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

Screenshot via YouTube.

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, which agitates neighboring countries, who fire back, eventually leading to a devastating war. The song ends with the singer looking around at a world in ashes as she finds one final balloon and lets it go.

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.

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.”

The Pentagon was using military technology that CBS News’ sources identified as “a high-energy laser” to “practice taking down drones,” and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford decided on Tuesday evening to close the airspace, but without notifying the White House, Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, or general public. Understandably, the news Wednesday morning about the airspace closure raised alarms and reminded many of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“The critical bulletin issued to pilots and airlines not to fly below 18,000 feet was initially set for 10 days, a duration for a full grounding not used since the 9/11 terror attacks,” CBS News reported. “The FAA notice warned violators risked being shot down.”

The CBS News report also included other details about how a party balloon ratcheted up tensions, followed by drones operated by Mexican cartels:

Earlier this week, the anti-drone technology was launched near the southern border to shoot down what appeared to be foreign drones. The flying material turned out to be a party balloon, sources said. One balloon was shot down, several sources said.

The Mexican cartels have been running drones on the border lately, the sources said, but it was unclear how many were hit by the military’s anti-UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) technology this week. One official said at least one cartel drone was successfully disabled.

“The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion,” said Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a statement to CBS News. The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region. The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming.”

Later Wednesday, Fox News confirmed CBS News’ report about the party balloon and other aspects of the story:

A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the U.S. military earlier this week shot down what was later determined to be a party balloon near El Paso, Texas, after initially assessing it as a possible foreign drone.

The misidentification eventually led to a total shutdown of airspace around the El Paso airport.

A separate U.S. administration official had told Fox News that Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace near El Paso and that counter-drone measures were taken to disable them.

The Pentagon has been testing out new counter-drone technology, including a high-energy laser, near the Army base at Fort Bliss, Texas. That laser was used to shoot down what appeared to be foreign drones — and was later identified as a balloon — prompting the airspace closure by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an official told Fox.

The entire escapade had multiple parallels to the lyrics of 99 Luftballons, partially excerpted below in an English translation of the original German. (Note: the word “red” does not appear in the original German lyrics; most of the balloons in the video are red, including the key one at the end, and it was added to the English title to better match the syllables.)

“99 balloons
On their way to the horizon
They thought it was UFOs from space
That is why a general sent
A squadron of pilots in pursuit
To give an alarm if it were so
It was there on the horizon
Only 99 balloons.”

The song goes on to chronicle how “99 fighter jet pilots…shot at the horizon” and how “99 ministers of war [with] matches and petrol canisters” who “thought they were clever people” eventually left the world in ruins. Thankfully for us all, it was just one balloon that reportedly incited Wednesday’s incident, not 99, and Armageddon will have to wait for another day.

While we await the apocalypse, you can watch the music video and sing along here, via YouTube.

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