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Officials Claim Drone Incursion Led to Shutdown of El Paso Airport
Latest archive link: https://archive.is/Qdq4x https://archive.is/Qdq4x
- jollyllama 8mo agoRelated to the Guthrie kidnapping perhaps?
- bashtoni 8mo agoAccording to CNN the entire airspace is closed, not just the airport https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/11/us/faa-el-paso-texas-flight-restrictions-hnk https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/11/us/faa-el-paso-texas-flig...
- lisper 8mo agoYep. TFR was issued three hours ago. https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233
- dlcarrier 8mo agoIt's closed below 18,000 ft, over a 10 nautical mile radius: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233
- whizzter 8mo ago"Special security reason", sounds like a prelude to a special military operation?
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- c420 8mo agoUnderground nuclear test and trying to mitigate the EMP grounding proximate planes?
- extraduder_ire 8mo agoWhy wouldn't that be announced in advance? It'll be detectable internationally as soon as it happens.
- AdamN 8mo agoIf true they would have told the Russians and the Chinese and yes everybody will know after the fact. But for various reasons they might not want to disclose ahead of time in case Trump gets talked out of it or they realize they're not ready or various other reasons (perhaps the Energy Dept. doesn't actually want to do it but they're going forward step by step hoping it gets halted).
- mikkupikku 8mo agoIf they already know, complaining about it in advance will soften the public shock when it happens, which is probably not what Russia and China want. They'd prefer that the rest of the world be maximally shocked and outraged by such a transgression of international norms.
- bobthepanda 8mo agoAn underground nuclear test is going to happen within ten miles of El Paso airport? Sounds unlikely
- c420 8mo agoThe second TFR which was released at the same time is in the NM desert directly east Map of both: https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NOTAM.png?resize=1200%2C538&ssl=1 https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/...
- FrankBooth 8mo agoEMP from an underground blast? Ok bud.
- npiano 8mo ago
- euroderf 8mo agoYou mean like, a three-day invasion of Mexico ?
- lazide 8mo agoOr just stirring up a bunch of ICE noise at the border.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- 3D30497420 8mo agoFurther commentary/speculation on this Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/1r1pqnp/10_day_tfr_issued_in_el_paso_due_to_special/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/1r1pqnp/10_day_tfr_is... It includes a local city Councilmember who's says he is working to get more information.
- SirFatty 8mo ago[flagged]
- tclancy 8mo agoFirst of all, you want "font". Second of all, don't do that.
- gzread 8mo ago[dead]
- daemoncoder 8mo agoOr "fount" from older, non-American English.
- mikkupikku 8mo agoFount is definitely more correct. If we're talking a baptismal font, then it's font, but if were talking a fount of knowledge, the correct term is fount with font sometimes being used but derived from fount. Etymology 1, meaning 3: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fount https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fount Etymology 3: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/font https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/font
- tclancy 8mo agoThank you, I couldn’t remember which but I figured I’d hit Muphry’s Law either way.
- 8mo ago
- KnuthIsGod 8mo agoLaunching the invasion of Canada and Greenland perhaps..
- r721 8mo agoInvasion of Mexico is also possible ... >President Donald Trump said US forces will "start now hitting land" in Mexico targeting drug cartels https://www.euronews.com/2026/01/09/trump-says-us-to-start-now-hitting-land-in-mexico-targeting-drug-cartels https://www.euronews.com/2026/01/09/trump-says-us-to-start-n... (Jan 2026)
- sph 8mo agoAren't those countries thousands of miles away from El Paso, Texas?
- donkeybeer 8mo agoCuba could be one. While Florida is closer, it's possible due to El Paso being considered highly isolated.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- sph 8mo agoIf it is for a military reason (very doubtful at this point), there is a country that is literally 0 miles away from El Paso.
- donkeybeer 8mo agoMexico is also possible.
- mikkupikku 8mo agoPlease understand, Geography is only taught for optional extra credit in American schools. (I wish this were a joke.)
- c420 8mo ago"A person familiar with the notices, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the action to close airspace over a major U.S. for security reasons over extended period hasn’t happened since immediately after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-shuts-down-el-paso-southern-new-mexico-airspace-for-10-days/ https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-s...
