The FIRST F-22 Air to Air Kill is a Chinese Spy Balloon? 

The A-10 has more Air to Air kills than the Raptor...

Imagine the grief the F-22 Pilot would have received if he missed this target.

Anyone using Tik Tok and complaining about Chinese espionage has serious cognitive dissonance issues.

"A balloon of this caliber is not something that you can just pop." man the seriousness on your face when you said this had me dying on the floor

Hi Mover. I witnessed the engagement from my backyard here in Loris, SC. The hour leading up to the kill was just as interesting as the shot itself. I can send you a video and some still that also haven’t been uploaded. I’m too am a retired Military Aviator and watching the number of fighters tracking and circling the balloon was impressive. I also saw about 4 F-15s at lower altitude, and the 2 F-22s, which clearly were obviously at a much higher altitude. So in my military mind this was very well planned and briefed. Some out there think the F-22s just launched, fired and went home. Hats off to the F-15 and KC-135 crews that were there making this historic event happen.

For me it's a good thing the Raptor has no kills. Speaks volume of the relative peace we live in and that "The best weapon, is the one you never need to use."

Thanks for your balanced explanation of what was going on. As you say, they probably get more info from our phones than from any balloon, but you don't know until the payload (or what's left of it) has been inspected.

First Air-to-Air kill over the continental US: June 4th 1942 - Battle of Dutch Harbor, over Otter Point. 1 Japanese fighter and 2 Japanese dive bombers were downed by a patrol of 6 US P-40s.

The spy balloon marking on the Raptor is both awesome and funny as hell.

The first F-22 kill being a balloon is oddly fitting.

Thanks for the update!

Very nice, very to-the-point explanation about a lot of talking points concerning this issue. Thank you.

Might be the first and only well-balanced, informative take I’ve seen or care to see. More than enough said. Thanks always, Mover.

4:40 my man casually takes a 20mm round out of his pocket lol

Thanks for the clarification on the bullets vs missiles, I was wondering why they did that

Thank you for your honest assessment of a situation that has so much misinformation, and memes, around it. I have always appreciated your honest takes, humor, and respect for your profession. Your video on this subject is a master class.

4:06 - The Canadians found out cannons and balloons don't mix back in '98. I think it was 2,000 rounds of ammunition they fired at a balloon and it didn't work. Not an experience the Americans are eager to have their own of, I'm sure.

Thanks for using my video!! I was watching it most of the day. It looked like there were 2 fighters circling it and they left as the 1 f22 came in to take the shot. It was awesome witnessing the first air to air over US soil, maybe since Pearl Harbor?

Liked the close up views! Best seen yet. Thanks for the F-16 pilot perspective.

really appreciate the concise clarity

99 spy balloons Floating in the winter sky Panic bells, it's red alert There's something here from Somewhere else The war machine springs to life Opens up one eager eye Focusing it on the sky The 99 spy balloons go by

Sir, thank you for explaining this in military terminology yet didn't get too far that any fan of military aviation wouldn't get too lost by, if at all. Retired USAF guy myself who actually was fortunate enough to make a repair for an F-18 as well. I admit, I was wondering why not guns and you explained it clearly. Great video.

Good points made.. thanks for explaining

Great vid, i was watching it from my fire station in NMB. I was not expectingthe shoot so i have the after vid and i was alot more excited than the guy who took this vid. Mines more explicit in language lol. There seemed to be 2 flights (4 aircraft) circling, then they seemed to move to a staging area to the north. One fighter broke off and bee lined to the balloon and thats when the shoot happened. The explosion could be heard shortly after. The initial shoot aircraft immediately moved off to the soutwest and a sonic boom could be heard. Im guessing to escape debris because there was a metric shit ton falling, and im assuming that was mainly the solar panels. Looked like a bunch of flashes from the sun flickering off of the falling chunks. One aircraft stayed with the balloon and circled it as it fell. The other 3 departed shortly after. The sense of pride was overwelming honestly. Truely Awesome.

Thanks for the video Mover, I have seen a lot of people ask why they didn't use the 20 mm. Also thought the story was cool that the pilots used the call sign 'FRANK01' FRANK02 in an apparent homage to a heroic pilot Frank Luke Jr. an American fighter ace in World War I better known as the 'Arizona Balloon Buster.' He is credited with shooting down 14 German surveillance balloons."

As a former SIGINT analyst, I think your assessment on the delay is correct.

Thanks for summarizing this for us.

Great breakdown Mover!

That was an excellent breakdown of events, just the facts with little hype or drama; very refreshing!

Really appreciate the professional explanation of this event, thanks!

