A party balloon condemns the El Paso anti-drone laser fiasco Opinion

[usonian]

Last edited Fri Feb 13, 2026, 03:01 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/02/13/el-paso-faa-cbp-laser-party-balloon-drone/88645450007/

Who decided that giving a high-powered laser to the folks who've been part of the Trump administration's violent and broadly ham-handed immigration enforcement operations was a good idea?
Rex Huppke
USA TODAY

I’m a bright-red party balloon from the greater El Paso area in Texas, and I have deep concerns for myself and my extended mylar family in the wake of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials’ unconscionable use of an anti-drone laser on a member of the party balloon community.

In case you missed it, the airspace over El Paso was suddenly shut down Feb. 10 without explanation, creating chaos and widespread confusion throughout El Paso County. The closure was initially blamed on an “incursion” of drones controlled by Mexican drug cartels. But news reports since then found the closure stemmed from immigration officials in the area using a high-powered anti-drone laser without first coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration.

That drone’s target? As The New York Times reported, citing officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity: “C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone, the people said, but it turned out to be a party balloon.”

Oh. I see. It “turned out” to be a party balloon. Ho-hum, right?

With these geniuses in charge, I fully expect that a Mexican invasion of the U.S. would succeed, "Mouse that Roared" style.

Or shall we say: "La raton que rugio"



Maybe Mexico has the Q-Bomb?

EDIT TO ADD:
The Most Expensive Party Balloon in History
https://log.jasongodfrey.info/questions/The-Most-Expensive-Party-Balloon-in-History

On February 10, 2026, the FAA shut down all flights over El Paso for what was supposed to be 10 days because the U.S. military had shot down what it thought was a drone. It turned out to be a party balloon. The closure was lifted within hours, but not before 15 flights were canceled, others delayed by hours, medevacs rerouted to Las Cruces, and Fort Bliss grounded.

So, how much did it cost?

Here’s my method for answering that question. I used only public, citable data. I reconstructed the timeline, built a flight dataset, classified cancellations and delays, converted disruption into passenger-hours and labor-hours, and monetized it with USDOT value-of-time guidance. I then applied sanity checks and documented all assumptions. Below is the analysis.

Stupidity comes at a BIG cost.

[Walleye]

1. Very funny, this administration believes conspiracy theories, and base their policies on

[Thunderbeast]

2. Surprised that they did not launch a surface to air (SAM) missile.

Proof that we need a trillion dollar "GOLDEN DOME".

[Hugin]

3. I have my suspicions that the CPB themselves launched the party balloon.

So they could fire the fancy hi-tech laser weapon.

[usonian]

4. Kick for update.

Someone worked out the total cost of this dumbass incident.