That's a small radioactive source used in industrial applications. It doesn't pose too much danger unless you are in very close or direct contact with it and the safety aperture is open.
You would be surprised as to the number of small gamma, beta and X-ray sources go missing each year. It's been like this for many decades. Industrial and medical sources are very poorly managed and end up derelict way too often. They sometimes cause big problems though. See the Goiania, Brazil incident for example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhL0xQzPSy8
I used to work with a gamma cell in the mid-1990s, cobalt-60 source. I wrote a small software package for the technicians running it to determine source decay since last calibration and adjusted exposure times for their radhard device test and characterization process.
Yeah, I wouldn't ever want to be on the wrong side of that aperture!
It seems, if this is the reason for the drones, that there has not been a frantic search of this scope ever. I think they used to use tractor trailer trucks with equipment in the trailer to search out radioactive sources in the past. I question whether this event is more dangerous than they say, i.e. they claim a small source is missing (in order to avoid public panic) whereas they are actually looking for a much larger source. So much misinfo these days, hard to know what or which parts to believe.
It seems, if this is the reason for the drones, that there has not been a frantic search of this scope ever.
The FAA isn't rerouting air traffic or freaking out over airspace incursions. That tells me they are 100% being told to allow the drone traffic and to not deviate from flight plans. This isn't a simple matter of some lost radioactive source. This is preparation for something big.
I agree, it is quite likely to be much bigger than what they claim it to be. That's their MO.
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