Alan Sparrow is co-owner of the Polk County News. Find his column, Alan’s Anecdotes, each week in the newspaper and online at www.polkcountynews.net.
I looked up the history of the term “trial balloon” and en.wiktionary.org said it was a “small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; (figuratively) prospective action to test acceptance.” They gave a literal and figurative definition.
I think both definitions loosely apply to the Chinese balloon th…
