Ridiculous Arguments for Waiting to Down the Chinese Spy Balloon
There are all these people on Quora claiming, "You could not have shot the balloon down over Montana, what if it had a bioagent?"
If it had a bioagent on it, why would you let it continue to fly into more densely populated areas of the US? The balloon’s path passed through Kansas City and St. Louis. Those who mention the absurd possibility that the balloon carried a bioagent are, in fact, arguing against themselves. If you really thought that was a possibility, it strengthens the case for taking the balloon down immediately.
The whole idea that China placed a bioweapon on the spy balloon is, of course, absurd. China admitted quickly it was their balloon, and wind models show that it was released from China. China would want to hide what it was doing if it were distributing a bioweapon and use a more effective means of dispersal: For example, covertly infecting Westerners traveling back to the US after visiting China. Also, if anyone in intelligence thought there was any chance it had a bioweapon, all trade and traffic with China should be immediately suspended.
In short, these people are uttering this moronic talking point but are unwilling to follow up with any of its other implications. They don’t realize that their point would make the case for taking the balloon down over Montana stronger—and that if they thought this possibility was anything but vanishingly small, it implies many follow up actions that none would be willing to endorse.
Another equally absurd argument is concern over the size of the debris field the downed balloon would produce. If you hit the balloon, there should be no debris field at all: and the terminal velocity of anything tethered to such a balloon should be low enough to prevent serious damage to the equipment. Even if the missile hit the satellite, its debris field would not be very large. Substantially larger debris fields are produced every day over Ukraine without civilian casualties (resulting specifically from the debris, obviously, civilians die in Ukraine every day).
What is odd is just how many people have come up with these preposterous ideas. And how few people realize that their argument actually works in the other direction: If you thought a bioagent was on the balloon, you need to shoot it down before it can travel over a populated area.