New Jersey drones not connected to search for missing radioactive material

Some social media users looking for answers behind recent mysterious U.S. drone sightings are connecting dots between events that evidence shows have no business being connected.

A new one we saw: That the drones may be part of an intensive search for missing radioactive material.

A Dec. 16 Instagram post cited a report filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about radioactive material that was "lost in transit" Dec. 2 in New Jersey.

"Could this be the reason for all of the mysterious ‘drones’ that have been seen flying around NJ air space?" the post asked.

The Instagram post gave a hat tip for the information to an X account that posted Dec. 15 in all caps: "#BREAKING: U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ALERTS 

RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL IS MISSING." That post, which had more than 3.6 million views by Dec. 18, included a screenshot of a report filed with the commission. The X post did not mention drones, but said, "Do you realize what they are doing??"

We found other social media posts making claims connecting the report to the drone sightings. One Instagram post said, "Military drones are sniffing for spill site."

The claims also spread among lawmakers. A group of Staten Island, New York, elected officials wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security asking whether there was a connection between the drones and the missing material report. New Jersey’s Belleville Mayor Michael Melham also speculated in a local TV interview that the two events might be linked.

The Instagram posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.) 

We contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment and received no immediate response. But our reporting found that these social media posts heightened fear by ignoring key facts about missing radioactive material and mysterious drones.

(Screenshot from Instagram)

New Jersey drone sightings began Nov. 18, two weeks before a small amount of radioactive material was reported missing in the state. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Caryn Shinske said the missing material was found Dec. 10. That’s several days before social media posts appeared saying that the drones were looking for it.

A Nuclear Regulatory Commision report, shared in some of the social media posts, said New Jersey’s Nazha Cancer Center had reported that "a Ge-68 pin source that they sent for disposal has been lost in transit" Dec. 2. "The source is a Eckert & Ziegler model HEGL-0132, with current approximate activity of 0.267 mCi. The shipping container arrived at its destination damaged and empty," the report said.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reported the incident to the commission as required by federal law.

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The report said the missing item contained a "less than Cat 3 level of radioactive material," which it defined as "very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury."

The Ge-68 pin source is a small piece of radioisotope used to calibrate positron emission tomography (known as PET) scanners, and to generate isotopes used in nuclear medicine diagnostic studies, Shinske said.

PET scans generate 3D images and can detect early signs of cancer and heart and brain conditions, the Cleveland Clinic said.

The pin source contains "a very low-level radiation source that is approved for shipping through common carriers like FedEx," Shinske said. 

"The radioactive source — about 6 inches in length and with a 1.5-millimeter diameter — has been located, repackaged, and sent to the manufacturer from the FedEx shipping facility where it was misplaced," Shinske wrote in a Dec. 17 email to PolitiFact. No drones were used in the search, she said.

When the state is notified of a lost or stolen radioactive source, the department’s Radiation Protection Element staff communicates with the carrier, FedEx, "until the material is recovered," Shinske said. 

In an ABC News interview, Dr. James Dalzell, a radiation oncologist at the Nazha Cancer Center, also said the missing material had been found and delivered to the manufacturer for disposal. Dalzell said the item’s radiation level was low and that safe shipping required only plastic foam packing.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesperson Neil Sheehan said "the level of radioactivity associated with the (Ge-68 pin) source is considered relatively low, but it is nonetheless kept shielded when not in use for the protection of workers and the public."

A Dec. 18 agency update shows the missing pin source was found and the incident was closed.

A spokesperson for the National Nuclear Security Administration, part of the U.S. Energy Department, told PolitiFact in an email that its Nuclear Emergency Support team does not use drones for nuclear or radiological detection missions, and is not currently conducting aerial operations in the New Jersey region.

Drone sightings have caused concern among residents and some legislators, but White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said Dec. 16 that the New Jersey drone sightings are a combination of lawful commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones and fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and even stars mistaken for drones. Kirby’s comments were echoed in a Dec. 17 joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and the Defense Department.

"We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast," Kirby said. He did not mention drones being used to search for missing radioactive materials.

Social media posts said a federal agency report about missing radioactive material in New Jersey explains the mysterious drones spotted in the Northeast in recent weeks.

But the drone sightings began two weeks before a small amount of radioactive material went missing. And the material had been found several days before the social media posts were published.

We rate the claims False.