Superficial research in an article about fear of mass shootings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article with superficial research by James Alan Fox at USA Today on January 14, 2026 titled There’s no mass shooting epidemic, but fear epidemic is real | Opinion. He says (as shown above) that:

 

“Although the frequent claims of a ‘mass shooting epidemic’ are more hyperbole than reality, there truly is an epidemic of fear fueled by the extensive media coverage afforded deadly attacks in schools, churches, restaurants and other public settings.

 

Indeed, the percentage of Americans indicating that public mass shootings are a significant source of worry has nearly tripled, from 16% in 2015 to 44% in 2025, based on the Chapman University Survey of American Fears." 

 

The first data point for fear of a random or mass shooting really should be from 2014 rather than 2015, and be 24.7% - which is 51 percent larger than the 16.4% that Prof. Fox uses. So his comparison would just be an increase of 79% rather than a near tripling.

 

 

  

 

 

And those are only two of eleven data points in those Chapman surveys, as is shown above. When you only use ~18% of the available data, you will get a grossly misleading picture of what really is going on.

 

There also is another article by James Alan Fox in the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice for July 31, 2023 (Volume 40, number 1) titled Trends in U. S. Mass Shootings: Facts, Fears, and Fatalities. Figure 2 in it is a vertical bar chart showing seven Chapman Survey data points from 2015 to 2022, but it also omits the 2014 data point and instead of listing 47.4% for 2019 (the very highest point!) it repeats the 41.5% from 2018. Also, he reports 28.1% for 2017 when the correct number in the detailed results instead is 30.8%. I discussed this problem in a blog post on October 4, 2017 titled What do the most Americans fear? The fourth Chapman Survey on American Fears, and being innumerate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is fear of a random or mass shooting the greatest fear in the Chapman surveys? No – corrupt government officials are. As shown above in a bar chart, fear of a random or mass shooting ranked from a low of #56 to a high of #22.   

 

 

Use relatable units when reporting numbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 13, 2024 I blogged about Chopping a number down to size by using the right unit conversion. In that post I noted that the federal government web site reports wildfires in units of acres. That’s hard to grasp if the fire covers thousands of them. There are 640 acres to a square mile, so sizes for larger fires instead should be shown in square miles, and not acres.

 

On July 19, 2025 there is an article by Nicole Blanchard at the Idaho Statesman titled Car on fire sparks 8,000-acre wildfire along I-84 near Boise on Saturday. A bit later that day there is another article by Barclay Idsal and Allie Triepke at IdahoNews6 titled 8,902 acre wildfire ongoing southeast of Boise leads to low visibility along I-84. 8902 acres converts to 13.91 square miles, or a square with 3.73 miles on a side (as is shown above).

 

That MM65 I-84 Fire is just east of the Blacks Creek Road exit (Exit 64) for I-84. If I plan to go east on I-84, then I commonly avoid east Boise traffic by going south on the ironically-named Pleasant Valley Road past the state prisons, and then east on Kuna Mora Road to reach Exit 64.    

 

 

Would you like to write headlines like those in The Wall Street Journal?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a recent article by Tom Corfman at Ragan on April 15, 2025 titled How to write headlines like The Wall Street Journal. His five tips are:

 

“Two-sentence headlines or colon constructions are best when there’s an element of tension to play up.

 

Behind/inside headlines (starting a headline with these come-hither words) are for when we’re actually showing readers something revelatory.

 

Question headlines should ‘pose big, existential questions, ones that everyday people are actually asking.

 

How/Why headlines work best when we’re doing explanatory journalism.

 

Use a quote in a headline when it’s ‘such a standout that the story couldn’t live without it.’ “

 

Five headlines from their February 1, 2025 issue are:

 

Crash victims mourned amid search for answers.

President threatens to widen trade war.

Was that a Van Gogh at the garage sale?

Inflation remains just above Fed target.

Trump’s tariff plans risk jolting economy.

