Senator Ted Cruz has taken a jab at President Joe Biden over allegations that a $400,000 missile shot from a $200 million F-22 fighter jet may have been used to shoot down a $12 hobby weather balloon.
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB) has claimed that their pico balloon had been floating over the area of Alaska where a balloon was shot down — but has since gone missing.
The hobbyist club's balloon was last reported at 38,910 ft. on February 10 off the west coast of Alaska, the same day that an unidentified object was shot down in the area.
In response to the reports, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted, "Biden let an actual Chinese spy balloon cross 2,000 miles of American airspace untouched. Now he fakes being tough by shooting down a $12 science project from the (I kid you not) 'Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade,'" along with "clown world" emojis. To be fair, Biden is providing is powerful deterrence for any high school science clubs that might try to invade America…. https://t.co/kk5NNMtDCE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 16, 2023
Sen. Cruz quote tweeted Kirk and added, "To be fair, Biden is providing is powerful deterrence for any high school science clubs that might try to invade America…."
While there is no proof that Biden had a pico balloon shot down, the evidence is compelling.
“I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,” Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists, told Aviation Week.
The report explained that the descriptions of the three unidentified objects that have been shot down since a Chinese spy balloon was allowed to hover across the country all match the "shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type."
"The pico-ballooning community is nervous about the negative attention by some members of Congress and the White House, who have called the objects shot down at altitudes of 20,000-40,000 ft. dangerous to civil aviation," the report added.
