{"id":24438,"date":"2023-02-08T03:13:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T03:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/02\/08\/as-fighter-jets-closed-in-on-chinese-balloon-hobbyists-were-listening\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:12:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:12:47","slug":"as-fighter-jets-closed-in-on-chinese-balloon-hobbyists-were-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/cyber\/2023\/02\/08\/as-fighter-jets-closed-in-on-chinese-balloon-hobbyists-were-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"As fighter jets closed in on Chinese balloon, hobbyists were listening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The extraordinary scene of U.S. fighter jets getting ready to strike <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/02\/05\/china-balloon-many-questions-about-suspected-spy-in-the-sky\/\" target=\"_blank\">a Chinese balloon<\/a> had many people along the Carolina coast straining their necks and pointing their smartphones to the sky to capture the moment of impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But a group of aviation enthusiasts was, instead, intently scanning radio frequencies for the exchanges between the pilots who would follow as Huntress, NORAD\u2019s eastern air defense sector controller, tracked the exact distance as two Air Force F-22 fighter jets closed in on the target.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/02\/07\/navy-launches-chinese-surveillance-balloon-salvage-operation\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/EOD2.jpeg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Navy launches Chinese surveillance balloon salvage operation<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The dock landing ship Carter Hall is spearheading the Navy\u2019s balloon debris recovery efforts and collecting remnants near where it collapsed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pilots had to balance striking the balloon when it was at least six miles (10 kilometers) offshore \u2014 the distance NASA had advised the military allow to keep debris from falling on land \u2014 with ensuring it was still in U.S. territorial airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFive miles offshore,\u201d Huntress advises in a transmission that was captured by aviation hobbyist Ken Harrell, in a recording that was authenticated by NORAD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrank One is switches hot,\u201d the first F-22 reports. The call sign \u201cFrank\u201d was given to both aircraft to honor 2nd Lt. Frank Luke, who earned the Medal of Honor in World War I for downing multiple balloons and aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrank Two is switches hot,\u201d the second F-22 radios in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Huntress calls out that the balloon is exactly six nautical miles out, Frank One takes the shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe balloon is completely destroyed!\u201d radios an F-15 fighter jet that also took part in the mission, advising quickly that \u201cthere appears to be metal chaff clouds. \u2026 It\u2019s definitely metal breaking apart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6000\" height=\"3852\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"In this photo provided by Chad Fish, the remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, Feb. 4, 2023.\" class=\"wp-image-72440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg 6000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg?resize=300,193 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg?resize=768,493 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,657 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,986 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23038361408715.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1315 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6000px) 100vw, 6000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this photo provided by Chad Fish, the remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, Feb. 4, 2023. (Chad Fish via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This audio, which was first reported by The Drive, wasn\u2019t on the civilian radio frequencies that commercial pilots use. The Air Force pilots were communicating on an unencrypted military frequency that the North American Aerospace Defense Command uses to conduct missions to secure the eastern United States, under the control center named Huntress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aviation enthusiasts with the right radios scan for Huntress missions and other military flights as a hobby, calling out exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ken Harrell, a 68-year-old retiree from Summerville, South Carolina, is one of those enthusiasts. On Saturday, he recorded the exchange of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2023\/02\/04\/us-downs-chinese-balloon-a-flashpoint-in-us-china-tensions\/\" target=\"_blank\">the balloon shootdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NORAD confirmed the authenticity of the recording to The Associated Press in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Harrell got started a few years ago, he said he \u201cbought the right kind of scanner, put up, you know, a decent antenna and a lot of software to connect to the scanner and just started listening.\u201d He said the scanner only cost about $160 to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Saturday, he got a call from a fellow enthusiast who said Huntress was guiding F-22s in to hit what the Pentagon has said was a spy balloon and China has insisted was a civilian weather balloon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe says, get on the scanner, man! Huntress has been controlling the F-22 Raptors, you know for the balloon, they\u2019re gonna do it,\u201d Harrell said. \u201cSo I jump up, crank up everything, and started listening in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Harrell heard the pilots\u2019 and controller\u2019s voices, \u201cI was excited,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve listened to a lot of other stuff \u2014 fighters practicing, intercept exercises, and that\u2019s cool, but when I first turned the scanner on and it went to my local Huntress frequency, it was pretty apparent: This was a mission. Boom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of aviation enthusiasts was scanning radio frequencies for the exchanges between the pilots as an F-22 fired a missile and downed the 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