 

Another article by Ann Wylie at Wylie Communications in April 2021 is titled Stop it with the ing-ing headlines (Examples!) She has the following quote:

 

“Barney Kilgore, the legendary editor of The Wall Street Journal, once wrote: ‘If I see ‘upcoming’ slip in[to] the paper again. I’ll be downcoming and someone will be outgoing.’ “

 

On June 15, 2022 I blogged about how Speeches and slides need headlines – not just titles.  And on April 6, 2021 I had another post titled Your speech needs a great headline -not just a title.

 

The cartoon of a man reading a newspaper was adapted from one at OpenClipArt. 

 

 

Ten Far Side comics about fear of public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Larson created a famous single-panel comic strip called The Far Side that ran in newspapers from 1979 to 1995. There is an article by Robert Wood at Screen Rant on March 25, 2025 titled 10 Funniest Far Side comics that will make you terrified of public speaking. He described them as follows:

 

Welcome Inferiority Complex Sufferers

Cow

An Organized Crime Informant

Farmer Bob

His Recent Autobiography

This Cartoon’s Most Esteemed Scientist-Like Character

Science Meets Tabloid TV

The Mammals Are Taking Over

National Association of Prevaricators

Mind Over Matter

 

An image of boys reading the comics was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Finding speech topics in unusual places – like a Learning Express article about 525 writing prompts in the New York Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The November 2024 issue of Toastmaster magazine has an article by Mackenzie Eldred on pages 26 and 27 titled Finding Speech Topics in Unusual Places. Her seven examples are:

 

Mail Problems

Burger Love

The Chicken Soup of Life

Finding Speech Inspiration on the Flight Deck

Lessons From the Attic

Reaching the Summit

Reflecting on My Hair Journey

 

But there is more unusual place to look. It is a Learning Network article at the New York Times which was updated on August 2, 2023, titled 525 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing. There are 37 categories. This article is a gigantic collection of speech topic ideas! And when you click on a prompt, you are taken to a brief Learning Network article – a starting point for your research. I blogged about it in a post on May 15, 2024 titled My workshop presentation at the 2024 District 15 Toastmasters Conference on May 18, 2024 about Creating or Finding Great Table Topics Questions.

 

The cartoon was adapted from one at Openclipart.

 

A newspaper article by Harvey Mackay on the joy of public speaking and Toastmasters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Coeur d’Alene Press on September 22, 2024 there is a useful article by Harvey Mackay titled The joy of public speaking. It appeared the previous day at UExpress. He has written eight business books, and would be expected to do careful research. But in the article instead he claims:  

 

“The day after I graduated from the University of Minnesota, my father, Jack Mackay, pushed me to join King Boreas Toastmasters in St. Paul, the oldest Toastmasters club in the United States.”

 

King Boreas Toastmasters really is the 208th club, and it was chartered on November 4, 1941. The first club, at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California began back in 1924.

 

He continues:

 

“This October, Toastmasters International will celebrate its 100th anniversary, and now boasts a membership of more than 364,000 in 16,600 clubs in 143 countries. Many formerly red-faced, white-knuckled speakers owe a debt of gratitude to Toastmasters, a club whose main purpose is to help members hone their public-speaking skills.

 

Along with that, members learn about preparation, appearance, self-confidence, self-esteem and thinking on their feet … or how to be interesting. Toastmasters can help anyone in any profession because those skills are in universal demand. And with surveys showing that public speaking ranks at the top of the list of fears — even above death — a little refresher course is in order. You can reach Toastmasters at www.toastmasters.org.”

 

But public speaking really isn’t at the top of lists of fears - or above death. It has not been at the top since a March 19, 2001Gallup poll article by Geoffrey Brewer titled Snakes Top List of Americans’ Fears.   

 

Harvey also says:

 

“I have a very useful tool to make speech-making easier. It's called the Mackay 35 to Stay Alive. It's one of many handouts that are available free on my website, www.harveymackay.com”

 

But his 35 to Stay Alive article is at Eliances, rather than his website.  

 

He recommends limiting the number of seats, which I find questionable:

 

“If 100 people are going to attend, the room should seat 75. If 500 people are expected, the room should hold 400. You want the excitement of a standing-room-only, bumper-to-bumper crowd to build chemistry.”

