never have sent such a balloon over the United States when he was president? He said that just before it was announced that actually they did – at least 3 times – and that nothing was done (or said) about it? Did it even come to his attention? Should it have? Should they have been destroyed?

And now, all of a sudden, we seem to know a lot about Chinese balloon history. We now all of a sudden know that Chinese balloons have been sent over 40 countries. And the Times seems to know that at least one was sent on an all-around-the-world trip and recovered. We know all of this from “stored” information – what does that even mean? And how did we find it so soon?

OK, since then at least three other “things” (hereinafter “UFOs”) have been shot down over the US or Canada. What were they? Apparently we don’t have any idea, because we have not yet recovered any debris. Why is taking us so long to recover debris?

These items are smaller than the Chinese balloon. They operated at about 40,000 feet, rather than 60,000 feet. They didn’t hover and couldn’t be controlled from the ground but were just carried by wind currents (how do we even know that?).

The first was described as the size of a small car. I have been thinking about what size a small car is. There is a Fiat down the street. But maybe a small car is a Smart Car; everything else is bigger. But some would even say that our Prius is a small car.

What is the size of a small car? I know – a small car. Could someone have small car into space? They did in “Back to the Future”, and the Israelis are now apparently development a car that can also fly – maybe they were testing it?

Another of the objects was cylinder shaped. What could it be? A cylinder? A football? A box of Pringles? Again, so many possibilities.

The third was not any set shape, perhaps, but had strings hanging down. What’s your guess on this one? I think it could be a flying jellyfish – we haven’t seen one of these in quite some time, I am told.

Why are we finding all these things now? Because we are looking harder – using more refined equipment?

And a few more questions. Are they from outer space? I find it doubtful that an advanced civilization from another galaxy would send a small car, a box of Pringles or a flying jellyfish into our airspace, so I think you can ignore this possibility.

Is it from an enemy power? The Chinese again? Or how about from Kim Il-Un and North Korea? I don’t know. But I bet it is Un-known.

I think it unlikely that these are simply privately owned, commercial UFOs. If so, I would think companies (Kia, Proctor & Gamble or the Baltimore Aquarium) would already have fessed up.

Or maybe they are just American military skeet. Skeet shooting works like that, right? You send up the skeet and you shoot it back down. I have always wondered what a skeet was. Maybe now I have found out.