My favorite part of this photo is that the pilot captured the shadow of his own U-2 on the surface of the balloon. Here is the full image[0], and it was verified by the Pentagon.<p>[0] <a href="https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.net/Pictures/780xany/5/2/3/92523_u2balloonselfie_822356.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.net/Pictures/780xany/5/2/3...</a>
This tweet is a meme. I would suggest changing the article to Bloomberg or CNN’s coverage.<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-23/spy-plane-pilot-takes-selfie-with-china-balloon-at-60-000-feet" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-23/spy-plane...</a> - Spy Plane Pilot Takes Selfie With China Balloon at 60,000 Feet<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/politics/pentagon-china-balloon-selfie/index.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/politics/pentagon-china-ballo...</a>
The apparent propellers on it are interesting. I was under the impression the claim was an unpowered balloon just steered using vertical motion to get in the right air currents.<p>The Drive has a link to a similar balloon spotted over Japan several years ago but without the large solar array, presumably to help power the motors? Or just to provide longer term power for a longer flight.<p><a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/our-best-look-yet-at-the-chinese-spy-balloons-massive-payload" rel="nofollow">https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/our-best-look-yet-at-t...</a>
So the pilot had a phone in the plane and made a selfie? Or is it just one of the many cameras in the plane and they decided to release just this one because it looks cool (and probably doesn't give away too much of the plane's capabilities)?
A claim of geolocation: <a href="https://twitter.com/obretix/status/1628511189582942209?cxt=HHwWgsC4_Y6T0ZktAAAA" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/obretix/status/1628511189582942209?cxt=H...</a>