Yes.. a timely reminder that the US is heavily invested in balloon technology and may soon reap, as they have sown. I would very much hope nobody saw this as a threat, and I would be really upset if it was intercepted. (no /s implied. I think it would be a tragedy)
I think it would be understood that the US has been fielding balloon based science packages for decades. And, probably leveraged that technology to complement space based remote sensing outside of strict-science contexts.
Shooting things down to satisfy a domestic concern, may turn out to have longer-term consequences. Obviously, I expect the US balloons file some kind of notification, but this goes to the thin legalisms.
I think the interesting thing about this is the size of it. In other threads there was a lack of awareness how big some of these are - I suspect people Google and see the small weather balloons that can carry a couple of pounds of payload.
I think it would be understood that the US has been fielding balloon based science packages for decades. And, probably leveraged that technology to complement space based remote sensing outside of strict-science contexts.
Shooting things down to satisfy a domestic concern, may turn out to have longer-term consequences. Obviously, I expect the US balloons file some kind of notification, but this goes to the thin legalisms.