FAA halts all flights in & out of El Paso, TX for 10 days

[Zipper730]

The Trump administration has alleged that Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace, prompting the order. However, multiple news reports cited anonymous officials saying the FAA order was due to Pentagon testing of new laser technology, which was used this week to shoot down a party balloon initially believed to be a drone.

When I first heard that, I thought it was an Onion article. It seems it was one of those mylar party balloons which are metallic and thus radar-reflective. On that note I wonder if Ukraine has thought of just tossing those into the jet-stream (it might get it just above the doppler filter's threshold) and causing the Russians havoc wasting valuable missiles to blap out party balloons?

 

[Sisu]

It seems to me that an awful lot of the people we're trusting to protect Anerica are idiots. Were they never taught to communicate with each other? Relief from looking stupid really can be just a phone call away...

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

In related news, the comedy of errors continues:


The U.S. military shot down a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone with a laser in Texas on Thursday, according to Democratic lawmakers, prompting the closure of airspace near the U.S.-Mexico border.

[...]

The incident prompted the FAA to close the airspace near Fort Hancock, Texas.

The FAA told The Hill that a temporary flight restriction (TFR) was already in place around the Fort Hancock area and has been expanded include a "greater radius to ensure safety." The TFR does not impact commercial flights.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5758344-texas-airspace-closure-drone/