- dlcarrier 8mo agoIt shows how bad the lack of available sources is, when they interview someone familiar with the type notice in general, but not this specific notice.
- dlcarrier 8mo agoHere's a direct link to the notice: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233 Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) tend to be pretty terse, but they do usually call out "VIP" if they're due to someone visiting. The type listing of "security" gets thrown around a lot, though. For example there's a permanent security TFR around the closest Air Force base to me (https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_5_8746 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_5_8746) because they regularly fly unmanned aircraft that can't fly in insufficiently controlled airspace, and the standard airspace layout around an airport of that size isn't sufficient, so instead of making special rules for that airport, there's a "security" TFR to give air-traffic controllers extra control of what would normally be uncontrolled airspace. It is pretty unusually to get such a short notice, and to not have instructions for exemptions.
- seanf 8mo agoNo exemptions for medical life flights, local law enforcement, or even the military. You can read a more normal NOTAM posted for New Orleans likely for Mardi Gras (https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2231 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2231) As a Minnesotan I wonder what this does to the deportation flights going to and from Camp East Montana.
- heythere22 8mo agohttps://archive.is/GCep9 https://archive.is/GCep9
- metalman 8mo agoThere is a slim possibility that if it was airtraffic control equipment upgrades, but that would be put in the bullitin and known about long in advance, that it is just imposed with no warning is wrong and just shows how the FAA is becoming more 3 letter every day.
- altairprime 8mo agoI wonder if this was issued by the VP’s Secret Service to the FAA directly; they got caught last year fucking with DC airspace using a beacon spoofer, and they would (presumably, they’re the SS) have the authority to issue these secretly without having to be named and answer for the impact: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/aviation-flights-white-house-tcas-drones.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/aviation-flights-whi... (See also Die Hard 2, I suppose.) But: of the “less simple than invading Mexico” theory (which would be trivial to confirm or refute with binoculars and telescopes) I think the nuclear testing theory is more likely, as it would be in character for the current U.S. administration to decide to turn a border region radioactive to both decrease both the quantity of, and the median fertility of, those who cross the border, especially following posturing about health care costs. Presumably the U.S. does not view itself as liable to Mexico for across-the-border downwinder’s treatment costs. Not seeing a spike in KI prices in a couple spot checks, though. Hopefully it’s something offensive enough to finally get the world to embargo Palantir.
- altairprime 8mo agoI did not have “airspace closed for ten days to shoot down a drone with lasers” anywhere on my bingo card. Huh. When life gives you lemons, file a TFR about it, I suppose.
- altairprime 8mo agoCorrection: Party ballon.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- Shank 8mo agoNuclear weapons test? The latest test treaty just expired. Edit: There are two TFRs, one in El Paso and one right next to it in the mountains: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234
- baubino 8mo agoThis was my thought as well given the length of time of the closure.
- karlkloss 8mo ago3.6 roentgen you say?
- massysett 8mo agoWouldn’t the Nevada Test Site be much better for this? Huge, government controlled, no major airports or cities, and moreover, already used for this sort of thing.
- 1nightbearvulf 8mo ago[dead]
- dboreham 8mo agoNo because there's no enemy there to shoot at.
- K0balt 8mo agoProbably just closing the airspace for the space alien emissary.
- c420 8mo agoWelcome. Tremendous to have you here. Really historic. Some people said it couldn’t happen, but I said keep an open mind, and now look. Intergalactic diplomacy. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. We’re ready to make a deal, a fair deal, maybe the best deal in the galaxy.
- einrealist 8mo agoReminds me of this: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-plot-plant-bombs-cargo-planes-western-official-says-rcna178748 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-plot-plant-bombs-c... El Paso is a hub for cargo. Probably takes some days to go through all that parcel.
- donkeybeer 8mo ago[flagged]
- roysting 8mo agoI wonder if the dormant volcanic field west of El Paso that is covered by the TFR may be similar to Iranian volcanic mountains? Remember, the Netanyahoo just arrived in the US mere hours before this and it is always a bad omen when the devil comes to collect.
- einarfd 8mo agoCould it be that USA government believe that Iran might be trying to do something similar to the Ukraine operation spiderweb, where they attacked the Russian long distance bomber fleet with short distance FPV drones? While there aren't bombers at Fort Bliss. As far as I know there are other high value targets.