 

A cartoon of a Business Speaker was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

First look at the data, then look at the words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Via interlibrary loan, I recently got a 2024 book by Hasan Merali titled Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas and subtitled Secrets from the Science of Toddlers for a Happier, More Successful way of Life. On page 58 he intriguingly says:

 

“One of the sad parts of getting older is that we all go over what has been termed the ‘humor cliff.’ A 2013 Gallup study of 1.4 million people in 163 different countries showed that the amount we smile and laugh starts to fall dramatically at age twenty-three. It does start to rise again but not until age eighty, and it never reaches the peak we started at.” Ref. 4, 5

 

Reference 5 is an August 2021 TED talk by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas: Why Great Leaders Take Humor Seriously | TED. They discuss the global humor cliff:

 

“Here’s the problem though. We’ve all fallen off a humor cliff. In a global study, over a million people were asked a simple question – did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday? When we’re kids the answer is yes. Then, right when we enter the work force, the answer becomes no. The good news is things look up again around 80. The bad news is the average life expectancy is 78.”

 

And they have a graph at the one-minute mark, which I have shown above with annotations. But their words and their graph disagree. A transition between yes and no logically would occur at 50% (my dashed red line at the bottom), but their blue line always is above 60%. If the transition was at 75%, then their statement would make sense. Instead, when we enter the work force the slope decreases. This problem should have been caught in the first rehearsal where the graphic was used.

 

That TED talk was preceded by a 2021 book by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas titled Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon at Work and in Life. Their discussion of The Humor Cliff on page 22 has a two-and-a-half-inch tall line drawing just like the TED talk and above it says:

 

“The collective loss of our sense of humor is a serious problem afflicting people and organizations globally. We’re all going over the humor cliff together, tumbling down into the abyss of solemnity below.

 

At the bottom of that abyss, we’re joined by the majority of 1.4 million survey respondents in 166 countries who revealed in this Gallup poll that the frequency with which we laugh or smile each day starts to plummet around age 23.”

 

That discrepancy also should have been caught during proofreading of the book.

 

There is an article by Reed Tucker at the New York Post on March 13, 2021 titled We start losing our sense of humor at age 23 – and it could wreck your career. It has a graphic with a detailed caption saying:

 

“THE HUMOR CLIFF

Studies show that people laugh freely and openly when young, but less so as they age, starting around 23. The laughter tends to return, however in the twilight year – perhaps as we work less and spend more time with loved ones.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My annotated version of the graphic is shown above. The article title accepts the age 23 claim from the book without looking at what the data in the graph reveals. We really start losing our sense of humor at age 13. It drops from 83.4 percent at age 13 to 73.6% at age 25 - at a rate of 0.82% per year. Then from age 25 to 50 it drops more slowly at a rate of 0.22% per year to 68.1% at age 50. There also is a small peak of 68.6% at age 58. It drops at 0.3% per year from age 58 to age 83 The minimum is 61% at age 83, and then it rises again to 72% at age 100.

 

A Toastmasters International web page about Visual Aids and Props warns us that:

 

“Diagrams, graphs and charts should always coincide with what is being said in the speech.” 

 

We should first look at the data, and then look at the words to see that they match.

 

An extremely thin alibi for four murders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryan Kohlberger has been charged with the November 13, 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students in Moscow. An article by Katherine Donlevy at the New York Post on April 18, 2024 is titled Bryan Kohlberger’s lawyers offer new alibi for accused murderer’s whereabouts on night of killings. They claimed cell phone data will show he was elsewhere. But that assumes his cell phone was in the car while he was out driving alone – which may not be true.

 

Another article by Jenna Sundel at Newsweek on May 1, 2024 titled Bryan Kohlberger: 6 Key Updates in the Case added that the prosecution said it also was not an alibi because the Defendant's cell phone stopped reporting to the cellular network before the homicides and continued not reporting until after the homicides.

