99 Red Balloons In Real Life? El Paso Airspace Closure Followed Party Balloon Shoot-Down'

"A bizarre report Wednesday about the cause of a temporary airspace shutdown bore eerie resemblance to a 1983 German anti-war pop song. 99 Luftballons by the band Nena was a global sensation and became the rare German-language song to rank on the U.S. charts. The song's lyrics describe how 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs by a military general, and the situation quickly escalates into fighter pilots sent to investigate and then bomb the balloons,"

"Wednesday morning, a fortunately far less catastrophic incident was instigated by a balloon: the closure of the airspace over El Paso, Texas. Initially, it was announced by the Federal Aviation Administration that the airspace would be closed for 10 days, but that was soon reversed and the airspace was reopened. Important context: the El Paso TFR is not like the 9/11 nationwide airspace shutdown. DC & NY restrictions were created later."

"According to a report by CBS News, the reasons for the unexpected but brief airspace closure stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests. SCOOP: The unexpected airspace closure in El Paso stemmed from disagreements over drone-related tests, sources told @CBSNews. Pentagon had undertaken extensive planning on use of military tech near Fort Bliss. Two sources identified the technology as a high-energy laser."

A bizarre airspace account mirrored the plot of the 1983 German anti-war song 99 Luftballons, in which balloons are mistaken for UFOs and provoke a chain reaction that leads to war. A balloon incident prompted closure of the airspace over El Paso, Texas; the FAA initially announced a 10-day closure but then reversed course and reopened the airspace. The El Paso TFR is not comparable to the 9/11 nationwide shutdown, and bans on all flights over a U.S. city, including medevac and police helicopters, have no modern precedent. Sources said the closure stemmed from FAA–Pentagon disagreements over drone-related tests, and two sources identified the technology as a high-energy laser.

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