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This is baffling. The answer was a high quality response that would be valuable to lots of people. It had one up vote and zero down votes. I can see no reason for a mod to swoop in and delete it without any explanation.

On response to the OP's comment, I even put out a request out to a former soviet scientist that I know to see if he could add anything.

It doesn't help anyone to have mod delete an answer that contains useful information. And when there is no better answer, then even an answer of dubious quality should not be deleted by a moderator. Answers can be improved over time in response to comments or by other members of the community.

So, what is going on here?

Could it be that some users are flagging as many post as they can to try to earn the "Deputy badge" so that the can qualify for the upcoming diamond moderator elections? If that's the case, can current mods validate the flag as "helpful" without deleting the flagged answer?

For reference, the question...

How did 20 radio observatories track balloons of the 1985 Venus-Halley (VeGa) mission in Venus' superrotating winds at an altitude of about 54 km?

And the deleted answer... enter image description here enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ I do not know why it was deleted, but I can confirm that I saw this answer in the section of low quality posts. I voted skip since I wasn’t sure why it was there or if there is something wrong in the post. $\endgroup$
    – The Rocket fan
    Commented Dec 31, 2023 at 10:49

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I didn't see this one in the queue, but I think it fails on the "does this post answer the question?" requirement.

It seems a reasonably account of something you have done, but no supporting evidence to say if that is what was done in this case. We'd really need that.

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  • $\begingroup$ Well, the post does answer the question so it should not have been deleted by a moderator. The issue of needing more supporting evidence or the OP wanting to know more is a question of quality. This can be addressed through comments, suggestions by other users, and future edits. But keep in mind that the question is about what techniques the soviets used, and that may have been a closely guarded secret. So some guesswork is appropriate here. Please undelete the answer. $\endgroup$
    – phil1008
    Commented Dec 31, 2023 at 20:35
  • $\begingroup$ I'd also appreciate it if you could look the flags that instigated the deletions of all of my deleted answers to see if there's any kind of a pattern that might shed some light on what's going on. $\endgroup$
    – phil1008
    Commented Dec 31, 2023 at 20:43
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    $\begingroup$ Hi @phil1008 - you think it does answer the question. I agree with the folks who flagged it and the other mod that it doesn't answer the question. And looking at the flags on your deleted answers shows a pattern - you posted some poorly written answers that didn't meet site requirements, so various members of the community voted to delete or flagged. Before posting, make sure you follow all the guidance on our tour and How to Answer pages $\endgroup$
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Jan 1 at 14:33
  • $\begingroup$ I was asking about whether there is a pattern of the same person(s) flagging. I'm already acutely aware that this is not the first time this has happened. The the question says "How did 20 radio observatories track balloons?" and the answer provides a detailed explanation of how this was likely done. The guidance you linked says "Any answer that fully addresses at least part of the question is helpful and can get the asker going in the right direction. State any limitations, assumptions or simplifications in your answer." People forget its ok for an answer to address part of the question. $\endgroup$
    – phil1008
    Commented Jan 1 at 20:39
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    $\begingroup$ You asked for reasons. I gave my observations. And no, there is no pattern of flagging lots in order to qualify for the next election. $\endgroup$
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Jan 2 at 8:05

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