The original scary spy balloon

Decades before the recent spy scandal, a TV show terrified us with an accidental prop

John I. Carney
3 min readFeb 14

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Screaming face seen from the other side of stretched rubber membrane into which it has been pressed.
(ITC Entertainment)

When the Chinese balloon scandal first broke, I posted a clip from “The Prisoner” while making a joke that the balloon was actually Rover.

Now that balloons have become a thing, I wanted to go back and explain the reference for those who didn’t…

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John I. Carney

Author of “Dislike: Faith and Dialogue in the Age of Social Media,” available at http://www.lakeneuron.com/dislike