February 27, 2026
Pew pew meets oops oops
Lawmakers say US Military used laser to take down Border Protection drone in TX
Border laser 'friendly fire' sparks meme storm as flyers fret about blinded pilots and balloon wars
TLDR: Lawmakers say the military zapped a Border Protection drone with a laser near El Paso, prompting a small airspace restriction. Commenters split between safety/legality panic (blinded pilots, bad comms) and border-realists citing cartel drones, with balloon memes and “laser tag” jokes fueling the outrage.
Internet: melting down. Lasers: also melting drones. After lawmakers said the U.S. military used a laser to knock down a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone near El Paso, the comment sections went nuclear. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) closed some nearby airspace, and it’s the second laser incident in two weeks. Lawmakers said their “heads are exploding,” blasting the Trump administration for dodging a bipartisan plan to better train operators and coordinate among the Pentagon, FAA, and Homeland Security.
The crowd split fast. The jokesters kept score—“one party balloon and one of their own drones”—with 80s anthem jokes about “99 balloons” and endless “pew-pew laser tag” memes. But the safety hawks were loudest, warning that firing high-powered beams near civilian airspace is “extraordinarily illegal,” potentially blinding pilots and bouncing off shiny surfaces. Translation: this isn’t a video game.
A third camp said the chaos is the cost of modern border battles. With officials reporting tens of thousands of cartel drones spotted near the border in late 2024, some argued confusion was inevitable: “No wonder they mistook one of theirs for one of these.” The bigger drama? Whether this is reckless militarization or a messy, necessary response to real threats. Flights mostly stayed on schedule this time, but nerves didn’t—America’s playing real-life laser tag, featuring balloons, drones, and bureaucracy
Key Points
- •Members of Congress said the U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a CBP drone near El Paso, Texas.
- •The FAA closed additional airspace after the incident; commercial flights were not affected this time.
- •It was the second laser firing in two weeks in the area; the earlier CBP laser did not hit a target.
- •The earlier CBP laser firing near Fort Bliss led to a broader shutdown of air traffic at El Paso International Airport.
- •Lawmakers criticized the Trump administration for bypassing a bipartisan bill on drone operator training and interagency communication.