Thank you for the explanation!

Thanks Mover for the great and simple explanation.

I appreicate the breakdown, i sent you the audio of the two pilots via email, thank you for explaining why they didn't use potential guns on the aircraft, that makes sense.... It is why i love listening to you when things happen, you give the REAL position and no bullshit!

Great insight perspective and analysis, as always, Mover. We thank you.

Great video thank you fantastic summary

Great Explanation Mover.

Such a great breakdown of this balloon event. Thanks!

Thank you for this video. Great explanations of questions we all had 👍

Sensible review of the event. Thanks Mover.

I enjoyed the very thoughtful and informative video. Thank you 🙂

The pilot is now immortalized!

Thanks for the clear/concise/technical explanation. Much appreciated.

Thanks for the discussion bro

Thank You for your Professional opinion!!! Your the Best, Mover!!!

Outstanding video. In Ward Carroll's vid today, he mentions that they disarmed the missile so that it would just knock the payload off, without exploding it. I don't know if that's true or not. I cracked up at your debrief photo at the end....well played!!! And I truly hope there's an F22 with a balloon kill icon painted on the fuselage!! EDIT: Sorry, I see that a dozen other people have referenced Ward's vid in the comments. I hadn't read down far enough.

as always a solid objective analysis good job mate

My concern, right or wrong, is that it was a dry run for a EMP delivery system. And, of course, I am not alone in that thought. Good video.

Living close to Myrtle Beach this hit close to home, this was the clearest and more informative description of what happened! Thx

Drama free and unbiased, as usual, thank you!

Hey Mover! Did you feel the AIM9 coming off the rail at all? Former Viper crew chief at Nellis aggressor unit. We were the first VIper unit to become aggressors when the F5's were retired. :)

Love seeing the "Altitude, Airspeed, Brains" sign on the wall. Immediately took me back to the Spectre book series where I first read that saying.

The F-22 is the only fighter in history to never suffer an air to air loss from a ballon any ballon.

You do us and this whole country a service. Thanks for all of it. Another great summary of events which are unfortunately plastered with misinformation [from other sources] flying everywhere.

Thanks C.W. Also for the Tune at the end.

A brilliantly balanced review mate!

The first aircraft shot down over the United States was by Squadron Leader Ken Boomer, Royal Canadian Air Force on September 25, 1942 over Kiska Island, against a Nakajima Rufe (a Zero floatplane). A second Rufe was shot down shortly thereafter by Major John Chennault, USAAF, who was flying in the same fomation of P40s.

Thanks Mover, I was one of them who were saying they should have just went after it sooner and shot it with the 20mm also. You put it in very good perspective. I was also overflown by the two F15s heading from MA to the kill zone I was wondering where they were going…

From what I''m understanding of the situation, the Aim9 was a programmed air burst round, it's goal was to target the midbody and airburst next to it to limit damage to the equipment, and maximize the damage to the baloon portion.

Should of sent up another balloon with the Red Bull guy,he jumps on the China balloon,sets a world record for transfer of balloons!

Thanks for the video. A lot of great information. I was confused about the use of the Aim-9x until I saw your explanation. I did not know a fox-2 was able to track a balloon before your explanation

Very thorough review . I loved your opinion on it

Great video sir 👍.

Thanks Mover, excellent video and commentary on this incident. The only thing that would’ve been an improvement is if you’d been interviewed on a major news network. Your insights and thoughts are leaps and bounds better than anything I’ve heard out there so far.

Everyone is so glad this "air battle" went in our favor ! We were all on the edge of our seats !

Great shot.First go!👍🏽

Good job. Finally. 👍

excellent, balanced, informative take on this. I learned a lot and you answered my "why not use the gun" question. Subbed!

A well-executed, professional exercise. Good job, guys !!

Another (and perhaps the main) reason why I imagine no one would like to use the gun for this is that at 60000 ft flying at a stationary target the closure rate will be insanely high so the time window to put an accurate burst into it is very small, especially if you want to target the payload, and your capabitility to maneuver is minimal, so colliding with the balloon or debris seems like a real risk. Very different from the intended use of the gun from behind another fighter that is flying at a similar speed in front of you (minimal closure), turning, at lower altitude, at dogfighting speeds, and you can relax your turn or jink after your burst to avoid debris.

I love your content and you're just fun to watch.

a lot of people appreciate your insight in this manner. People in my state comment on how they would have shot it down if it came over their county....Again, if this was used to gather intelligence, thats why they didnt fly over my state. Thanks again.

