Are Scientists with Knowledge of U.S. Secrets Disappearing? The Facts Tell a Different Story

Micah Hanks·

missing scientists

Welcome to this edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, a viral claim that U.S. scientists tied to sensitive aerospace and nuclear programs are mysteriously disappearing has reached Washington, raising concerns about possible insider threats and covert activity. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how the story gained traction following the disappearance of former U.S. Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, 2) the growing list of scientists and officials whose deaths or disappearances have been loosely grouped together despite differing circumstances, 3) how media narratives and online speculation—particularly involving alleged UFO connections—have fueled the controversy, and 4) why a closer examination of the evidence suggests that correlation, rather than a coordinated conspiracy, is the more likely explanation behind these troubling but largely unconnected incidents.

Quote of the Week

“If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into.” 

– WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT

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RECENT NEWS from The Debrief

Washington is Now Investigating Scientists Linked to U.S. Secrets

An alarming new trend has emerged: U.S. scientists with knowledge of America’s most sensitive aerospace and nuclear secrets are reportedly turning up missing, and people want answers.

That, at least, is the claim that has now been circulating for several weeks. Since 2023, the theory goes, nearly a dozen scientists with knowledge of some of America’s most sensitive programs have either vanished or have died under mysterious circumstances.

Several media outlets have picked up the story, which even came up during a recent White House press briefing, where reporter Peter Doocey asked White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt about the situation and whether officials in Washington were investigating any possible links between the incidents.

“There are now ten American scientists who have either gone missing or died since mid 2024. They all reportedly had access to classified nuclear or aerospace material,” Doocey said. “Is anybody investigating this to see if these things are connected?”

“I’ve seen the report, Peter,” Leavitt confirmed. “I haven’t spoken to our relevant agencies about it. I will certainly do that, and we’ll get you an answer.”

“If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into and let me do that for you,” Leavitt added.

In today’s media environment, it is not surprising that a story like this would be propelled all the way to Washington. However, to really understand the underpinnings of this story and what led it to become one of the latest national controversies is a bit more complex.

A USAF Major General Goes Missing

The story first began gaining traction in late February, with the mysterious disappearance of former U.S. Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, whose whereabouts are currently still unknown.

According to McCasland’s wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, her husband was last seen on the morning of February 27, 2026. At that time, she left their home shortly before 11 a.m. to attend a scheduled medical appointment, and by the time she returned, her husband was nowhere to be found.

Wilkerson reached out first to family and friends, but no one had any information about where McCasland might have gone. Shortly after 3 p.m. on the same afternoon, Wilkerson reported her husband missing to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

The story soon became a national story, with speculations about the reasons for McCasland’s disappearance propelled along by speculations that included the former official’s ties to UFOs. In this case, at least, there was a bit more than pure speculation to this part of the story, as it is known that McCasland had, for a time, been an unpaid advisor to rock guitarist Tom DeLonge, who would later co-author a series of UFO-themed novels, and launched a UFO-related company known as the To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences in late 2017.

In a statement released shortly after his disappearance, Wilkerson said that her husband’s involvement with UFOs had been minimal, at best, and that he had only worked for a short time as an unpaid advisor to DeLonge (for a deeper dive into all of this, see our previous reporting at The Debrief on the circumstances surrounding McCasland’s disappearance).

More Missing Scientists?

With the attention McCasland’s disappearance received, it was only a matter of time before more unusual incidents involving American scientists began to receive attention, with many speculating about possible links to the unresolved disappearance of the former USAF official.

Among the first to receive attention with relation to McCasland’s disappearance was Monica Jacinto Reza, who served as the director of the Materials Processing Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Reza was reported missing while hiking with a group of friends in June,

While Reza and McCasland had worked for separate agencies, online sleuths quickly noted that Reza’s research had potential links through funding to operations McCasland had been involved with prior to his retirement.

Soon, more alleged connections would follow, with the web of missing scientists quickly expanding to include not just scientists who had gone missing but also some who had died or were killed under what some viewed as unusual circumstances.

Another NASA scientist, Michael David Hicks, was added to the mix for his work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mysteriously, there had been no autopsy at the time of his death, nor any official cause of death provided.

Another was the July 2024 death of Frank Maiwald, who was also a JPL employee, and for whom no autopsy or cause of death had been reported.

Soon, internet detectives noted the recent death of another scientist, Carl Grillmair, whose work was supported by NASA’s JPL.

In the weeks that followed, more individuals would be added to the informal list: Nuno Loureiro, an MIT Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering; Steven Garcia, a government contractor with the Kansas City National Security Campus; Los Alamos National Laboratory employees Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casias; and others were also flagged as possibly having been related to the web of missing or deceased scientists.

