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# Thank god we shot down that party balloon
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/thank-god-we-shot-down-that-party-balloon/
- Published: 2026-02-14T23:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-14T23:00:00.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: Links

Karoun Demirjian, Eric Schmitt, Kate Kelly, Hamed Aleaziz, and Luke Broadwater (phew!): [Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/trump-administration-el-paso-airspace-closure-questions.html?ref=birchtree.me)

> 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.”

The reality was a bit less scary.

> C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone, the people said, but it turned out to be a party balloon.

Honestly, is there a more perfect symbol of this administration than freaking out about something foreigners are ding, causing an absolute mess, and then revealing they were freaking out over nothing?