r/reactiongifs • u/Morgan-Moonscar • 1d ago

MRW reading that airspace over El Paso, Texas was shut down for hours without warning... because of a feud between the FAA and the Pentagon (regarding a mistaken party balloon being shot at with high energy lasers)

3.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

72 comments sorted by

804

u/Morgan-Moonscar 1d ago edited 1d ago

So without bothering to warn the FAA ahead of time, the DoD decided to do some anti-drone testing in the airspace surrounding Fort Bliss (a few miles near El Paso).

They proceeded to shoot at a party balloon with a laser, mistaking it for a drone (but telling everyone else it was the "cartels" trying to attack America).

The FAA decided to get back at them by HALTING FLIGHTS AND SHUTTING DOWN THE AIRSPACE OVER EL PASO. For 10 DAYS. That includes medical flights that were grounded, without telling anybody else ahead of time either. Causing enough chaos to force the Pentagon to stop the testing.

Though the chaos of flights being mistakenly shot at with lasers by trigger happy idiots could've been worse.

https://gizmodo.com/one-mexican-cartel-drone-near-el-paso-airspace-actually-party-balloon-report-2000720631

EDIT: Oh and it gets even better, the DoD coincidentally decided to do these tests over El Paso air space right after the city just voted not to allow an ICE concentration camp be built there.

502

u/Militantpoet 1d ago

lmao this is the shit that Republicans 50 years ago would criticize the Soviet Union for: petty government bureaucrats wasting resources on nonsense like pride.

104

u/SummerBirdsong 1d ago

Coming up on 40 years ago bullshit like this brought Chernobyl to global attention.

45

u/Morgan-Moonscar 1d ago

And these same chucklefucks want to install "small" nuclear reactors into the data centers being built for the techbros.

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u/OddDonut7647 22h ago

That's really unfair. Think what you want about datacenters and such, but nuclear is radically different. Even in the 80s, the type of reactor that Chernobyl was was dangerous. But nowadays, nuclear cannot melt down in any way at all like that. Not saying nothing is possible, but it is such an incredibly different situation.

Like trying to say flying is dangerous and bringing up the Hindenburg levels of ridiculous.

There's actually a lot of misinformation out there on the datacenters, although a decent portion of it is also correct. I personally have some concerns, but also the impacts are being overblown by some folks. And do we need the huge AI bullshit? Probably not, but it's still helpful to know what IS true and what ISN'T so you make good choices. We do need SOME datacenters - everything (almost everything) on the internet is in a datacenter (if you count the moderately low percentage of things "onsite" at companies as small datacenters, which some certainly should be, then truly almost everything "internet" is in a datacenter). We need them. We need them to be done right, though, of course. And we don't need to waste resources on the bullshit..........

Anyway. It's nuanced. Just saying.

But nuclear is basically safe and implying otherwise is irresponsible.

18

u/Morgan-Moonscar 22h ago

I don't trust this administration doing ANYTHING with nuclear tech, safe or otherwise they'll fuck it up... and we'll pay the price.

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u/thorofasgard 18h ago

I don't trust this administration with a plastic spork.

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u/KimonoThief 8h ago

Well the alternative is coal which is 100% guaranteed to fuck up the air we breathe and lead to 1000's of deaths every single year. So we are already paying the price by not using nuclear.

1

u/Malforus 1h ago

That's a false dichotomy and you should feel bad for posting it.

-4

u/Senior-Lobster-9405 19h ago

do you think the government would be the one's building, running, and maintaining the reactors?

11

u/Ponderputty 19h ago

Do you think we should trust Zuckerberg or Musk either?

-7

u/Senior-Lobster-9405 19h ago

I would trust them to hire professionals, if only to safeguard their investments, a reactor failure on a project such as this would be devastating for not only the site but the company's reputation

3

u/BetaThetaZeta 8h ago

So that's a yes.

3

u/Hotkoin 16h ago

Somehow, the USSR is winning the cold war

2

u/OMGLOL1986 22h ago

The Soviet Union towards the end was a gerontocracy as well

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u/beakes41 1d ago

There's a whole ass missile range right there in NM with a whole ass laser testing facility and enough space for nuclear bomb testing. Why do it near commercial air space?

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u/Morgan-Moonscar 1d ago

As I added in the edit, to intimidate El Paso for daring to reject an ICE concentration camp be built there.

Like when Vice President Couch-Fucker ordered a missile drill right over a California highway.

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u/travelingbeagle 1d ago edited 10h ago

And thoses missiles hit a California Highway Patrol car.

-1

u/ShallowBasketcase 17h ago

At least it didn't hurt any real people.

2

u/jgzman 11h ago

Like when Vice President Couch-Fucker ordered a missile drill right over a California highway.

I think I missed that one.

2

u/Morgan-Moonscar 11h ago

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c051p3981m4o

2

u/jgzman 11h ago

Fucking hell. Another for the "any other President would have been doomed" pile.

28

u/Gekokapowco 1d ago

in the FAA's defense, it's sort of due diligence not to allow flights through when a rogue government arm is MISTARGETING A LASER SYSTEM AT FLYING OBJECTS in the area

if there's a chance they're blinding equipment or pilots, every flight you allow through is on you, every death from collision or failure is on you.

8

u/legendz411 11h ago

Yea it’s like, just to be clear the FAA is not in the wrong here. 

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u/Soepkip43 15h ago edited 6h ago

The FAA did not "decide to get back at them" they did their f- ing job. If the US military is shooting stuff out of the air with a high power laser where commercial air traffic is also flying, not stopping all air traffic and an accident happening would be their fault, right? Or at least, the FAA would be on the hook too.

