Kristi Noem abruptly ends press conference when asked about CBP shooting down a party balloon forcing airport closure

Federal officials initially claimed a cartel drone infiltrated U.S. airspace in bizarre incident

Homeland Security Kristi Noem abruptly ended a press conference in Arizona on Friday after being asked about a bizarre incident in which federal officials closed the airspace above El Paso this week after border officials reportedly used a laser to shoot down a party balloon they mistook for a cartel drone.

During the press conference in Phoenix, a journalist asked if the reports were true, and if so, why border officials did not appear to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration.

“You know, this was a joint agency task force mission that was undertaken and we’re continuing to work on the communication through that but recognize we’re grateful for the partnership of the Department of War and FAA as we go forward,” said Noem, who then walked away from her microphone.

Following the abrupt airspace closure and reopening, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA and Defense Department had “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion.”

“The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region,” he wrote on X, in a post that is still public.

Homeland Security Kristi Noem provided a vague answer then left the stage on Friday when asked about the alleged mix-up that led to El Paso’s airspace being closed (AP)

However, reporting suggests that the incident occurred when officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with military officials present, used a new Defense Department anti-drone energy weapon this week on a flying object that in fact appeared to be a party balloon, The New York Times reported.

The FAA, which hadn’t been briefed on the technology, shut down the El Paso airspace out of safety concerns, according to the paper.

The apparent inter-agency confusion alarmed elected leaders.

"The information coming from the administration does not add up," U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, Democrat of Texas, said after the incident in a press conference.

"This should have never happened. You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership," El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson told reporters after the closure. "This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11."

Border officials reportedly used an energy weapon to shoot what they thought was a drone but turned out to be a party balloon, alarming regulators who shut down the airspace above El Paso (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The closure comes at a sensitive time for both Noem and the U.S. transit system.

Noem’s agency, the Department of Homeland Security, is under heavy scrutiny after agents carrying out the administration’s military-style crackdown on illegal immigration shot and killed two Americans last month during their deployment in the Minneapolis area.

A recent Wall Street Journal exposé, meanwhile, alleges that Noem’s department has been in a state of internal “chaos,” with the secretary chasing made-for-TV moments dressing up in agency-branded flak jackets while carrying on an alleged extramarital affair with a deputy, which they both strongly deny.

There have been multiple high-profile incidents in U.S. airspace under the Trump administration, including a crash last January near Reagan airport in Washington, D.C., between a civilian airliner and a military helicopter, which killed 67 people.