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Podcaster Joe Rogan said he was "genuinely concerned" after watching a video that shared an unverified theory on the mysterious drones spotted in the Northeast recently.
“This is the first video about these drones that has got me genuinely concerned,” Rogan wrote on his X account on Sunday (December 15).
A TikTok video shared on Saturday (December 14) showed John Ferguson, CEO of a remote aircraft system in Kansas, claimed that the unidentified drones were trying to "smell" either a gas leak, "radioactive material" or something else coming from ground level.
“The only reason why you would ever fly an unmanned aircraft at night is if you’re looking for something,” Ferguson said in the clip, though specifying that he didn't believe the drones were nefarious.
“So my belief is they’re trying to smell something on the ground — gas leaks, radioactive material, whatever,” he added.
Ferguson reiterated that the theory was just his best guess on the matter and noted that he hadn't "bounced this off anybody."
“So if you think it’s bulls**t, whatever, that’s cool. I don’t want to spread misinformation, as we know that there’s a lot of that going around,” he added.
Federal officials will deploy a high-tech drone detection system to New York State to counter swarms of mysterious flying objects. The detection system will help state and local authorities investigate into the mysterious drones that have been reported to be flickering in the night sky during the past month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
“In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State,” Hochul said via the New York Post.
The governor said Congress would need to approve any greater resources being implemented in identifying the mysterious drones.
“We are grateful to the Biden Administration for their support, but ultimately we need further assistance from Congress. Passing the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act will give New York and our peers the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today,” she said via the New York Post.
The drones have been spotted along the East Coast, primarily in New Jersey, which has had at least 3,000 sightings reported in December alone, though there have been sightings reported as early as November 18. President Joe Biden's administration claimed the unidentified objects were planes or helicopters being mistaken for drones, while some experts warned that they could be coming from an adversary, though the Pentagon denied these claims and authorities reaffirmed that there is no known threat stemming from their presence.