Did You Know Mass. Was Involved In Taking Down The Spy Balloon?

(Images Courtesy of the 104th Fighter Wing Facebook Page)

Like many people across this great nation, were you glued to the TV on Saturday watching the U.S. military shoot down the high-altitude balloon sent from China? I know I certainly watched for a little while anyway.

Just in case you missed it, here's a quick rundown: After flying over the continental United States for several days doing God knows what(we Americans say that it was being used for surveillance and the Chinese say it was some sort of vessel for "civilian research"), U.S. military fighter jets took it down.

According to President Biden, he made the decision on Wednesday to have the military shoot the balloon down as soon as it was safe to do so. The military decided that it would be safer to shoot the vessel down when it was over water.

Saturday, the balloon finally drifted off the East Coast near the Carolinas and the fighter jets sprang into action! And by the way, some of those military jets...were from right here in the Commonwealth.

That's right! According to a media statement from 104th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Specialist Randy Burlingame, the military utilized some fighter jets from Barnes Air National Guard Base located in Westfield to assist in the takedown of the balloon.

How COOL is that? "Top Gun: Maverick" in the flesh, right? Check out these awesome pics from their Facebook page:

Courtesy of Facebook

104th Fighter Wing/Public Affair

Even if none of the 104th Fighter Wing jets were involved in the actual shooting down of the balloon itself, it's still great that they were there to lend a hand if needed. For more. check out the story on their Facebook page here.

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