If it was MQTT they'd be active and I'd be able to get nice information from them right? They show up randomly every few days as active. I've specifically had dudes say hello from 34000 feet in route to Newark and as that message comes through a few other nodes appear from hundreds of miles away.
Check Settings > Channels and see if Uplink/Downlink is enabled.
I dont think LoRa has the ability to bounce this far.
The other possiblity is that someone near you has MQTT on, and these folks you see on the map are being broadcasted by that nearby node.
just a theory really nostr:npub160t5zfxalddaccdc7xx30sentwa5lrr3rq4rtm38x99ynf8t0vwsvzyjc9 maybe knows.