A sudden, mysterious closure of the airspace over El Paso, Texas, sent ripples of confusion last week, with the official story quickly clashing with emerging reports. Initially, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shut down the airspace for ten days, citing unspecified “national security reasons.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy then claimed on X that the FAA and Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion,” declaring the threat “neutralized.”
However, this explanation didn’t sit well with everyone. Representative Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, stated it wasn’t what Congress had been told. Soon, media outlets like CBS, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal reported a very different scenario: the federal government’s own testing of anti-drone technology near the El Paso International Airport was the real culprit.
Sources suggested the FAA and Defense Department were at odds over the safety of testing this technology so close to civilian flights. NPR even reported that the Defense Department deployed the tech *before* the FAA completed its safety assessment, prompting the sudden closure. In a twist straight out of a comedy, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon had recently used a laser-based device in the area to shoot down what it thought was a drone—only for it to turn out to be a party balloon!
The airspace closure was lifted in less than 24 hours, but questions linger. Lawmakers expressed concern that defense policy allows the US military to “act recklessly in the public airspace.” While the US government doubled down on its “cartel drone” narrative, the competing explanations left many wondering what truly happened in the skies above El Paso.
