Marjorie Taylor Greene urges fans to shoot down spy balloon

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called on regular citizens to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon that is currently drifting across the central United States in a tweet on Friday.

"Literally every regular person I know is talking about how to shoot down the Chinese Spy Balloon," wrote Greene, a controversial lawmaker famous for her promotion of the QAnon conspiracy theory. "It would be great if an average Joe shot it down because China Joe won’t. Regular Americans can do everything better than the government and actually care about our country."

Greene joins a chorus of other Republican officials, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding the spy balloon be brought down by force.

However, the spy balloon is flying at an altitude of 66,000 feet, and a typical bullet fired skyward from a rifle could make it about 10,000 feet into the air or so, making it effectively impossible for a regular American to shoot down the spy balloon from their backyard.

Military officials have not "ruled out" shooting down the spy balloon. However, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has advised President Joe Biden against doing so, in part because of the potential for it to damage people and buildings on the ground.

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The Chinese government has denied that the object is a spy balloon at all, claiming it is simply a civilian weather instrument that got blown off course.

The incident has already escalated tensions with China, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceling a planned state visit.