- mikkupikku 8mo agoProbably the least unhinged theory in this thread, but unfortunately it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If they had intel about such a threat, they'd have to move all high value assets to another base pronto. A flight ban won't stop a shady box truck from rolling into town and releasing a swarm of small drones. (It would also be uncharacteristic of Iran to actually attack America directly, on American soil. Try to find examples of Iran doing that and you'll come up quiet short.)
- roysting 8mo agoYou may want to recalibrate things. That’s just about the most unhinged theory here. So “Iran” is just going to go “well, shucks, I guess we can’t launch our drone swarm now that they issued a TFR.” Not even to mention you’re ignoring the TFR far outside and away from El Paso over the Potrillo volcanic mountains
- lvspiff 8mo agoI can hear russia/iran now “darn they thwarted our plans to take out el paso and that mountain. There are absolutely zero other targets in the vicinity we can fly to. Zero in a 100 mile radius our drone has a capability to get to within 10 days. I mean if we had 11 days sure but how do they know 10 days???”
- mikkupikku 8mo agoYour volcano theory is less unhinged, but most of the talk is about nuclear weapons tests, which would be enormously unhinged if that theory is true.
- sylware 8mo ago"Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker"
- wavemode 8mo agoIf there were some mundane reason for the shutdown (e.g. ATC staffing, or volcanic ash) it wouldn't be a secret, and if there were an emergency (one severe enough to ground all aircraft for so song) we would've heard or seen something. Occam's Razor says, this order came down from Trump. If that's the case, only question remaining would be what is he planning.
- AnimalMuppet 8mo agoWell, if the only comparable antecedent is closing American airspace after 9/11, and that order came down from Bush, it seems reasonable to suppose that this order came down from Trump. As for why? No clue.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- sph 8mo agoMaybe there's credible threat of MANPADs from the cartels? Wouldn't be the first time around, apparently. https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1s4zt/faa_grounds_all_flights_to_and_from_el_paso_until/o4s35zu/ https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1s4zt/faa_groun...
- mikkupikku 8mo agoStopping life flights though? The supposed risk of cartels shooting down a helicopter vs the immediate risk of "this guy is going to die if we don't fly him to the nearest trauma center"... That risk calculus doesn't make sense.
- gsk22 8mo agoTo be fair, risk calculus does not appear to be this administration's strong suit.
- Errrrik 8mo agoLets just for a second pretend that cartel g2a attacks are the legitimate threat. You now have a decision in regards to sparing lives: 1 Life, ground the medivacs, vs 3-4 Lives and letting them fly. Risk the life of 1 person by not allowing them fly, vs risking more lives by Allowing them to fly. (I had to explain it again so that you hopefully understand) Seems like they understand risk calculus more than you.
- mikkupikku 8mo agoYou forgot to weigh the relative likelihood of somebody needing a life flight to survive vs the likelihood of that flight being shot down. The first is very high, or they'd not have called for a helicopter, while the second is quite low even if there is a cartel psycho running around with MANPADS. They're more likely to hold their missile in reserve than to randomly fire it off at some helicopter out of the blue.
- EwanG 8mo agoAccording to postings on a couple Reddit discussions, this surprised the El Paso city council among others: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1r7tu/what_does_this_elp_west_texas_notam_mean_airport/ https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1r7tu/what_does... and https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/1r1pqnp/10_day_tfr_issued_in_el_paso_due_to_special/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/1r1pqnp/10_day_tfr_is...
- dathinab 8mo agospeculations are it's either related to ICE or drug cartel investigations The former has a long history of not cooperating with local authorities (also in ways I personally think are sometimes quite malicious but that is off topic). Und normal circumstances ICE would never have the power to lead to a shut down of air space, but with the current administration who knows. And drug cartel investigations won't cooperate with the city council as an investigation big enough to shut down airspace wouldn't want to risk it leaking by speaking with a city council about it. But this is a pretty big deal and lets hope this is just about preventing some high ranking drug cartel members from fleeing and not some retaliatory horror story implicitly triggered by the repeated public rejections and denouncements of Trump in recent week. Like if we look at full (and violent) dictatorships(1) you would expect an internet outage to follow and then a lot of people to die. (1): To be clear no the US is not a full blown violent dictatorship. Even through things are bad, they are not "that" bad. Through IMHO there seem to be people in the government which want to make it exactly that bad.
