Joe Biden ‘shot down’ $17 hobby balloon with his $300 million F-22 Raptor fighter jets

A US hobby group’s amateur radio is ‘missing in action’, believed to be one of three ‘UFOs’ ordered shot down by Joe Biden with his $300m fighter jets.

US President Joe Biden is under mounting pressure to justify his order to shoot down three unidentified objects after it was revealed a $17 hobby balloon was “missing in action”.

A group of local enthusiasts, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, believe their pico ham radio, going for about $A17 from a local hobby shop, was one of three “UFOs” shot down by the military’s $A300m F-22 Raptor.

The US Air Force scrambled the stealth fighter jets on February 10, 11, and 12 to shoot down the three objects with four, $A600,000 heat-seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles – at a cost of more than $A2.4m.

The David vs Goliath engagement between the might of the US military and the “pico balloon”, about 12,000 metres above the Canadian Yukon territory, was revealed when the hobbyist club reported its missing science experiment to Aviation Week.

The club’s cylindrical, silver-coated balloon, matching the description by pilots, was last tracked off the west coast of Alaska on February 10. A tracking model from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), projected it to be floating over a similar area, central Yukon, and at the same altitude, about 12,000 metres, when the F-22 reported the air-to-air kill.

The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. Picture: Supplied

The group, named after the movie “UP”, started in June 2021 with 10 members aged from 11-years-old, and have launched more than 25 balloons, according to their blog. Six ended up in trees, six went missing, eight travelled the US, and two fully circumnavigated the globe

Path of the Pico Balloon K9YO before it went “Missing in Action”. Picture: Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade

“Pico Balloon K9YO last reported on February 11th at 00:48 zulu near Hagemeister Island after 123 days and 18 hours of flight,” the group said.

Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), a Silicon Valley company that makes purpose-built pico balloons, told Aviation Week all three objects were likely similar balloons.

“I tried contacting our military and the FBI — and just got the run-around — to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are,” he said. “And they’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down.”

The seemingly friendly fire, the first air-to-air kills since the F-22 entered service, achieved rare unity among American politicians and observers, with US Senator Ted Cruz and NSA whistleblower Eduard Snowden leading the chorus of criticism of Joe Biden.

“Please tell me the white house did not spend the month of February scrambling jets to fire $400,000 missiles at the local hobby club’s TWELVE DOLLAR ($A17) BALLOON,” Snowden said. “Lord have mercy.”

Cruz, a Republican, said Biden needs to come clean on whether the US trained its heat-seeking missiles on the Bottlecap Balloon Brigade.

“To be fair, Biden is providing is powerful deterrence for any high school science clubs that might try to invade America …” he added.

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor. Picture: Supplied

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down by an F-22 Raptor. Picture: Reuters

The Chinese balloon recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. Picture: Supplied

In his first comments on the three balloons, Biden admitted he gave the order to “take down” the objects likely used for research or recreation.

“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said.

He said that they most likely belonged to private groups or companies, and were used for either recreation, studying the weather, or other scientific research, and were detected “partially because of the steps we’ve taken narrowing our radars.”

“I’ve directed my team to come back to me with sharper rules to how we will deal with these unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do now,” he said.

US President Joe Biden said they need to rethink when to shoot down balloons. Picture: AFP

“If any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people I will shoot it down.”

“The violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable,” he added.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said early Saturday (AEDT) that Biden was “in no position” to demand common global norms and “sharper rules” for high altitude balloons in foreign airspace.

“There are existing norms in international law related to civil aircraft that are being practised worldwide” he said.

“Despite international law and customary practice, the US overreacted and abused the use of force by downing China’s unmanned civilian airship. US balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace multiple times without China’s approval.”

Originally published as Joe Biden ‘shot down’ $17 hobby balloon with his $300 million F-22 Raptor fighter jets