   

That alibi claim reminded me of some lyrics from a 2022 Drive-By Truckers song, The Driver:

 

“…Used to go out driving, sometimes late into the night
Trying to make sense of the pieces of my life
Still young enough to not know how the puzzle fit together
Nothing to fall back on but a knife”

 

An image of a cellphone came from Mad Flash Digital at Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

Living with a popcorn brain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article by Tracy Swartz at the New York Post on February 18, 2024 titled What is ‘popcorn brain’? How social media may be killing your attention span. She quoted clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel Glazer as saying that:

 

“Popcorn brain refers to the tendency for our attention and focus to jump quickly from one thing to another, like popping corn kernels.”

 

It’s a very vivid term for describing behavior that does not rise to the level of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. On page 96 in her 2024 book The 5 Resets: Rewire your brain and body for less stress and more resilience Aditi Nerurkar describes A Classic Case of Popcorn Brain as follows:

 

“Julian was suffering from an increasingly common condition known as popcorn brain. While not a true medical diagnosis, popcorn brain is a growing cultural phenomenon. It’s a term coined by researcher David Levy to describe what happens to our brains when we spend too much time online. Our brain circuitry starts to ‘pop’ from being overstimulated by the fast-paced information stream Over time, our brains get habituated to this constant streaming of information, making it harder for us to look away and disconnect from our devices, slow down our thoughts, and live fully offline, where things move at a much different and slower pace.”

 

And on pages 103 and 104 she describes how to cure your popcorn brain:

 

“Aim to spend no more than twenty minutes a day scrolling on your phone. At all other times, use your phone only for essential calls, texts, and email. Set a timer and stay accountable. It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re in the digital space.

 

Opt out of push notifications and automatic pop-up features. Trust that if there’s something you need to know about, you’ll hear about it on your time.

 

While working, aim to keep your smartphone at least ten feet away from your workstation, At home, consider doing the same, especially when you’re with your family members.

 

At bedtime, keep your phone off your nightstand. This will help prevent nightime phone checks and also prevent you from reaching for your phone the first thing in the morning. Tell family members or colleagues to call you if there’s an emergency.”

 

 

My image was constructed by filling a silhouette of brain activity from Openclipart with an image of popcorn from Wikimedia Commons.

 

A bad article at the Gem State Patriot News - inspired by notorious quack Dr. Joseph Mercola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Gem State Patriot News blog on September 4, 2023 there is a bad article (post) by their publisher, Bob ‘Nugie’ Neugebauer, titled The Manipulation of America and subtitled Social Media Platforms & Google are turning us into a Banana Republic. It’s typical ‘Viewing with Alarm,’ and it obviously wasn’t proofread. His first paragraph opens by claiming that:

 

“Wikipedia describes Manipulation (psychology) as the action of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way Crowd manipulation — the use of crowd psychology to direct the behavior of a crowd toward a specific action Internet manipulation — the co-opting of digital technology (algorithms, automated scripts) for commercial, social, or political purpose. So you have to ask the question, is this happening in our country today, how bad is it and how long has it been going on?”

 

That first run-on sentence that doesn’t match what Wikipedia says. Their page on Manipulation (psychology) actually says it is a:

 

“subterfuge designed to influence or control another, usually in a manner which facilitates one’s personal aims.”

 

Bob instead had referred to the generic page on Manipulation, which under Crowd Manipulation lists categories of Internet manipulation, Media manipulation and Market manipulation.

 

His second paragraph begins with this sentence that misspelled Larry Sanger as Larry Sager:

 

“According to a recent interview on Rumble by Glenn Greenwald with Larry Sager Wikipedia’s founder, manipulation of Wikipedia has been going on since around 2006 when we saw the establishment take exception to and become dismissive of the relative value of eastern/natural medicine compared to today’s establishment science.”

 

And his fourth paragraph misspells cues as ques.

 

Bob says he was inspired by Dr. Joseph Mercola, and links to this article at the AMERICA FIRST Report on September 2, 2023 titled Wikipedia Is an Information Warfare Tool. It has an embedded YouTube video from Glenn Greenwald titled Wikipedia Co-Founder Condemns It: “Most Biased Encyclopedia in History | SYSTEM UPDATE.