- deadamericans 8mo ago[dead]
- expedition32 8mo agoThe president has way too much executive power. In my country everything is decided by a cabinet meeting in America one man orders and everyone obeys.
- ganzsz 8mo ago
- fabian2k 8mo agoThere is a circular restriction around the airport and a trapezoid one next to the city (https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-shuts-down-el-paso-southern-new-mexico-airspace-for-10-days/ https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-s...). What are the plausible explanations here? I can't think of anything except military action against Mexico (or the cartels inside Mexico). But even that doesn't fit well. A suspected terror attack could explain the airspace around the airport, but not the weird trapezoid restriction next to the city. The duration of 10 days is also weird, that seems very long for any kind of emergency situation. And as far as I understand, it is unusual to have no exceptions at all here e.g. for medical transports via helicopter.
- superb_dev 8mo agoAnother interesting note, the trapezoidal TFR is still in place
- belter 8mo ago[flagged]
- vincnetas 8mo agoits hex ascii for : "The Epstein Files"
- galangalalgol 8mo agoNot a bad theory actually. None of the stuff they have done to distract from the files has been without other purpose, but that is how it is done. You have a backlog of things you want to do ranked by unpopularity, and you try to only do one of them when you are being grilled over a worse one already. I'm sure it is down to a science and probably has a name.
- jmclnx 8mo agoNice, I would have fed it through rot13 first, giving: 4775722052636667727661205376797266
- october8140 8mo agoStrike on Mexico incoming.
- m4ck_ 8mo agoAnything to distract from Congress getting unredacted access to Trumps good friend's files/emails and naming 6 of their potential clients.
- codeduck 8mo agoAm I hallucinating? Wasn't there just an identical thread on the front page not even an hour ago?
- altairprime 8mo agoEmail the mods and they’ll check and merge the dupes :)
- baq 8mo agoYou aren’t, probably was flagged down by not being hacker enough (or more likely for being an open invitation to runaway speculation without any grounding in reality and facts)
- watwut 8mo agoProper hackers are interested in homeschool propaganda, but not in closed airspace.
- graemep 8mo agoThis also seems to be an open invitation to runaway speculation. A lot of the speculation is ridiculous given only a small area has been closed. That is not a prelude to war, for example!
- JumpinJack_Cash 8mo agoWar no, but extraction absolutely. Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire were closed off the day before Maduro's extraction
- array_key_first 8mo agoThe last time anything even close to this has happened was 9/11. Lately, we have been living in times that are more often unprecedented. But, do not let that desensitize you. This was not business as usual. This was extremely strange. Things like this only happen in times of War. Why are they happening now?
- 8mo ago
- baq 8mo agoMillions of dollars of stuck planes and cargo. If it was somebody’s fantasy, it sure was an expensive one - but I’m not sure I want to know what it was if it was a real thing
- anilakar 8mo agoDon't worry. Mexico will pay for it 100 %.
- thinkcontext 8mo agoProbably $Bs. Around 100 flights per day from there, so there would be dozens of planes on the ground.
- markus_zhang 8mo agoAliens? I want to believe...
- voxadam 8mo agoJudging by the previous actions of this administration — Operation Metro Surge 2: Tex-Mex Boogaloo
- vincnetas 8mo agoMap : https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_0091 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_0091
- guerrilla 8mo agoIt seems like you linked to a different area on the border to Mexicali?
- dathinab 8mo agothat link shows the wrong blocked airspace in my case (it shows that some areas above the border in the desert are blocked off, which makes sense to fight drug smuggling by drones without risking mistaking drones with aircrafts) but he article is about the new circular zone directly placed over El Paso with El Paso International Airport directly in it's center. (Interestingly because they used a circle it technically covers the Mexican side of the boarder including a part of the airport on their side, but practically FAA can't shut down Mexican airspace so it's misleading). Also worth noting there is: - Holloman Air Force Base - White Sands Missile Range - Fort Bliss - Fort Bliss McGregor Range direct besides the city so a Military exercise, or deployment of Military (Trump has said he will bomb cartel hideouts in Mexico) can be added to the list of possibilities
- imglorp 8mo agoThis one's responding. https://skyvector.com/?ll=31.836456906566234,-106.70296408460457&chart=301&zoom=3 https://skyvector.com/?ll=31.836456906566234,-106.7029640846...
