As drone sightings continue to pour in from the East Coast, one New Jersey mayor is throwing another possible explanation into the mix.
Michael Melham, mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, said that the drones could be connected to a missing shipment of radioactive material.
“We know we have drones flying in a grid-like pattern. In my opinion, they’re looking for something. What might they be looking for? Maybe that’s radioactive material,” Melham said, according to WNYW-TV.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said that on Dec. 3, radioactive material was reported as missing.
That’s about two weeks after the first drone sightings over parts of New Jersey. Since then, sightings have expanded to multiple states.
“It was a shipment. It arrived at its destination. The container was damaged, and it was empty,” Melham said.
“Information has not been forthcoming, and it’s this lack of transparency…that’s doing nothing but fueling conspiracy theories online,” he added.
The NRC said a shipment was lost in Newfield, New Jersey, on December 3, 2024.
“The shipping container arrived at its destination damaged and empty. The licensee has filed a claim with the shipper. If the source is not located within 30 days, the licensee will follow up with a full written report to include root cause(s) and corrective actions,” the NRC said.
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In the meantime, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has requested advanced detection systems to patrol the skies over New York and New Jersey.
Schumer wants the Department of Homeland Security to provide the Robin Radar Systems, which with 360-degree detection might better pick up drones according to Newsweek.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said governments “are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State.”
“This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” she said.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense said that although they “recognize the concern,” there is no evidence any drones spotted are a national security or public safety threat, according to Fox News.
The FBI said it has received more than 5,000 drone sighting reports in “the last few weeks,” with about 100 leads emerging from those reports, the statement said.
“We assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircrafts, helicopters, and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said, according to CNN.
“We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risks over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast.”
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