Border Officials Are Said To Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser
9 115An anonymous reader shares a report: The abrupt closure of El Paso's airspace late Tuesday was precipitated when Customs and Border Protection officials deployed an anti-drone laser on loan from the Department of Defense without giving aviation officials enough time to assess the risks to commercial aircraft, according to multiple people briefed on the situation.
The episode led the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly declare that the nearby airspace would be shut down for 10 days, an extraordinary pause that was quickly lifted Wednesday morning at the direction of the White House. Top administration officials quickly claimed that the closure was in response to a sudden incursion of drones from Mexican drug cartels that required a military response, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declaring in a social media post that "the threat has been neutralized."
But that assertion was undercut by multiple people familiar with the situation, who said that the F.A.A.'s extreme move came after immigration officials earlier this week used an anti-drone laser shared by the Pentagon without coordination with the F.A.A. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone, the people said, but it turned out to be a party balloon. Defense Department officials were present during the incident, one person said.
9 comments
Re:So ... (Score: 5, Insightful)
by pak9rabid ( 1011935 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @12:47PM (#65985142)
I'd rather the airspace be shut down for a few days than have a military laser accidentally hit a commercial jet. I'd prefer neither happen, of course.
Re: So ... (Score: 5, Insightful)
by Frank Burly ( 4247955 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @01:14PM (#65985220)
When your only tool is a laser, every problem looks like a large balloon.
Re:So ... (Score: 5, Insightful)
by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @01:31PM (#65985278)
I get it, but, really? Laser operators are going to mistake a 737 for a cartel drone?
These are CBP laser operators. You know, the agency responsible for the current crop of ICE agents who couldn't catch a clue if you carefully placed it in their hands.
I seriously would not discount the likelihood - never mind the mere possibility - of one of those yahoos mistaking a jumbo jet for a drone.
Re:So ... (Score: 5, Informative)
by higuita ( 129722 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @03:15PM (#65985514)
Not to call you stupid, but you are stupid if you point any laser to a plane, specially at night!! During the day, there isn't much issue but during the night can be very dangerous.
Even weak lasers can travel far, and during the night, our eyes open more to receive more light and see. The fact that a weak can reach the plane and light it enough to cause temporary blindness to pilots, that guess, need their eyes to read all the info and control the plane.
If the plane is high enough, usually isn't much a issue, pilots can recover and the laser may be weak enough by the distance, but during landing and take off this is extremely dangerous. And notice that Landing and Take off isn't just a few meter of the ground, it is until you reach a high enough altitude and speed, so may high enough that some people think it is ok to play. FAA bans the lasers this exactly because of all the variables, starting by the laser power to the altitude and direction of the plane, there are so many things that you have to account for a normal person to even notice. So it is much simpler and safer to ban at all times. Yet there are more and more people doing this joke.
The same with drones, at high altitudes can be a problem, but during take off or landing, they can extremely dangerous... but some people think it is fine to "take a picture"
Re:So ... (Score: 5, Informative)
by ceoyoyo ( 59147 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @01:13PM (#65985216)
If the border patrol can't tell the difference between a drone and a balloon then it's probably a wise move to make sure there are no planes around where they're playing with their pew pew lasers.
Lasers are famous for doing things you don't expect. Reflecting off a shiny mylar balloon and blinding pilots for example.
Re:So ... (Score: 5, Interesting)
by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @11:44PM (#65986106)
I'm guessing two things went into the FAA's decision making:
1) Just like there was uncertainty in the reporting, there was also uncertainty in the FAA as to what the hell was going on. So shutting down the airspace is very prudent.
2) CBP shooting down an object without giving the FAA sufficient notice is a big fracking deal. It very well could have been a civilian aircraft. Making the shutdown a 10 day shutdown guarantees that it becomes national news, which guarantees that reporters will dig into it, CBP will get embarrassed, and they hopefully won't do it again.
People will die (Score: 5, Interesting)
by NewtonsLaw ( 409638 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @12:22PM (#65985066)
This outrageous level of paranoia over "alleged" drone sightings will cost human lives soon.
Here we have the US military mis-identifying a party balloon as a drone and firing a powerful laser at it -- while members of the public get prosecuted every year for flicking their laser-pointers at helicopters and airliners.
In Germany, police will be allowed to shoot at "alleged" drones [theguardian.com] even though it has been clearly proven that most (if not all) of the recent drone sightings were simply mis-identified aircraft lights.
Can anyone see the potential for disaster here?
The mis-identification of aircraft flying at night as "drones" has become rife, dating back beyond the NY/NJ "drone" incidents that caused such concern in the USA a year or two ago. Almost without exception, these "drones" are real aircraft (often passenger flights) carrying people through the skies. How long before one of them is shot down by paranoid trigger-happy idiots?
Paranoia is a mental health issue and it's infecting governments and authorities around the world.
Before someone says "but... Ukraine..." I ask you: how many people have died as the result of actions by bad actors using drones in the USA or outside the war zones in Europe?
That's a big fat ZERO!
Yes, it "could" happen but right now it's far more likely that innocent people will die from friendly fire produced by paranoid idiots on the ground with guns and lasers.
Re: People will die (Score: 5, Informative)
by reanjr ( 588767 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @01:18PM (#65985238)
Yeah. Sure. It wasn't that you were misidentifying large, loud, distant aircraft as small, quiet, low flying aircraft. Sure. Absolutely. You wouldn't make such a mistake. Not like all those other people we know are making these same misidentifications. You are the gold standard for reporting drone aircraft. If only we could send you to Ukraine to identify enemy drones...
Re:This sort of thing is what happens... (Score: 5, Informative)
by Scutter ( 18425 ) on Thursday February 12, 2026 @01:41PM (#65985310)
The good news is, because of this it'll probably go very badly for Trump at the midterms.
He's already laying the groundwork to invalidate or take over control of the midterms to ensure that your vote only counts if it's for his toadies.