- incomingpain 8mo agohttps://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233 This isnt a particularly special thing. It's a catchall rule and given the identical one to the west, it looks like a common military one.
- baq 8mo agoNeither military nor medevac is exempted. This is unusual.
- SketchySeaBeast 8mo agoThe medevac is scary. This could cost lives. Hopefully there's a reason but, given how clumsy this admin is, who can say?
- u1hcw9nx 8mo agoAction to close airspace over a major city in the US for security reasons over extended period hasn’t happened since 9/11. 10 day closure for security reasons seems really long. edit: Same restriction imposed around Santa Teresa, New Mexico. ~15 miles northwest of the El Paso airport.
- meindnoch 8mo agoCrashed alien vehicle recovery?
- xyst 8mo agoHas anybody checked the pizza/chinese takeout traffic in DC?
- w0de0 8mo agoNothing unusual - DOUGHCON 4: https://www.pizzint.watch/ https://www.pizzint.watch/
- bdbdbdb 8mo agoTo me the trapezoid suggests something traveling south fell in the area. Narrow at the top, wide at the bottom. Maybe they dropped a nuke by accident (again)
- kijin 8mo agoThat looks like a rather flat trapezoid for something that fell from high above. With a fast-moving object, we can usually tell its trajectory across the map much more accurately than we can tell where along that trajectory it impacted the ground. See: MH370.
- jjk166 8mo agoThe area they would expect to find it would be much narrower than the area they would expect a plane overhead to be able to observe it.
- daemonologist 8mo agoMaybe fits the "DoD is shooting something at some kind of incoming drone" explanation - they know they're shooting _from_ the top of the trapezoid but in terms of direction, only that they're vaguely facing south. (Doesn't really explain why the TFR doesn't extend into Mexico though.)
- con 8mo agoFAA closed another airspace nearby: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234 https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234 - From February 11, 2026 at 0630 UTC (February 10, 2026 at 2330 MST) - To February 21, 2026 at 0630 UTC (February 20, 2026 at 2330 MST) My guess is nuclear tests
- dathinab 8mo agoit's too spontaneous for that it it's "just" a training exercise or test they could have announced the closing weeks or month before it happening massively reducing the cost fallout from it not that the current administration has in generally acted with care when it comes to causing huge financial damage to US cities, especially such they don't like
- vjvjvjvjghv 8mo ago“For special security reasons”. Is a “special military operation “ following? Maybe somebody in Mexico said something mean about the president. But seriously, is this normal without any explanation? The cost must be enormous.
- dathinab 8mo agoit's in general highly abnormal which kinda makes it normal to not have a explanation because anything abnormal enough to cause something like that is also likely something kept secret until it's done (Like large scale operations against drug cartel, "special military operation", or a large scale ICE operation which shouldn't be able to cause this but does because the current administration is uh, what it is.)
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- Havoc 8mo agoMy money is on misplaced black budget project craft Maybe that new F-47 did a trump and fell asleep somewhere in the desert
- cucumber3732842 8mo agoThat's kind of what I'm thinking too though my money would be on something like "super secret stealth cruise missile ripped off it's mounting pylon" or control software went crazy rather than an airframe loss. It's likely be something small enough and with little/no fuel because if it left a big smoking hole they'd find it quick. And it's gotta be something with fairly questionable aerodynamic properties (i.e. damaged) or questionable guidance (i.e not an inadvertently released bomb) otherwise they'd have a very good idea of where it landed.
- dathinab 8mo agoBut they didn't block the desert, only air zone and also only directly above the city not beyond it.
- JumpinJack_Cash 8mo agoThe entire conspiracy theory industry is praying that the closure runs its course for the established 10 days and then everything is re-opened and the reasons behind the closure are not further explained or even better become classified Not saying this isn't suspect though.
