Turns Out The FAA Shut Down El Paso Airspace To Fire A Laser At Party Balloons

There’s been confusion as to why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced and quickly reversed a 10-day closure of El Paso airspace last Wednesday. The answer initially given was that there was cartel drone activity in the area, an explanation that El Paso officials weren’t buying. Turns out their skepticism was correct, and the real answer is stupider than any of us thought, as the closure came after Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) fired a laser at a couple of party balloons. 

Folks. We truly live in the wildest timeline. 

According to NBC News, CBP used the anti-drone laser without coordinating with the FAA beforehand, despite the test taking place near the El Paso International Airport. The FAA responded to the laser’s use by declaring a “temporary flight restriction notice,” which closes the surrounding airspace for 10-days. While TFRs have been issued for large-scale events like the Super Bowl or presidential travel, a citywide airspace closure hasn’t occurred since 9/11, when flights were grounded nationwide. 

The closure didn’t just affect commercial travel, but also grounded helicopters used for medical transport and emergency response. All that. For some balloons. I just want you to know that I’m currently looking like Bad Bunny at the Grammys while writing this. 

What we have here is a failure to communicate across the board. The CBP gave no notice to the FAA that it was using the anti-drone laser, and the FAA gave no advance notice to El Paso officials that it was closing the airspace. El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson has been critical of the FAA’s response and has said the flight restriction “should have never happened.”

“This unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community,” Johnson said at a news conference. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership. That failure to communicate is unacceptable.” Johnson added that medical evacuation flights had to be redirected to Las Cruces, which is 45 miles away. “This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11,” he said.

There has been quite a bit of finger-pointing over who authorized the use of the laser. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given authorization for CBP to use the anti-drone laser, but it’s still unclear who ordered it to be fired on Wednesday. The use of the weapon requires coordination with the FAA, so someone clearly wasn’t on their job. 

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford refused to answer questions about the closure on Wednesday, but a FAA meeting is set for Feb. 20, which may provide answers about the use of the laser and why the FAA responded with a 10-day closure. 

Since this is the Trump administration we’re talking about, they’ve yet to be forthcoming about the reason behind the closure. Despite sources familiar with the incident telling NBC News what happened, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying there was no record of drone activity near the border on Wednesday, the Trump administration is still standing by the narrative that the laser was used to take down cartel drones. 

These are the people in charge of keeping the country safe, and this incident shows that either they can’t effectively communicate what they’re doing with one another, or that they can’t tell the difference between party balloons and drones. 

No, neither option is comforting. Yes, I’m still sitting here looking like Bad Bunny at the Grammys.

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