Rogue Nuclear Weapons, State Actor Surveillance, or All of the Above - The Drone Saga
If recent events have taught us anything, it’s that governments often underestimate public intelligence, shaping narratives even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In mid-November, reports emerged of large, car-sized drones being sighted across multiple counties in New Jersey. While the Pentagon dismissed theories linking these mysterious drones to an Iranian "mothership" lurking off the East Coast and assured they posed no threat to the public, they offered no concrete explanation for their origin. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh declined to clarify where the drones came from or who might be controlling them.
The lack of transparency has left many unanswered questions, fueling public speculation and concern. In this analysis, I’ll approach the situation through a law enforcement lens, offering theories on the potential origins and motives behind this unexplained drone activity.
To begin, let’s examine the definition of Plausible Deniability:
Plausible deniability refers to the ability of individuals or organizations to deny responsibility for wrongful actions or knowledge of such actions because there is no clear evidence to confirm their involvement. This concept is often used in politics, espionage, and business to shield decision-makers or influential figures from accountability by ensuring there is no direct link between them and the actions in question.
Information within large organizations, including governments, is often tightly controlled & shared on a need-to-know basis among select personnel. From my experience in law enforcement, even neighboring local agencies frequently fail to share critical information with one another—a lapse that can have deadly consequences. Given this, it’s highly plausible that many lower-tier officials within the U.S. government, including members of Congress & the Senate, are entirely in the dark about the ongoing drone activity.
These representatives may genuinely have no insight into the situation, relying instead on pre-approved talking points handed down from higher-ups. Their role often becomes one of reassuring the public with generic statements, urging calm, while the real decision-makers remain insulated from scrutiny.
Of the potential theories floating around the interwebs, the two that make the most sense are a combination of the following;
It is suspected, or at least highly plausible, that nuclear materials have been lost or stolen & may be circulating in the northeastern United States. In response, nuclear-sniffing drones are potentially being deployed to detect & track these potentially dangerous materials.
The United States has made numerous adversaries over the years and remains actively engaged in various conflict zones overseas; Ukraine, Israel, & Syria just to name a few. Additionally, the presence of sleeper cells within the country, enabled by large-scale migration, poses a significant security concern. The drones are believed to be part of surveillance operations conducted by multiple state actors, possibly monitoring for threats or gathering intelligence, especially around U.S. military installations.
Sniffing for Nuclear Materials
Drone use for nuclear materials detection have been in use since 1946:
The B-17 was modified to perform the role of a drone or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The discarded plane was used for radiation monitoring purpose by remotely piloting it. Described as ‘a four-engine plane…a low-wing monoplane that combined aerodynamic features’, the 1948 US nuclear weapons tests (Operation Sandstone) also used the drone version of B-17 to collect radioactive data from the cloud.
There was yet another fighter aircraft which, after suitable modifications, was reportedly used as a drone for measuring the radiation level in 1946 nuclear weapons tests. This aircraft was F6F Hellcat Fighter, produced by Grumman. Instrumentation on board and photographic plates taped to the control stick obtained data on radioactivity. Three more manned flights preceded the final unmanned flight on July 25, 1946, which evaluated the first underwater explosion. Records indicate that exposure of this aircraft to the radioactive cloud was minimal and residual radiation is negligible.
Missing Nuclear Weapons
The Federation of American Scientists and The Atomic Archives say the US has lost at least six nuclear weapons from the Cold War era (that we know about).
The Council on Foreign Relations warned that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported more than a hundred nuclear smuggling incidents since 1993, eighteen of which involved highly enriched uranium.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) also published a report in September 1997 that quoted former Russian national security advisor Alexander Lebed, who claimed that the Russian military lost track of upwards of 100 nuclear suitcase bombs. Lebed, who made his claims on the CBS news program Sixty Minutes, suggested each of the weapons was as powerful as a one kiloton warhead capable of killing as many as 100,000 people and could be detonated by a single person.
However, Russia countered that Lebed is mistaken and may have confused "dummy small-scale" training devices with actual weapons. National Interest
More recently, radioactive material went missing on December 2, 2024:
Federal officials have downplayed the threat the reported drones may pose, but Belleville, New Jersey, Mayor Michael Melham suggested to Fox 5 New York on Tuesday that the alleged drones, which have captured national attention, could be looking for missing radioactive material.
