Fair enough. In that vein, can I suggest considering the transit across the sun in tandem with a separate transit across the moon, and point out that the size of the ISS, when you consider that the Moon almost covers the Sun exactly in a solar eclipse, is remarkably consistent between the two - indicating that its height is consistent between the two series, and reinforcing the viewpoint that it's in a broadly fixed-height orbit above us.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting, but I had the impression that Neil thought the ISS was an inflatable object, but was fully the size of the ISS and in the same orbit. Just, ya know, inflatable. So it should behave in most ways like the ISS.
Nope. You did not imagine it. That is indeed his claim. His only wiggle room is how big and how high the ethereal dirigible might be.
Of course, it is utterly baffling to me why he thinks we could put a giant inflatable device in orbit but not could possibly put an actual space station there.
I am minded of Moon Man's plaintive cry for an answer as to at what altitude above the moon's surface did the vacuum start and how did it extend all the way to Earth, and how far did this supposed vacuum extend. Those were actual questions asked.
There is a point at which one must ask "Is it possible to be this dense?" OR "Is this willful density?". Moon Man qualified as a complete loon who was beyond any education. Neil seems to be tending in that direction. Since Neil returned just yesterday, he may have some posts in the queue awaiting moderator judgment, I don't know.
And while I don't know exactly what, I'd be willing to bet there are quite a few engineering problems that could be solved or assisted if we COULD built giant inflatable devices capable of going in a stable orbit with less effort than it takes to launch a solid object.
I suppose you could do it were you willing to exercise some imagination. Still, it will require a pool of designers, test articles, test facilities, Engineers of various flavours, mission controllers, telemetry through various nation states, maintenance because no matter what you do it will leak some and require replenishment so multiply that by every ISS resupply mission, then you need the engineering and production to produce the gear to repressurise the blimp, not to mention the the various sub blimp modules which must be added over time, the hours of footage which must be faked, and on and on...
At this point, without even trying, there are many thousands of required co-conspirators, yet none revealed all.
And this leads right back to the inconsistent HB claim. The EBIL GUBBMINT is simultaneously so supremely powerful that it can silence any whistle blower by blandishment or assassination as required but at the very same time puts the evidence of their conspiracy on the intertubes for any moron to find.
Riddle me that.
