A former Navy pilot weighed in on drone sightings in New Jersey as the mystery continues.
Ryan Graves, a former lieutenant, appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast where he discussed possible technologies powering drones, which would allow them to avoid detection.
He told Rogan that law enforcement has been unable to detect the objects with their infrared systems, suggesting the drones are using “some type of signature management” to reduce heat emissions.
“We do this on fighter jets… where we cover the engine to essentially make it harder to see, but having zero ability to detect or lock on to these objects is not the technology I’m familiar with,” Graves said.
The pilot noted that the objects do not behave like normal airplanes, such as their high-gravity force maneuvers that include sharp turns, climbs and descents.
“Then they stay in the area for another five, six or seven hours and they still have the battery left or whatever it is that drives them across the ocean to a point where they can no longer be tracked.” “I’m not really familiar with that kind of capability,” he said.
Graves became a household name in the UAP world in 2023 when he became the first active duty pilot to speak publicly about regular UAP sightings.
That year he testified before Congress and claimed to have had first-hand encounters or knowledge of secret government programs involving “non-human” technology.
“Word on the street is that these objects look like they’re coming from across the ocean,” Graves said during the podcast.
Ryan Graves, a former high-ranking intelligence official who testified under oath before Congress about UAPs, appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast Tuesday to share his thoughts on the mysterious drones in New Jersey.
‘There are high-ranking congressmen, Coast Guard personnel and law enforcement officers (who) are seeing a large number of these coming from somewhere across the ocean.
“I don’t know if that necessarily means they’re physically coming out of the water or if they’re coming from some unknown location in the water and then moving over the shoreline.”
«They fly very low and, in some cases, appear to act in groups, close to each other. They are emitting energy or not, so you know, like radio communications or their own.
“It is not known that I have screwed up on that front and the best I can say is that the government does not know it either.”
Sightings began in mid-November with the first sightings over Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway.
Rogan said “it’s so strange” that drones are a mystery to the White House.
Graves offered some explanations, suggesting that the drones could be using cameras to measure their surroundings rather than radar, which is more easily detectable.
He told Joe Rogan that drones can manage their heat signatures, allowing them to go unnoticed by the government.
The former Air Force pilot noted that the objects do not behave like normal aircraft, such as their high-gravity force maneuvers that include sharp turns, climbs and descents.
“They could have an autonomous navigation system with their maps on board and they are using cameras to map where they are,” he said.
Rogan asked if the technology would make them completely autonomous, to which Graves responded, “Exactly.”
“I could imagine a fully autonomous drone system doing something potentially with passive sensors that allow it to operate without emissions, which will make it harder to track,” he said.
Rogan asked why the government hasn’t put an end to drones, and the former pilot said it all comes down to U.S. laws.
While the White House has not yet given a response to the public, it has been holding classified briefings on the matter.
“That’s why they essentially need a court order to be able to tap these phones,” Graves said, explaining that’s the response he’s received.
‘(They need a court order) to even intercept these signals that they may or may not be emitting to be able to determine where they are going.’
He explained that base commanders have to submit a request to the Secretary of Defense, making it “a very politically charged situation.”
“If they take action and shoot down one of these, even with the permission of the Secretary of Defense, you know they’re in danger if that thing shoots down a school bus or damages someone’s property, kills someone,” Graves said.
Graves took footage that the drones have “an autonomous navigation system with their onboard maps and are using cameras to map where they are.”
Rogan began Tuesday’s podcast by discussing the different narratives surrounding the mysterious sightings.
‘The scariest thing I’ve heard is that their drones are looking for gamma radiation because a nuclear bomb is missing. Let’s address that first, please,’ he said.
Rogan had remained silent about the New Jersey drones until John Ferguson, who runs Saxon Unmanned, posted a video on TikTok claiming the craft was searching for a gas leak or “radioactive material.”
Graves told the podcaster that he has interacted with people who work on weapons of mass destruction and they told him that “there is no loose nuclear bomb or other type of weapon of mass destruction that these objects are going after right now.”
“Otherwise they would be working on a skiff non-stop to make that go away,” he added.
The response, however, didn’t shock Rogan, who questioned whether Graves’ sources were being truthful.
‘How did they persuade you? “Just saying ‘that’s not the case’ or have you been given any information that leads to this conclusion,” Rogan asked.
Graves responded that the people he spoke to would be responsible for finding the nuclear bomb or weapon of mass destruction.
Belleville Mayor Michael Melham said Tuesday on Fox TV’s “Good Day New York” that the drones could be searching for radioactive material.
‘It was a shipment. He arrived at his destination. “The container was damaged and empty,” Melham said.
The mayor was referring to an alert from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that said medical equipment used for cancer scans disappeared on December 2 during a transit through the state.
The device, known as a “pin source”, contained a small amount of germanium-68 (Ge-68) which is used to calibrate the accuracy of a medical scanner.
The pin source contained approximately 0.267 millicuries (mCi) of Ge-68, which is a very small amount that would only cause harm during close, prolonged exposure.
The material emits low-energy gamma radiation, making it useful for calibration purposes in medical equipment.