“We know we have drones flying in a grid-like pattern. In my opinion, they’re looking for something. What might they be looking for? We’re aware of a threat that came through Port Newark. Maybe that’s radioactive material. There is an alert that’s out right now that radioactive material within New Jersey has gone missing on Dec. 2,” Melham said.
“It was a shipment. It arrived at its destination. The container was damaged, and it was empty,” he added.
The alert from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that Melham referred to was issued earlier this month and said the material event contained a “less than Cat 3” level of radioactive material, which means it is “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 material was headed to the Nazha Cancer Center and was an Eckert & Ziegler model HEGL-0132, a piece of standard medical equipment. The minor piece of missing radioactive material appears not to be the source of a widespread search. - Washington Examiner
The ‘minor piece’ may be the fall guy for a major piece that really went missing.
Last week, ‘The Canadian Prepper’ Nate, with 1.32 million followers on YouTube & owner of a store specializing in emergency preparedness items was contacted by the U.S. Government which is seeking to purchase 220,000 doses ThyroSafe by December 21, 2024. ThyroSafe is a potassium iodide is a medication used in a nuclear radiation emergency. It helps protect the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine. Take that anecdote for what you will (you may want to have some ThyroSafe or similar on hand).
Counterterrorism Drones
Official records show the army has been developing and testing 'counterterrorism' drones in New Jersey for years, amid claims of a government cover-up.
A 2018 defense contract awarded $50 million to a private robotics company to develop craft capable of creating 3D maps of urban areas for a 'counter weapons of mass destruction' program.
The contract was given out by the Army's Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC), which is located at the Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway, New Jersey, where mystery drones were first reported last month. Meanwhile, documents show the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an air restriction alert on November 21 prohibiting flights over the Picatinny base for 'special security reasons' through December 26.
The DoD can deny claims of third-party technologies if the drones were placed on a secure tech list for contract disclosures, which means the government is applying special restrictions to the information.
The restrictions are added when technologies protect national security or to keep advanced systems hidden from hostile nations, and the developer holds primary liability if the government is not operating the drones, Ridolfi explained.
The problem with using this NOTAM to explain all of the drone activity near New Jersey is that it only extends to two miles & from the surface up to 2,000 feet AGL.
Shooting Down the Drones -
It took six days for the "Chinese Spy Balloon" to drift across North American airspace before the U.S. Air Force finally shot it down off the coast of South Carolina in February of last year. Despite the delay, the balloon was ultimately neutralized. So why aren’t they doing it now?
If the Boston Police Department is capable of doing this:
December 16, 2024- Two men were arrested in Boston over the weekend for flying a drone “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport as investigations into objects in the sky continue across the East Coast.
Robert Duffy, 42, of Charlestown, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, of Bridgewater, were arrested Saturday evening, taken into custody on Long Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands, “following a hazardous drone operation near Logan Airport’s airspace,” Boston police said. - NBC News
Then the government has every ability to utilize federal, state, & local law enforcement to shoot down, capture, & track the car-sized drones. We have the technology to disable drones. High power microwave (HPM) systems can be used to jam UAV communications and disrupt onboard drone electronics such as navigation, guidance, sensors and control systems. Yet, they don’t. That should tell you a good portion of what you need to know. Clearly, an entity ‘at the top’ is prohibiting interference & interaction with the drones. If they are on a specific government mission, the agencies to include the FAA were likely told to stand down on this one. Several citizens have tried to interact with the drones but found their drones disabled.
Main Stream Media outlets like CNN, The Hill, & even the FBI are issuing warnings urging people not to take matters into their own hands by shooting down the drones themselves. Of course…they don’t want you harming their military assets.
U.S. & NATO Surveillance by State Actors:
If the sole purpose of the drone activity is to sniff out nuclear weapons. Why are there drone sightings occurring in other NATO nations & ships at sea?
Germany - Earlier this month, mystery drones were spotted over Ramstein Air Base, a crucial US military hub. A security source told Reuters that German authorities had not traced the operators of the drones, but had ruled out the possibility that the drones were operated by amateurs. The drone sightings over Ramstein were first reported by German news magazine Spiegel, which said a report by German security authorities had flagged a number of unexplained drone sightings over the base in the evening hours of Dec. 3 and 4.
