Source: Fox News
“A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the U.S. military earlier this week shot down what was later determined to be a party balloon near El Paso, Texas, after initially assessing it as a possible foreign drone. The misidentification eventually led to a total shutdown of airspace around the El Paso airport. A separate U.S. administration official had told Fox News that Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace near El Paso and that counter-drone measures were taken to disable them. The Pentagon has been testing out new counter-drone technology, including a high-energy laser, near the Army base at Fort Bliss, Texas. That laser was used to shoot down what appeared to be foreign drones — and was later identified as a balloon — prompting the airspace closure by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an official told Fox.” (02/11/26)