The 13th annual Myrtle Beach hot air balloon festival nearly ended in tragedy Saturday. Shortly after balloons took off, the US Air Force scrambled an F22 Raptor from Langley AFB. Minutes later, the jet darted between the balloons, just before releasing an AIM-19 air to air missile. Aeronauts onboard the balloons watched in horror as the missile exploded the lead balloon of the pack. Unbeknownst to them however, the lead balloon was not a festival balloon. Rather it was the Chinese spy balloon that had been lumbering across the continent for the last several days.
The balloon pilots must have been too busy inflating their balloons to hear an earlier announcement by the Horry County Sherrif’s Department warning civilians not to take action against the Chinese spy balloon. The sherrif had received tips of locals attempting to shoot down the spy balloon with rifles, shotguns, and DIY FA-18 Murder Hornets. Law enforcement was concerned that civilian action was more likely to accidentally shoot down one of the Myrtle Beach balloon festival balloons, than the Chinese spy equipment.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) praised the operation on Twitter, tweeting, “I strongly condemn President Xi’s brazen incursion into American airspace, and I commend President Biden’s leadership in taking down the Chinese balloon over water to ensure safety for all Americans,” He later added, “I’m also happy that we didn’t interfere with the Chinese collection of atmospheric data across the US as it will surely help in our ongoing effort to fight global climate change.”