What’s the biggest Chinese threat to the United States? Well, if you ask security expert Stephanie Carvin, it’s not a balloon—no matter how large and how many missiles it takes to shoot down. So, what should we really be worried about from China’s security apparatus? Well, you could start with more traditional spying, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
I've listened to every episode of the podcast since the beginning of War College. Simply put this was terrible. Stephanie Carvin's mindless ramblings completely nullified whatever credibility she had as a "security expert." There were also several missteps, made by all three of you, that were so jarring my opinion of the show has greatly diminished.
1. Your collective inability to refrain from labeling all 4 objects 'balloons' is intellectually lazy and factually dubious. That being said, I am by no means hinting at the subsequent 3 unknown objects being of extraterrestrial origin. I am merely stating that both the Canadian and American governments referred to these unknowns as "high altitude objects" not balloons. Furthermore, on February 12, 2023 during an impromptu press conference, NORAD Commander, General Glen Vanherck, specifically said "there is a reason we are not calling these objects balloons." A week later, President Biden doubled down on these objects not being part of a spy program from an adversarial nation but instead offered a tepid hypothesis of the objects being tied to a non-governmental group or corporation for "research purposes." This should have been expounded upon during the episode.
2. At no point during the episode did the featured security expert offer any sort of explanation of the advantages of employing balloon's for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Balloons are closer to the ground. Closer to the ground translates to clearer images. A balloon can also house numerous other sensors a satellite cannot. Despite advancements in satellite imagery, a picture from 40,000ft is better than one from 330,000ft. Balloons also have much longer dwell time over a target and do not have to contend with orbiting the Earth. It's conceivable that the original Chinese Satellite had a rudimentary propulsion system coupled with a rechargeable battery. Satellites are also being tracked by intelligence agencies around the globe. Most Air-Space sensors are not calibrated to detect balloons, or at least were not until recently. These are all points an alleged "security expert" should be aware of.
3. In recent years has been a serious uptick in the discussion of Unidentified Ariel Phenomenon at federal level. Matt mentioned the litany of military aviators and congressmen who are now appearing in the media. Again this does not necessarily equate to extraterrestrial visitation. Your collective inability to divorce the notion of "Aliens" from unknown objects being witnessed by our security apparatus is a violation of journalistic integrity and analytical thinking. I don't think you can address the befuddlement regarding North American airspace security in early February 2023 without also addressing the peculiar recent push towards the burgeoning zeitgeist of "UAPs." Either way, this is fairly strange and deserves some discussion.
This is your show and obviously you can do with it what you want. But as someone who has spent the last 5 years looking to you all as a voice of clarity amidst the din of obscurantism in the realm of national security, Im pleading with you to revisit the issue.
Guys this episode was one of the most disparaging patronising and ignorant episodes I’ve ever heard you do, and I’ve been listening since the beginning. Hugely disappointing. I cannot understand how two well informed intelligent people like yourselves have such an ill informed perspective on the ‘f*cking UAP thing’ as you sarcastically put it, and are so cynical about it. You mentioned the latest press release briefing citing balloons for many of the cases - what about the hundreds of unexplainable sightings with flight characteristics that defy known explanation? Surely that’s worth an episode? I think you need to get some guests on who are educated and credible in the subject to get briefed on it properly. Chris Mellon perhaps? Ryan Graves? David Fravor? I hope you can fix this, because otherwise history will show you as being behind the curve. Just lost a tonne of respect for the show.
Matthew sorry to hear that the virus has you! Speedy recovery. Excellent to hear that you will be doing an episode ok UAP’s - thank you. Alex - that was SUPERB post with an ideal outcome - applause.
I seriously recommend Ryan Graves as a guest - he has just started his own new podcast called ‘Merged’ (I sent the link for episode one of it) and he would be my highest recommend as an interviewee. He is an F18 pilot that nearly collided with an object midair, and since leaving the Navy has obviously had quite an interest in sightings and what they could mean. I really rate his calm, scientific and un-hyped observations of the phenomenon. I think he would be a very good person to introduce the subject for those who don’t have much previous interest or knowledge of it. Credibility and balance is absolutely crucial in this field and he seems to check that box. I’ve been following the subject closely for a while and feel free to email me for any further recommends on the subject if he isn’t available - james.lawrence87@gmail.com
You two just bought yourself a bonus episode about UAPs.