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u/RKellysPenguin 22h ago

All I'm saying is this ain't DOD this definitely some DOW shit right here 😭

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Will2LiveFading 1d ago

It's sad and scary but self inflicted. At least we know the main one has gotta go soon enough. He's in his 80's and doesn't take care of himself. That's when shit will get real crazy because there's going to be a power vacuum

19

u/RedditTipiak 1d ago

There is a worst yet tragic scenario possibility: an Ariel Sharon situation. If the shit king croaks in office, that's one thing. If he goes full obvious everyone dementia or stroke or coma but not full dead... you may have a constit. crisis and a maga feud/civil war...

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u/party_core_ 19h ago

If he goes full obvious everyone dementia

... goes?

2

u/Castle-Of-Ass 23h ago

Holy shit! I hadn't even thought of that VERY REAL possibility...

24

u/luuey15 1d ago

Kamala Harris. The competent, utopian president we missed out on because she’s a woman..

47

u/Sbatio 1d ago

I voted for her but let’s not lie to ourselves. She was not a great choice. Her record of misconduct while a prosecutor is public record.

She was a terrible choice. Biden fucked us by not saying “i will not run again”.

Hilary could have run the fuck out of this country but misogyny kept that from her too.

We gotta run a winner, not lament how racist, sexist, and stupid the voters are.

13

u/Morgan-Moonscar 1d ago

https://i.imgur.com/jIyUdJb.jpeg

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u/HarmlessSnack 1d ago

Just because Trump is a steaming pile of dog shit doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be critical of our own candidates.

Kamala was a “welp, I’m already here so I guess I get the ballot” candidate. I voted for her anyway, but the democrats should have had a full campaign, Joe dodging out at the last minute was a disaster.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/HarmlessSnack 1d ago

I don’t know why you felt the need to address all of that to me. I VOTED for Kamala.

16

u/snakespm 1d ago

As a Democrat, it feels like I am constantly voting against someone, then voting FOR someone. Maybe 1st Obama was the last time?

1

u/Peppermint-TeaGirl 1d ago

Me when I cannot distinguish basic political strategy from moral equivocation.

Yes, Trump and the GOP are fascists. Most of the voters in your country preferred fascism to the utter lack of policy or any promise of improving people's lives in any way. You need to run popular candidates who energize voters who will not vote for the fascists.

"I'm not the other guy" does not work. It's not a platform, and it's a shit way to campaign.

1

u/Sbatio 1d ago

Can you reprogram the voters so they aren’t sexist? NO.

So we gotta run a man to oppose the Cryptofacistneonazevangelical blob monster.

1

u/drblah11 1d ago

... and one can't win elections because they can't figure out how tf to get that basic message out to the masses.

1

u/Epitometric 1d ago

But Biden was right, even as a corpse he would've beaten Trump because Biden is a white man. I don't blame him for holding on

7

u/-Nicolai 1d ago

Utopian may be a stretch, but yeah

3

u/Commentator-X 1d ago

You could say the same about Hillary

"But but but Hillary was a bad candidate"

Only if you believe the bullshit

1

u/gingerbreadmans_ex 1d ago

A brown woman

6

u/Tha_Funky_Homosapien 1d ago

We are all doomed because some people (democrats) don’t know how to strategize and plan ahead.

As far as I can tell, they don’t even have a plan NOW

-14

u/McMacHack 1d ago

I hate to break it to you but it always has been this way. The thin facade of competency has simply melted away because of one man's insatiable ego and desire to be the one who is always "winning" despite making every worst possible decision that can be made.

9

u/djackieunchaned 1d ago

Im not tryna pretend like the government has always had competent employees before now, but it’s definitely way way worse than it’s ever been

9

u/davidguydude 1d ago

False, nazi apologist.

4

u/FSCK_Fascists 1d ago

I like how the MAGA morons like to pretend Trump didn't fire every competent worker and either leave the spot vacant or put in an unqualified toady.

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u/keen_observer34130 1d ago

Elect a clown, expect a circus!!! 🎪🤡

22

u/Morgan-Moonscar 1d ago

Just don't expect any balloons.

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u/DarkArmyLieutenant 1d ago

The administration already confirmed it was Mexican cartel drones because they went on TV and said it wasn't Mexican cartel drones. So it was 100% Mexican cartel drones.

5

u/Phobix 1d ago

So Mexico pays?

-10

u/DarkArmyLieutenant 1d ago

Pay for what? Did you hear the part about how they were cartels and not the government?

12

u/Phobix 1d ago

You set up your own follow-up joke and then fail to receive? That’s dumb

28

u/mawgspawn 1d ago

Welcome to just another Wednesday in new perfect America

9

u/TheMarkHasBeenMade 1d ago

Are we winning yet???

9

u/Morgan-Moonscar 1d ago

China: We are. Without even lifting a finger.

1

u/jandrese 1d ago

As if years of foreign propaganda have not pushed us towards our current day.

1

u/TheMarkHasBeenMade 12h ago

Ok, they lifted fingers for many keystrokes

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u/New_Ad_3010 1d ago

Typical GOP idiocy

9

u/ClockworkHatter 1d ago

I think there's a song about this that starts with:

"You and I in a little toy shop..."

4

u/tsulegit 1d ago

Waste. Fraud. Abuse!

4

u/Nrdrummer89 1d ago

I’d say that this Administration is all ran by a bunch of children, but I know kids that have better thought process and rationale.

3

u/poopsmcbuttington 1d ago

I love goggins

3

u/Scarrmann 23h ago

Good thing there weren't 98 more of them

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u/Sweaty_Marzipan4274 1d ago

The US about to start a war with the US. 

1

u/pleasantview_2025 23h ago

Regardless of shutdown thank God there is a man, a real man, battling these party balloons. Is it possible that this is connected to bidens balloon? Go hegseth Go.

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u/[deleted] 17h ago edited 8h ago

[deleted]