So what, precisely, is the connection between all of these individuals supposed to be? Arguably, the media’s favorite theory has been (you guessed it) UFOs.

According to a NewsNation article on Wednesday, the thread that links all of these individuals involves “links to UFO information” between scientists who have gone “missing over the past year.”

If that were indeed true, few would argue that this is a story well worth the attention of not just officials in Washington, but pretty much everybody. However, a closer look at the situation tells a very different story.

So What’s Really Going On?

Before we dive into what may really be at work with the “missing or dead scientists” theory, there is an important concept that should be addressed first: “correlation does not imply causation.”

This phrase, first known to have been used in this form by British statistician Karl Pearson, but later associated with Carl Sagan (and with deeper roots going all the way back to philosopher David Hume), is of vital importance when it comes to our all-too-human tendency to want to spot perceived connections between various phenomena. In short, just because two variables are correlated does not mean they are related.

With regard to the scientists we’re discussing, the fact that there have been several scientists and others with knowledge of sensitive U.S. programs that have died recently does not mean that there is any evidence they are actually connected. Let’s take a closer look at a few facts that help to show why this should be fairly obvious in this case:

    • Not all of the individuals in question are scientists.
    • Not all of the individuals in question worked for the same agencies.
    • Some of the individuals were reported missing.
    • Other individuals had died (with no official cause of death reported).
    • Some of the individuals who died were victims of homicides.
    • These incidents span several years, rather than a short recent period.
    • There is little real evidence supporting a link to “UFO secrets,” or that the majority of these individuals possessed significant information about the subject.

A closer look at each individual case is even more telling. Recently, audio from Susan McCasland Wilkerson’s 911 call was released, in which she clearly seems to be indicating that Neil had been “facing some medical issues,” noting at one point in the call with the 911 operator that she and her husband had been seeing a doctor for “both physical and mental” issues, which she described as involving “anxiety, short term memory loss, [and] lack of sleep.” Tragically, at one point in the audio, Wilkerson also notes her husband “saying that if his brain and body keep deteriorating, he didn’t wanna live like that.”

At the time of his disappearance, it was also noted that one of McCasland’s guns, along with a leather holster, was among the items authorities found missing from his home. Based on the details provided, a very clear—and very tragic—set of possible motives for McCasland’s disappearance emerges, and one that doesn’t have to incorporate UFOs to help explain what likely happened.

Another example involves the death of Carl Grillmair. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives who arrived at the scene, Grillmair “was found shot to death on the porch of his home in rural Llano.” KABC 7 out of Los Angeles reported that “Deputies had arrested Freddy Snyder later in the day for carjacking and soon linked him to Grillmair’s shooting,” and that while a motive had not been released at that time, it was confirmed that Snyder had been arrested late last year after he was reported trespassing on Grillmair’s property while carrying a rifle.

“In Grillmair’s case, there is currently no evidence suggesting a larger conspiracy,” wrote Lauren Conlin, a reporter and podcaster, in an article for LA Mag on April 2, 2026, after news of Grillmair’s possible connections to other scientists began to be reported. “Law enforcement has treated the killing as an isolated criminal act.”

“But for some, the patterns are difficult to ignore,” Conlin added.

Admittedly, Conlin is among those who appear to have such difficulties. During a recent appearance on NewsNation’s “Jesse Weber Live”, Conlin said the cases that stand out to her involve the links between Reza and McCasland.

“I mean, Monica Reza worked closely with Gen. McCasland, and she disappeared under extremely, extremely disturbing and mysterious circumstances,” Conlin told Weber.

It is certainly true that Reza’s disappearance was somewhat disturbing. Her unsolved disappearance while hiking is also one of many mysterious disappearances that occur on hiking trails throughout our nation each year.

Data on individuals who go missing in National Parks varies, though some statistics suggest an average of 4,661 people may be reported lost each year, based on figures frequently cited in association with Yosemite National Forest Search and Rescue. Additionally, on average, more than 300 individuals die in National Parks, based on National Park Service Mortality Data collected between the years of 2014 and 2019.

Reza’s disappearance is indeed concerning, and the fact that she remains missing is both troubling and mysterious. However, viewed alongside the significant number of individuals who go missing each year in our National Parks, can we really point to the fact that she was a scientist—even if there were some links between the funding sources of her research, and another individual who is currently still logged as missing—and view this as a likely causal factor?

Ultimately, the families of each of these individuals have no doubt undergone significant grief due to the loss of their loved ones. Indeed, it is tempting to draw connections between individuals from various walks of life who have died or disappeared due to their alleged connections—whether real, or merely perceived—to a subject like UFOs.

However, sometimes we must remind ourselves that our all-too-human tendency to see patterns can get ahead of our need to show respect and sympathy for others, especially those who are coping with the loss of family or loved ones.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

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