Amid drone frenzy, nuclear agency says radioactive object missing in NJ

⭕ The federal government is dismissive of concerns about drones over NJ

⭕ Are mayors not being told everything?

⭕ Drones flying in a grid like pattern appear to be looking for something

BELLEVILLE — A New Jersey mayor wonders whether missing radioactive material causing drones to be over New Jersey in recent weeks.

Mayor Michael Melham joined a long list of local officials disappointed in the information coming from state and federal agencies about the drones. The registered independent told Fox 5 New York that one of the mayors on a call with The White House Monday said he had 6-foot drones hovering over his house but was dismissed by officials.

"They continue to tell us we don't know what we're talking about. It's misidentification. Certainly there's some misidentification probably going on, but i can assure you that we are seeing drones in New Jersey all over the place," Melham said.

Melham said the federal government contradicts itself by holding a meeting with mayors that dismisses concerns about the drone but the House Intelligence Committee is scheduled to receive a classified briefing Tuesday.

"What are they being told that we weren't told Monday," Melham said.

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Drones appear to be looking for something

Melman said State Police told him that the drones are flying in a grid-like pattern which leads him to believe they are looking for something.

"What might they be looking for? Potentially we're aware of a threat that came in through Port Newark. Maybe that's radioactive material. There was and there is an alert that's out right now. That radioactive material in New Jersey has gone missing on Dec. 2. It was a shipment. It arrived at its destination, the container was damaged and it was empty," Melham said.

According to the Nuclear Regulatory Committee, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reported that a GE-68 pin used at the Nazha Cancer Center in Newfields was "lost in transit" on Dec. 2. The pin had a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause permanent damage, according to the report.

If it is not located within 30 days Nazha will have to provide a full report.

The pin is "used as a transmission standard to provide a tissue density correction to permit accurate diagnostic scanning of patients GE-68 uniformly dispersed in a ceramic medium with an outer stainless tube and permanently sealed end caps," according to the General Electric website.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com