- lilytweed 8mo agoAs someone else mentioned, there’s some speculation in aviation subreddits that the bounds of the altitude restriction map to the MANPAD capabilities that some cartels are purported to have. https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1s4zt/comment/o4s35zu/ https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1s4zt/comment/o... My read is that the admin is planning forceful strikes on the cartels within Mexico and is worried about their ability to retaliate by taking down US aircraft across the border. Edit: The closure has now been kiboshed. The wording seems a little “don’t panic-y” to me, but better that than the alternative! https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421 https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421
- duxup 8mo agoShooting down civilian American aircraft like that would seem to just be for an even more strong response… Seems unlikely.
- guerrilla 8mo agoThey would want to avoid escalation. Escalation with cartels historically does not go well for anyone involved.
- alex43578 8mo agoEscalation by attacking US civilians or the homeland has also gone poorly. It’s been the casus belli many times, notably ending in two Japanese cities getting nuked…
- guerrilla 8mo agoDropping nuclear bombs on Japan was in an entirely different context which has no relevance here. We're not in the middle of a global war (nor is anyone even at war with Mexico), nor in a nuclear arms race asserting nuclear capabilities for the first time in history. You're forgetting all the times the US failed too, and those cases weren't even on its own border. Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam... the list is very long. Creating an existential threat on your own border is a bad move for anyone. Remember how bad Columbia got? I guess not. The current situation has the potential to be much more dangerous.
- Nathanael_M 8mo agoThe percentage of comments written primarily for the purpose irrational political ranting is frustrating, considering the genuinely interesting nature of the story.
- ahhhhnoooo 8mo ago[flagged]
- lingrush4 8mo agoClosing a small patch of airspace while military activity is occurring is not authoritarianism. Get a grip you lunatic
- jjtheblunt 8mo agoi think the comment you replied to said what you said
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- ahhhhnoooo 8mo agoI don't think anyone said closing this airspace was an authoritarian act... double check the posts above.
- edmundsauto 8mo agoNo, but the whole situation being caused after shooting down a birthday balloon is macabre incompetence.
- themafia 8mo ago>> for the purpose irrational political ranting > pursuing politics discussions Did you intentionally ignore this specific point?
- array_key_first 8mo agoIt's not irrational to assume current statements from this particular government are not true. If anything, it's irrational to just believe what you're told. We're well past the point where lies outnumber truths, so if you're a betting man, you should assume what you've been told is not true. The speculation, however, is just that. But, I think we all understand that the reason this was done is not for the reasons stated, and there is something else going on that we are not privy to.
- nnnnico 8mo agoMore likely to be related to the E Files than the X ones
- imglorp 8mo agoE-File? Like, taxes?
- ahhhhnoooo 8mo agoEpstein files.
- cheonn638 8mo ago> Epstein files. Nobody cares
- NietzscheanNull 8mo agoNobody cares that a large number of billionaires and world leaders, individuals with the power to steer the course of society as a whole, are implicated in one of the largest (and darkest) scandals in history? Speak for yourself.
- imglorp 8mo agoWithout rule of law, we don't really have a civilization. Should there be some people laws don't apply to?
- computerthings 8mo ago[dead]
- ahhhhnoooo 8mo agoSomeone asked what an acronym stood for. All I did was expand the acronym. Are you so tightly wound up that even seeing someone simply answer a direct question about what "e-files" means sets you off? I think it might be a good time to step back and evaluate your engagement with media, HN, and the internet. Because it seems like you've got a wildly partisan reflex here.
- t1234s 8mo agoDowned UAP recovery?
- dathinab 8mo agodoesn't need commercial air space lock down, at most private/small low altitude/drone plain lock down
- chasd00 8mo agoSome drug cartel probably bought a SAM and they’re trying to find it.
- JumpinJack_Cash 8mo agoWhat are the odds that Claudia the President of Mexico has already been extracted now?
- exegete 8mo agoLive camera of runway https://app.truelook.cloud/dashboard/581/980/live https://app.truelook.cloud/dashboard/581/980/live Linked from airport website: https://elpasointernationalairport.com/live-cameras/ https://elpasointernationalairport.com/live-cameras/
- 1e1a 8mo agopoor PTZ mount :(
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- sriram_malhar 8mo ago"Wag The Dog" movie all over again. Sure looks like deflection from the Epstein Files and economy.