 

But Dr. Mercola is a notorious jerk, and always should be ignored. There is a page about him at the Encyclopedia of American Loons way back on December 31, 2011. That’s not a good sign. And the page about him at the RationalWiki begins by stating that:

 

“Joseph Mercola (1954-) is an American anti-vaxer, conspiracy theorist, pseudoscience promoter and absolute quack, best known for making false and misleading health claims.”

 

One of those claims cost him millions of dollars. There is a press release from the Federal Trade Commission on April 14, 2016 titled Marketers of Indoor Tanning Systems to Pay Refunds to Consumers.

 

More recently there is an article by David Gorski at Science-Based Medicine on July 28, 2021 titled Joe Mercola: An antivaccine quack tycoon pivots effortlessly to profit from spreading COVID-19 misinformation. There also is another article by Joe Schwarcz at the Montreal Gazette on August 20, 2021 titled The Right Chemistry: Beware of these examples of COVID quackery.

 

My graphic was assembled from a rubber duck and a flag donut at Openclipart.  

 

Bad storytelling about product recalls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recently read about a product recall involving steering in some recent Nissan Sentra compact cars. One article at AP on August 19, 2023 is titled Nissan recalling more than 236,000 cars to fix a problem that can cause loss of steering control. It contains the following description:

 

“Nissan is recalling more than 236,000 small cars in the U.S. because the tire rods in front suspension can bend and break, possibly causing drivers to lose steering control. The recall covers certain Sentra compact cars from the 2020 through 2022 model years. Tie rods help vehicles move the wheels for steering. Nissan says in documents posted Saturday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that if tie rods become bent, they can break and affect the steering, increasing the risk of a crash.”

 

As is shown above via a schematic (revised from one at Wikimedia Commons), inner tie rods connect between the steering wheel and vehicle front wheels. They don’t just ‘help’ move them. Another article by Keith Barry at Consumer Reports on August 21, 2023 titled Nissan Sentra sedans recalled again to fix steering issues also talks about tie rods just helping:

 

“Nissan is recalling over 236,000 Sentra sedans from the 2020 through 2022 model years because of a faulty part that could make it more difficult to steer. In serious cases, the driver may lose control of the vehicle…

 

The problem has to do with the vehicle’s tie rod, which is a part that helps connect a vehicle’s steering system to its drive wheels. On the recalled Sentras, the tie rod can bend too easily after experiencing a high-impact force such as hitting a curb, which can cause vibration and an off-center steering wheel. If the tie rod breaks, the driver could lose some steering control.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission on July 6, 2023 there is a recall notice titled Husqvarna Recalls Residential 300 Series Snow Blowers Due to Injury Hazard. These snow blowers are self-propelled and the description for Incidents/Injuries says:

 

“The firm has received 22 reports where the auger pulley bolt loosened and the drive unexpectedly became engaged. No injuries have been reported.”

 

And it also says:

 

“Hazard: The recalled 300 series snow blowers can unexpectedly go into drive mode and collide with a consumer, posing an injury hazard.”

 

I assembled the cartoon shown above from Openclipart images of a snow blower and a running man, showing him being chased through the snow. If he fell, then it could turn into a version of the infamous wood chipper scene from Fargo.

 

The Lori Vallow Daybell murder trial media circus finally is over

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday we finally got the guilty verdicts in the Lori Vallow Daybell murder trial held at the Ada County Courthouse here in Boise. It had run for six weeks and been a media circus that involved sixty witnesses testifying. The prosecution closed with the same theme they had started with – Money, Power, and Sex – which could have been the title for a long Russian novel – maybe the sequel to War and Peace.

 

An article by Rebecca Boone at AP News on May 13, 2023 is titled Doomsday plot: Idaho jury convicts woman in murders of 2 children, romantic rival. A previous article on May 11, 2023 is titled A look at who’s who in the murder trial of slain kids’ mom, and one on April 1, 2023 is titled Doomsday plot? After 3 years, slain kids’ mom to stand trial. The May 13 article described defense claims not found credible by the jury:

 

“Defense attorney Jim Archibald countered that there was no evidence tying his client to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and fell for the ‘weird’ apocalyptic religious claims of a cult leader. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.”