Laugh all you want about the target being a balloon and stuff. The crazy part is that the intercept happened near the edge of jet fighter's ceiling, yet debris fell within 12 miles off shore. That's surgical coordination and intercept imho. Heard that the warhead in that AIM9X was removed/deactivated to make sure that debris of the spy balloon could be as intact as possible for analysis after retrieval. Kudos to that Raptor driver and everyone involved.

Thank you Sir! Good aim!! 🦅🦅🦅🦅❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹

Would love to hear a breakdown / explanation of the comms recording of this that came out, would be very interesting

The USAF will award the pilot an Air Force Cross for his/her brave engagement with the balloon. I wonder if they painted a balloon on the side of the jet. This is how the pilot described the encounter, "There I was closing at 500 kts when I spotted the balloon, I went to max burner and pulled hard up and right, I kept my eyes on the balloon as it increased speed to 30 kts. I thought to myself it's now or never and I rolled in with my fangs out knowing I was risking everything. When the radar locked on, I felt bad for the balloon because its death was moments away. I suppressed those thoughts and let my training take over and I fired. I felt a thrill as the missile streaked toward the doomed balloon. Seconds later I had my first kill, like many firsts in my life I'll never forget this one." Of course, being a pilot, he used his hands to show the maneuvers as his described them. Thrilling story wouldn't you agree.

Got tired of the non-technical/BS coverage in the news, so came to hear from an expert; wasn't disappointed. Great job as always, Mooover!

Hello Mover,can you explain, the contrails at that high altitude?In dcs after 40000ft you dont get any cons

I watched a cool video that showed the balloon footage and in the corner they had the air traffic radar up. You could see the air force circling for quite some time, as the civilian passenger planes were being diverted further inland before the shot was taken.

Thanks for explaining on how they attacked it that it will be easy for the Aim-9X to track. I though it wasn't useful as the target did not have an engine. Still impressive how this missile has improved. I remember reading that the early versions can be confused by the sun.

Solar panels have a very strong IR signature. That is probably what the AIM-9 locked onto, and it looks like it smacked right into them

Salute! A precision hit. The next one will be taken out over the Aleutians. I didn't realize the balloon was powered and steerable. I can see Pranks being crafted as you are reading this. What thrill it must of been for the Pilot. If you are a Fighter Pilot you are one special human to earn the seat. Much Respect.

Love your take on TicTok vs the balloon 🎈

Also just to add, I don’t know if you said but per what I’ve heard they said with the aim 9x sidewinder is that it has no warhead on it, so that way it would do less damage to anything attached to the ballon.

A kill is a kill. Sitting around KMMT listening to Generals ask if we could hit it with flechettes. Not at that altitude sir, lol. Thought the guys at Shaw would get the call.

I love your explanations🙂

Excellent video Mover! Is there any intel on if they discovered this balloon the instant it flew into US airspace or only well after that? In the latter case it could be a serious threat if equipped with any kind of weaponry...

Good vid! The F22 is invincible! You don't hear stories of SU57 shooting down balloons haha!

If you want to read a good story about shooting down a drone . There's an old story called The Battle of Palmdale and you can find out what happens when you're shooting at things and things don't go the way you planned them to go

Supposedly 2 USAF U2s were flying along it getting intelligence from Alaska and over the CONUS. Thanks for the video, great content.

I can’t wait for the DCS Spy Balloon update!

When I first. Heard about this I thought why are we not shooting it down right away. Then I thought about it and the safety issue came to mind, and I understood the hesitation. Then YOU said theres alot of info to hear what they're hearing... I never thought of that I'm not millitary background but thaaaat makes alot of sence! Thank you for putting situations like this into civilian terms. Love your channel

Absolutely the most stylish way to pop a balloon

This was a great take on the situation. Really helped clarify things. Every other breakdown is wrapped head to toe in politics and finding the truth within is basically impossible. Which is the new way of our country.

Thank you for this video Mover and the informative information! 👍 I would be happy if you would soon ruin the new movie "Plane" with Gerard Butler. 😁

That balloon was a fearsome opponent, put up a hell of a fight.

I'd already guessed that they were gathering information themselves from the path of the balloon and potentially from data recovery. I didn't think about tipping our hand on our methods to respond to threats.

Good job. I liked. God bless America. From Vietnam

Never been prouder to be at Langley 🤙🏼

I remember when I had my first Air to Air kill against a balloon, I was Five at my sister's birth day party...

Ward Carroll said a few things differently. 1st, he said the aim9x used had no warhead, he also said it was the ballon that was shot, and most importantly, it’s not actually a heater as it detects differences in light instead of heat. Not saying who is wrong or right, or that it even matters. More curiosity than anything. Enjoy your videos!