Radioactive material went missing in New Jersey earlier this month, fueling conspiracy theories that it could be linked to the mysterious drone sightings.
A medical device used for cancer scans was shipped from the Nazha Cancer Center in Newfield for disposal on December 2, but the “shipping container arrived at its destination damaged and empty.”
The device is known as a ‘pin source’ which contains a small amount of radiation to calibrate the scanner’s accuracy. If handled without proper equipment, it can cause radiation poisoning.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a warning about the missing shipment, which is considered “less than Category 3,” meaning it could cause permanent harm if misused.
Category 3 is the highest level of radioactive material.
The danger of losing sight of radioactive materials is that they can be used to build bombs.
But experts have suggested that malicious actors would likely use more powerful materials for such a feat.
The missing medical equipment has led many on social media to speculate that the drones flying over New Jersey may be the government trying to detect radioactive material.
John Ferguson, the CEO of Saxon Aerospace, a drone manufacturer in Kansas, said the only reason drones fly at night is because they are “looking for something.”
The device is known as a ‘pin source’ which contains a small amount of radiation to calibrate the scanner’s accuracy. If handled without proper equipment, it can cause radiation poisoning
The missing medical equipment has led many on social media to speculate that the drones flying over New Jersey may be the government trying to detect radioactive material.
‘My own assessment is that these drones do not have nefarious intentions. If so, then so be it, but I doubt it,” Ferguson said in a TikTok video.
“But if they’re drones, the only reason they’re flying so low is because they’re trying to smell something on the ground.”
Cases of missing radioactive material in the US are rare and typically involve small amounts used in industrial or medical applications.
The most recent was in 2023 when Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas reported that 10 radioactive seeds used for breast cancer scans had been stolen.
The previous case occurred in 2021 when a nuclear moisture density meter containing radioactive material was reported missing in Durham, North Carolina.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in 2020 that the most common reason for stealing radioactive material was “a likely act of human trafficking or malicious use.”
Abel Gonzalez, former director of the Radiation Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: ‘When radioactive sources are used for diagnostic purposes – particularly in nuclear medicine procedures – the amount of radioactivity used is small and again poses no obvious threat to human health. safety.
‘However, there is increasing concern that radioactive sources could be turned into a terrorist instrument – what is (sometimes) called a ‘dirty bomb’.
The report comes as theories suggest the drones in New Jersey are ‘sniffers’ looking for gamma rays on the ground. But officials have not confirmed the claims
The missing material in New Jersey contained approximately 0.267 millicurie (mCi).
The average person receives 2-3 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation per year from natural sources such as the sun.
A source emitting 0.267 mCi can cause radiation exposure comparable to a few extra days of background radiation, which can cause breathing problems, nausea or vomiting, and a higher risk of cancer in the future.
But there’s also the possibility that the radioactive material missing from New Jersey was damaged in transit or that the person who took it didn’t know what it was.
Ferguson admitted in his video that he had no verification for this and was only giving his opinion – alongside hundreds of concerned drone spotters and locals.
Ferguson’s company, Saxon Unmanned, describes itself as a “manufacturer of custom, long-endurance remote-controlled aircraft systems, with more than 25 years of experience developing solutions for global air and sea applications.”
He is a military veteran with over 25 years of experience in his field.
Ferguson’s theory has gone viral after a day of mainstream politicians trying to allay fears about drones.
Podcaster Joe Rogan also shared the video, saying, “This is the first video about these drones that I’m genuinely concerned about.”
The White House did not discuss any claims about sniffer drones during its various briefings over the past week.
National security communications adviser John Kirby has insisted that the sightings do not pose a “threat to national security or public safety,” and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he is aware of “no foreign involvement.”
But the lack of explanation has drawn fierce criticism from some lawmakers as drones continue to appear around sensitive locations, and panic spread when a New Jersey mayor revealed his fire department had been told to wear hazmat suits in case the flying objects crashed .
Reports of drones in New Jersey began in mid-November with sightings over a military base and Donald Trump’s golf course
Senator Jon Bramnick called for a state of emergency over what he said was a lack of government transparency about the unexplained drone sightings.
“Whatever these drones are doing, the government really doesn’t want us to know,” he told NewsNation on Saturday, urging the Defense Department to “keep an open mind with the American public” after a series of appearances since November.
“There must be something going on that they can’t tell us because they’re so afraid of what the public will do when they hear what the drones are doing,” the Republican senator claimed.
At a congressional hearing last Tuesday, Robert Wheeler, assistant FBI director, said the agency had received more than 3,000 reports of drone sightings in a week.
“The Bureau is actively investigating the situation you mentioned, the unexplained sighting of drone activity over that part of New Jersey, including near sensitive locations and areas of concern,” he said.
‘We do not yet attribute that to an individual or a group. We are conducting an investigation, but I have no answer to the question of who is responsible for this – whether one or more people are responsible for those drone flights. But we are actively conducting research.’
The Department of Defense (DOD) said Saturday that the FBI’s tip line has now received 5,000 reports and that fewer than 100 have resulted in leads “deemed worthy of further investigative activity.”
‘We don’t know what the activity is. We don’t know if it’s malicious or if it’s criminal, but I will tell you it is irresponsible,” a DOD official told Congress.
“And you know, here on the military side, we’re just as frustrated by the irresponsible nature of this activity.”