- sva_ 8mo ago> Airline sources told Reuters the grounding of flights was believed to be tied to the Pentagon's use of counterdrone technology to address Mexican drug cartels' use of drones of the U.S.-Mexico border. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-halts-all-flights-texass-el-paso-airport-10-days-2026-02-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-halts-all-flights-texass...
- guerrilla 8mo agoI personally don't think that's the whole story. They're likely going to act against the cartels to take out cross-border drone capabilities and are preparing for S-A retaliation as well.
- morpheuskafka 8mo agoA cartel using a SAM against a US civilian aircraft would massively solidify public opinion against them just like 9/11 or the Iran hostage crisis. The US has been trying to extent the "foreign terrorist" label and casus belli to drug activities forever to justify military operations (ex. the "arrest" of Maduro was for drugs, not oil/Cuba/political stuff). That would be a massive self-own on the cartels part. (And if it did happen, just like 9/11, it would be used as justification for anything even remotely immigration or drug related at every level.)
- trenning 8mo agoMy understanding over the US/MX cartel relations is performing an invasion and “act of war” would solidify asylum status claims by Mexican residents and throw a wrench into the whole immigration scheme every administration plays. But then again this time seems different, laws aren’t followed or upheld. Human rights are a fleeting staple.
- pjc50 8mo agoStarting a war with Mexico would be a pretext for interning everyone of "Mexican" ethnicity, citizen or otherwise, as was done to Japanese nationals.
- cozzyd 8mo agoDuring the ICE surge in Chicago drone traffic was banned for a while but this is obviously much more extreme if for a similar reason. Note that at least on some roads out (I'm most familiar with the road to Carlsbad from El Paso since I used to have to travel there in grad school, often from ELP) there are already CBP checkpoints.
- baggachipz 8mo agoEl Paso is in a very Red state, ICE involvement is minimal there.
- fallingmeat 8mo agoguys. it's aliens. nbd.
- dummydummy1234 8mo agoIf it was aliens trump would be telling everyone and taking credit for finally telling the people the truth.
- dylan604 8mo agoNo, he’d be rounding them up and deporting them. Have you not been reading the news lately?
- philipwhiuk 8mo ago> BREAKING: A source briefed by FAA tells me the El Paso flight ban was driven by military operations from Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss https://x.com/petemuntean/status/2021573468341383284 https://x.com/petemuntean/status/2021573468341383284
- chasd00 8mo agoProbably an attempt to embarrass the admin. Now watch for the orangemanbad articles about a reckless military operation personally planned by the president in the middle of the night on X. Hah im trying to be tongue-in-cheek but I have to admit that doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility actually lol
- cindyllm 8mo ago[dead]
- durge 8mo agoCould be a window for a bunch of deportation activity? It's not very low profile if that's the case.
- ubermonkey 8mo agoIf a reasonable administration took this step without any justification, I'd have serious questions. Under this administration, I'm very very concerned that it's cover for something deeply nefarious.
- philipwhiuk 8mo agoFAA has rescinded the TFR - looks like a possible DoD goof in relation to army exercises, leading to the FAA being overcautious.
- Noaidi 8mo agoThey lifted the restriction: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airport.html https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airport.html TACOs…..
- utf_8x 8mo agoThe closure has been lifted: https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421 https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421
- wocka 8mo agoThe Federal Aviation Administration said it had lifted the temporary closure of airspace over El Paso that it had imposed last night. “All flights will resume as normal,” the F.A.A. said on social media.
- huevosabio 8mo agoWhat a bizarre move.
- baq 8mo agoReminds me of the chaos monkey. Building resilience by breaking and fixing stuff. Not sure if applicable here, though.
- thomasjudge 8mo agoClosure rescinded https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421 https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421
- Trasmatta 8mo agoSo bizarre Why the 10 day announcement overnight only to totally rescind it before the majority of US citizens wake up and read the news?
- embedding-shape 8mo agoHoping it slips under other news like "Woah someone else should pay for this wall/bridge/investigation" so no one really notices it. To be fair, seems most things are about trying to direct the news somewhere else, most of the times being successful at that too.
