Since mid-November, large drones — like those photographed here on Dec. 8 in Toms River, N.J. — have flown over central and northern New Jersey.
Chalk another theory off the list for the mysterious drones flying over New Jersey.
According to several officials, the drone sightings along the East Coast, mostly in New Jersey, are not related to what some have deemed as "missing" radioactive material.
Turns out the material wasn't really missing after all.
In a statement issued to ABC News, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection claimed that the material, which was temporarily misplaced and later found and disposed of properly, had a "very low-level radiation source that is approved for shipping through common carriers like FedEx."
The statement also said that drones were not used to locate the material in question.
The item was being shipped from the Nazha Cancer Center to a disposal facility.
The theory that this was linked to the drone sightings was fueled by an alert from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Dec. 5 that stated a piece of medical equipment used in scanning for cancer had been "lost in transit" on Dec. 2.
And although the missing item has since been found, it didn't stop the wild speculation of the link between its temporary misplacement to the drones.
🚨 BREAKING: Belleville, NJ Mayor Melham raises alarm over missing radioactive material. The mayor confirmed State police issued an alert about missing radioactive material after a shipping container was found damaged and empty. The timing seems to align with the recent drone… pic.twitter.com/UBqWNsNjls
Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, N.J., stoked that fire in an appearance on "Good Day, New York," a local Fox-TV morning show, when he said Tuesday about the drones, "What might they be looking for? Maybe that radioactive material."
But a National Nuclear Security Administration spokesperson further debunked this claim, saying that the agency, which is an arm of the Department of Energy, does not use drones for these detection purposes.
"The Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration's Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) does not employ drones for nuclear/radiological detection missions, and is not currently conducting any aerial operations in that region," the spokesperson told ABC News.