After I recover from COVID.
James beat me to it.
I've listened to every episode of the podcast since the beginning of War College. Simply put this was terrible. Stephanie Carvin's mindless ramblings completely nullified whatever credibility she had as a "security expert." There were also several missteps, made by all three of you, that were so jarring my opinion of the show has greatly diminished.
1. Your collective inability to refrain from labeling all 4 objects 'balloons' is intellectually lazy and factually dubious. That being said, I am by no means hinting at the subsequent 3 unknown objects being of extraterrestrial origin. I am merely stating that both the Canadian and American governments referred to these unknowns as "high altitude objects" not balloons. Furthermore, on February 12, 2023 during an impromptu press conference, NORAD Commander, General Glen Vanherck, specifically said "there is a reason we are not calling these objects balloons." A week later, President Biden doubled down on these objects not being part of a spy program from an adversarial nation but instead offered a tepid hypothesis of the objects being tied to a non-governmental group or corporation for "research purposes." This should have been expounded upon during the episode.
2. At no point during the episode did the featured security expert offer any sort of explanation of the advantages of employing balloon's for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Balloons are closer to the ground. Closer to the ground translates to clearer images. A balloon can also house numerous other sensors a satellite cannot. Despite advancements in satellite imagery, a picture from 40,000ft is better than one from 330,000ft. Balloons also have much longer dwell time over a target and do not have to contend with orbiting the Earth. It's conceivable that the original Chinese Satellite had a rudimentary propulsion system coupled with a rechargeable battery. Satellites are also being tracked by intelligence agencies around the globe. Most Air-Space sensors are not calibrated to detect balloons, or at least were not until recently. These are all points an alleged "security expert" should be aware of.
3. In recent years has been a serious uptick in the discussion of Unidentified Ariel Phenomenon at federal level. Matt mentioned the litany of military aviators and congressmen who are now appearing in the media. Again this does not necessarily equate to extraterrestrial visitation. Your collective inability to divorce the notion of "Aliens" from unknown objects being witnessed by our security apparatus is a violation of journalistic integrity and analytical thinking. I don't think you can address the befuddlement regarding North American airspace security in early February 2023 without also addressing the peculiar recent push towards the burgeoning zeitgeist of "UAPs." Either way, this is fairly strange and deserves some discussion.
This is your show and obviously you can do with it what you want. But as someone who has spent the last 5 years looking to you all as a voice of clarity amidst the din of obscurantism in the realm of national security, Im pleading with you to revisit the issue.
Thank you for all that you do.
Guys this episode was one of the most disparaging patronising and ignorant episodes I’ve ever heard you do, and I’ve been listening since the beginning. Hugely disappointing. I cannot understand how two well informed intelligent people like yourselves have such an ill informed perspective on the ‘f*cking UAP thing’ as you sarcastically put it, and are so cynical about it. You mentioned the latest press release briefing citing balloons for many of the cases - what about the hundreds of unexplainable sightings with flight characteristics that defy known explanation? Surely that’s worth an episode? I think you need to get some guests on who are educated and credible in the subject to get briefed on it properly. Chris Mellon perhaps? Ryan Graves? David Fravor? I hope you can fix this, because otherwise history will show you as being behind the curve. Just lost a tonne of respect for the show.
Matthew sorry to hear that the virus has you! Speedy recovery. Excellent to hear that you will be doing an episode ok UAP’s - thank you. Alex - that was SUPERB post with an ideal outcome - applause.
I seriously recommend Ryan Graves as a guest - he has just started his own new podcast called ‘Merged’ (I sent the link for episode one of it) and he would be my highest recommend as an interviewee. He is an F18 pilot that nearly collided with an object midair, and since leaving the Navy has obviously had quite an interest in sightings and what they could mean. I really rate his calm, scientific and un-hyped observations of the phenomenon. I think he would be a very good person to introduce the subject for those who don’t have much previous interest or knowledge of it. Credibility and balance is absolutely crucial in this field and he seems to check that box. I’ve been following the subject closely for a while and feel free to email me for any further recommends on the subject if he isn’t available - james.lawrence87@gmail.com
(In addition; If there was one single brief that strikes the balance / credibility / summary rather well, then I would recommend this one; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/merged/id1664932431?i=1000594099266