New York’s Staten Island — More inquiries concerning the enigmatic drones seen over New Jersey and New York City in recent weeks have been raised by the sudden disappearance of radioactive materials.
A group of political leaders from Staten Island wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, asking whether the unidentified drones have anything to do with the radioactive items that were lost in transit in New Jersey earlier this month.
Radioactive materials identified as a Ge-68 pin source were lost in transit on Dec. 2 while being disposed of, according to a report issued by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Dec. 13. According to the report, the material’s shipment container arrived at its destination empty and broken.
According to Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), residents and elected leaders in New York, New Jersey, and other places have been calling for answers and transparency on the abrupt and unexplained increase in drone activity in our sky.
The public should be informed and our government should be open about the steps it is taking to address the problem and safeguard the public’s health and safety if the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s report is accurate and there is missing radioactive material in the Northeast. The lawmaker went on to say that would be far preferable to the various worries, hypotheses, and false information that are circulating.
The collection of local elected officials said that local residents have reasonable concerns about the drones because the federal government has not yet offered a clear and adequate explanation.
According to Borough President Vito Fossella, there have been far more questions than answers about drone sightings and UAVs for far too long. We believe the truth should be heard by Staten Islanders and everyone. In this most recent report, we also want to know if rumors of a radiation leak are related to the rise in drone sightings.
A request for comment from the Department of Homeland Security was not answered at the time of publishing.
However, in a Sunday morning broadcast interview on ABC’s This Week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that locals are indeed seeing drones.
Mayorkas stated that there is no doubt that people are witnessing drones.
Drones are what some of those sightings are. Some are manned aircraft that are frequently confused with unmanned aerial vehicles. However, it is undeniable that drones are being spotted. Before urging Congress to increase local and state authorities to help solve the issue, Obama stated, “I want to reassure the American public that we are on it.”
According to a New York Post article, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that the drones are thought to be legal aircraft that do not currently threaten locals.
In addition to manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and even stars that were misidentified as drones, we estimate that the sightings to date contain a mix of legal commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, Kirby added.
Over the civilian airspace in New Jersey and other Northeastern states, we have not found any unusual activity or threats to public safety or national security. “The work goes on,” he added.
Since they first appeared in New Jersey sky in mid-November, the drones have quickly spread out over Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
Over the past week and a half, borough residents have seen the enigmatic drones on multiple occasions. Since lawmakers’ attempts to obtain answers have not yet been successful, Staten Islanders’ initial interest has now evolved into worry and, in some cases, terror.
Fossella and other political officials from Staten Island convened at Fort Wadsworth on Friday to demand an inquiry by the NYPD and answers on drone sightings over the Island.
Fossella stated at the time, “Take the initiative, be honest and truthful with the American people, the people of Staten Island, and solve this problem once and for all.”
Malliotakis claimed that despite federal officials telling members of Congress earlier this week that several of the reported drone locations matched known flight paths for manned aircraft, Malliotakis was still not pleased.
Senators from New York and New Jersey also wrote a letter this week to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI, requesting that they host a briefing on drone activity.
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