Spiegel said drones were also sighted over locations belonging to German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and chemicals group BASF. - Reuters
The United Kingdom - The [drone] flights, which began Nov. 20, were spotted over or near RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell in eastern England as well as RAF Fairford in southwestern England. The drones were actively monitored. The Air Force hasn’t identified who is believed to be behind the incursions. Unspecified mitigation measures are underway. “The number of systems has fluctuated, and they have ranged in sizes and configurations,” U.S. Air Forces Europe said in a statement. “Our units continue to monitor the airspace and are working with host-nation authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities and assets.″ - Air Force Times
U.S. Coast Guard Ship - Police in Asbury Park, New Jersey have reported a huge cluster of drones arriving from offshore, including more than a dozen that appear to have tracked a Coast Guard motor lifeboat. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) reported Tuesday that about 50 drones arrived from seaward over Asbury Park on Sunday night. As many as 30 additional drones followed a 47-foot USCG fast response boat as it operated just off the coast, he said. Gov. Phil Murphy has assured the public that the drones pose no threat, but in questioning before a congressional panel on Tuesday, a top FBI official said that law enforcement has no knowledge of who the operator of the drone swarm might be. "We just don't know, and that's the concerning part," assistant FBI director Robert Wheeler told the panel.
Non-Drone Sightings:
Orbs/Plasma Balls
Orange Orbs - Houston, Texas December 1, 2024
Hudson Valley, NY - “I {saw} them flying for two nights in a row,” says DeAnna Camacho, from Slate Hill. “I’m freaked out. It’s like a scary thing.”
Camacho’s recording shows an image of what appears to be an airplane with flashing lights followed by what she says is an orb. “This was not a plane. This was not a drone,” says Camacho. “That orb is completely different.”
Donna Borthwick, from Highland Mills, recorded what she said was a glowing orb hovering over her house Friday night and showed News 12 video which appears to capture a glowing image in the sky that changes in sizes.
“Just a bright white orb that didn’t move. It stayed for about an hour,” Borthwick says. “It wasn’t the moon.”
Other viewers shared similar images on News 12 social media accounts of what they describe as recently seen orbs. A viewer in Delaware County sent a video of what appears to be fast-moving, shooting lights darting through the clouds.
The unidentified flying objects, however, shut down Stewart International Airport for an hour Friday night and prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to respond that “this has gone too far.” She urged federal officials to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security Safety, and Reauthorization Act to give local authorities more resources and said a “state-of-the-art drone detection system” will be coming to New York to aid in the investigation. News 12
Of course, we cannot exclude people interjecting their own drones like the aforementioned clowns at the Boston Airport looking for their 15 minutes of fame, but we must be aware of the threat.
Why Now?
Every potential adversary of the United States is well aware there is a lame duck president asleep at the wheel until January 20th. What adversary wouldn’t want to take advantage of that fact?
President-Elect Donald Trump stated the federal government knows exactly what is going on & has cancelled his trip to Bedminster, New Jersey because of the drones but he won’t comment as to whether he’s had an intelligence briefing regarding the matter:
Click on Picture to Watch the Video
What Can my Fellow Warriors do About it?
Unfortunately, you may face federal penalties if you shoot down a drone
Another important federal law to consider is that it's illegal to fire a weapon at any aircraft. Drones qualify as aircraft under FAA regulations. Whether you think a drone hovering above your property is violating your right to privacy or engaged in other nefarious means, you face federal penalties for using any firearm to try to take it down.
That doesn’t necessarily mean other methods of disabling drones that you believe are a threat to your health or welfare cannot be used. Just do it wisely & ahem…legally.
Understand how to protect yourself from the hazards these drones may cause such as emitting Electromagnetic Pulses (EMPs), &/or carrying explosive, nuclear, or biological payloads. Read some of my tips from previous articles:
EMP Protection -
Nuclear Preparedness -
Use the information to prepare, not panic. There’s not a lot you can do regarding outside factors/government. Focus on what you can control & do your best to become as self-reliant as possible. Document any suspicious activity & share it with trusted sources.
Humanity is in for some challenging times. The best thing we can do is share our ideas, experience, knowledge, & foresight.
Until next time my fellow Warriors, stay informed, stay vigilant, Ever Forward!