 

This trial was extensively covered by both local TV (KTVB7 and 2IdahoNews) and national TV, but without cameras in the courtroom, except for reading of the verdict. But later there will be another trial of her husband, Chad Daybell. At various times it looked like either he would be tried first, or they would be tried together, or she would be found not competent for trial.

 

The circus tent cartoon was modified from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Trying to break a Guinness World Record for speeches given in 24 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until today I was not aware there is a Guinness World Record for the number of speeches given in 24 hours. Then I saw an article by Jon Anderson in the Hoover Sun on April 29, 2023 titled Hoover man seeks to break speech Guinness World Record. (Hoover is a city in north central Alabama with a population of ~93,000 and is located near Birmingham). The article explains:

 

“Patrick O’Mara is a subrogation analyst for the State Farm insurance company who has a side business providing training in public speaking, wants to break the Guinness record of 30 speeches in 24 hours, which was set in Gujarat, India by a man named Piyush Vyas. O’Mara’s goal is to do 40 speeches in 24 hours, and his target date is June 8.  

 

There are certain conditions that must be met for each speech to qualify for the Guinness World Record. Each speech must be an unscripted, unique speech that lasts for at least 10 minutes, which means that he can’t give the same presentation 40 times, or even twice.

 

Each speech must be in a different venue, and each venue must be capable of seating at least 50 people. Also, there must be at least 10 people in the audience at each speech, with no duplicate audience members.”

 

The article explained that Patrick was practicing by drawing topics from a box of fortune cookies.

 

Club meetings of Toastmasters International have a one-to-two-minute impromptu speaking portion called Table Topics. There is another article by Elaine Lung at District 101 Toastmasters on January 9, 2022 titled Impromptu Speaking: It’s Easier Than You Think. She mentions several possible speech structures, and the ten-minute version for Guinness can use similar ones.

 

Back on September 22, 2010 I blogged about a simple way to keep track of an impromptu speech in a post titled Getting a hand on your impromptu speech. That ‘Handi-speech’ techniques by Lori Gracey also is discussed here and here.

 

My impression of the world record trophy was adapted from one at Openclipart.  

 

Did a Chinese spy balloon make multiple passes in figure-eight patterns over U.S. military sites?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on February 13, 2023 I blogged about Government and media storytelling about a Chinese spy balloon that drifted over the United States. On April 3, 2023 there is an article by NBC News titled Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from sensitive U.S. military sites, despite U.S. efforts to block it which contains the following claim:

 

“China was able to control the balloon so it could make multiple passes over some of the sites (at times flying figure-eight formations) and transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real time, the three officials said.”

 

Information from that article was repeated by newspapers like the New York Post in another article that same day titled Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from US military sites: report:

 

“The device — which was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, seven days after it first entered US airspace — made multiple passes over some key installations, at times flying in a figure-eight to ensure maximum data collection, according to NBC News, which cited two current senior US officials and one former White House official.”

 

They didn’t supply details, like which installations, or show any close-up views of those paths taken. A circle (shown clockwise above) is reasonable. As soon as you draw a picture of it, a figure-eight (going first clockwise, and then counterclockwise) seems a hard to believe fairy-tale. Even a plane would prefer a simple circle to the more complex figure-eight.

 

There is an earlier article by Adam Kehoe at TheDrive on May 17, 2021 titled What we know about the high-altitude balloons recently lingering off America’s coastlines which described how some American balloons work:

 

“Within the main balloon, there is a smaller balloon referred to as a ‘ballonet.’ The ballonet acts as a ballast, and functions as the central component of the steering system. Air is introduced into the ballonet using a pump, permitting the balloon to modify its weight to ascend or descend. Operators cannot directly control the course or speed, but the altitude changes, along with real-time weather awareness, allow the balloon to leverage wind patterns at different altitudes in order to navigate, including staying in a particular area for a long period of time.”