- spaceywilly 8mo agoHanlon’s Razor "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Someone probably just screwed up
- input_sh 8mo agoYou don't screw up something this major, it doesn't happen by accident nor by incompetence. They had plans to bomb something south of that airport, they had to postpone those plans now that the info is public enough that whatever their target was is definitely aware of those plans.
- spaceywilly 8mo agoThey have confirmed it was for testing a counter-drone weapon. They did not say why they set it to expire in 10 days, that part seems like it was probably a mistake.
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- burnt-resistor 8mo agoIt was reported on Democracy Now! that an anonymous source said the military representing Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss (KBIF) couldn't guarantee safety of commercial air traffic around El Paso International Airport (KELP). There was no specific details communicated and the message released caused unnecessary panic. The most likely explanation seems to be an unresolved dispute between the military and the FAA related to improving airspace safety around military flight tracks near major airports (class B/C/D airspace).
- burnt-resistor 8mo agoAnother source from Thom Hartmann mentioned the military was testing counter-drone lasers and failed to inform the FAA. Seems like the FAA used unreasonable collective punishment to passive-aggressively chastise the military publicly.
- theonlyjesus 8mo agoI'm from El Paso. This is bullshit if I've ever heard. There are no fucking drones around here, especially not from cartels. The only criminal cartel here is ICE.
- bloomingeek 8mo agoNPR just announced the El Paso airport is back online for air travel.
- weirdsweatsuit 8mo agoRepresentative Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat, said in a news conference that the explanation citing Mexican drones crossing the border as the reason for the closure was “not the information that we in Congress have been told.” She said that there was no current or past threat to the area. “There’s no threat. There was not a threat, which is why the F.A.A. lifted this restriction so quickly,” she said. “The information coming from the administration does not add up.” “There have been drone incursions from Mexico going back to as long as drones existed. So this is nothing new” (NYT)
- josefritzishere 8mo agoIs Trump planning to attack Mexico?
- beej71 8mo agoWho knows, but everyone's got that on their mind, now.
- kgwxd 8mo agoAnother distraction from the Trump Files.
- VizualAbstract 8mo agoIt was a party balloon. GG. https://x.com/clashreport/status/2021642699603144708 https://x.com/clashreport/status/2021642699603144708
- 1970-01-01 8mo agoWhatever happened to the New Jersey drones? Did we give up on them or did they give up on us?
- deadbabe 8mo agoWhat drones, there were never any New Jersey drones.
- banga 8mo agoToday I learned of the broader disruptive capabilities of a mylar birthday balloon.
- superfrank 8mo agoThe elders sang songs of this day, and we were foolish not to take heed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY
- scoofy 8mo agoI just think it's weird that major events regarding the Epstein files always seem to be below the fold because something huge, that just happens to be entirely under executive branch discretion, ends up dominating the headlines.
- stevenwoo 8mo agoThe military panicked and shot down a balloon with a laser. https://newrepublic.com/post/206483/el-paso-airport-closed-military-shot-party-balloon https://newrepublic.com/post/206483/el-paso-airport-closed-m...
- adrr 8mo agoThats little nerve racking. What happens if a commercial airplane gets confused with a bunch of balloons.
- m4rtink 8mo agoThen potentially people die - like they died when there were reckless helicopter flights in front of a DC area airport, until a helicopter collided with an airliner, killing all on board.
- IAmGraydon 8mo agoThey were testing a laser-based anti drone weapon in the area. The administration lied that it was in response to Mexican drones to stoke fear in xenophobia in their base as that is what keeps them in power (making scared people feel like they have some control).
- procflora 8mo agoIt's inter-organizational disfunction. Always more plausible than any conspiracy. https://apnews.com/article/faa-el-paso-texas-air-space-closed-1f774bdfd46f5986ff0e7003df709caa https://apnews.com/article/faa-el-paso-texas-air-space-close... Pentagon wanted to test the new laser but didn't give FAA enough information to assure safety of the NAS and civilian aviation (when, where, effects, etc.) so they felt forced to pull the big TFR lever. They fired the laser of at who knows what and then FAA lifted the TFR.