Do these ^ look like Drones? – Might just be what you get when you have unqualified people as leaders.
It seemed like fake news so I asked Gemini:
Did the Defense dept loan lasers to Ice who thought they were shooting down cartel drones but in fact they were shooting down party balloons?
Gemini’s Response:
Yes, that is actually a real (and very recent) event. In February 2026, a somewhat chaotic series of events led to a major airspace shutdown in El Paso, Texas, involving exactly the scenario you described.
The “Laser vs. Balloon” Incident
According to reports from the New York Times, CBS News, and the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Defense (DoD) loaned a high-energy laser weapon system—identified as the AeroVironment LOCUST—to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
- The Target: On February 9, 2026, CBP agents used the laser to shoot down what they believed were drones being operated by Mexican drug cartels.
- The Reality: Post-incident analysis revealed the “threats” were actually Mylar party balloons.
- The Fallout: The use of the laser near a major city was not coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). When the FAA discovered that a military-grade laser was being fired in active civilian airspace without their oversight, they abruptly shut down the airspace over El Paso for several hours, grounded commercial flights, and diverted medical evacuations.
- Key Details
| Component | Information |
| The Weapon | LOCUST (Laser Ordnance Control for Unmanned Systems), a high-energy laser designed to “burn” drones out of the sky. |
| The Agencies | The Pentagon (loaned the tech), CBP (fired the weapon), and the FAA (closed the airspace in protest/safety). |
| The Justification | Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy initially claimed the shutdown was to neutralize a “cartel drone incursion,” of but internal reports later leaked the balloon mishap. |
| The Chaos | The FAA initially issued a 10-day flight restriction (a level of disruption not seen since 9/11) before lifting it a few hours later after the White House intervened. |
While the government did maintain that some legitimate cartel drones have been disabled in the region recently, this specific El Paso shutdown is now widely cited as a “Keystone Cops” moment of inter agency miscommunication.
Whew!
