It has happened before, dumbass.
Agreed. The balloon is a new wrinkle. While I doubt it has anything new in tech, it'd be worth taking a look at.
Those who remember the Glomar Explorer know that the best intelligence successes are unknown to the public.
Both the Navy and USAF have computer software that predicts the driftdown of parachutes in order to locate downed aircrews. Putting a hole in the balloon and letting it settle in the ocean would be easy. Recovering it could be done with a cover story of "it was destroyed".
Shooting it over the US shoreline and letting it drift over the ocean would be both legal and safe.
