So, someone sent me this meme and I decided to do the math for it to see if it is accurate because why not.
Sadly this sphere would be nowhere near as big as the image would lead you to believe. After calculating the size of a sphere using 2% of the US defense budget, and also only calculating the cost for the raw material of the obsidian, so not including labor costs, processing costs, or any permits or anything, it would only be about 0.12 miles tall, or about 2 football fields tall.
More sad news: even if the sphere were to be hollow and 1/16 of an inch thick, it would be about 90420 feet tall, or about 17 miles tall, but only be visible for about 350 miles in any direction. The distance from SF to the northern border of California is about 500 miles, meaning it would still not be visible from all of northern California. It would need to be nearly double as tall at 183000 feet, or almost 35 miles tall, and only be a measly 0.0156 inches thick, or about 396 microns thick, or about 1/3 as thick as a GRAIN of SAND, to be visible from all of nothern California.
Also, it would cost approximately double the US annual defense budget if you wanted to construct a solid version. So yeah, this meme is not accurate lmao.
