The FBI announced Monday it would investigate whether deaths and disappearances of at least 10 scientists and government employees working on sensitive projects share any common thread. The move marks a formal response to months of online speculation that has gained traction on social media platforms and caught the attention of President Donald Trump.
Trump said Thursday he had discussed the matter in a recent meeting and indicated swift action. "I hope it's random, but we're going to know in the next week and a half," he told reporters. "Pretty serious stuff, hopefully a coincidence, or whatever you want to call it."
The Bureau will coordinate with the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and state and local law enforcement agencies. The House Oversight Committee separately announced its own probe, requesting briefings from Defense, Energy, the FBI, and NASA regarding "disappearance and death of individuals with access to sensitive U.S. scientific information."
The cases span multiple agencies and research areas. Since 2022, researchers connected to nuclear programs, NASA, and other classified initiatives have either disappeared or died under varying circumstances. While investigators have found no evidence linking the incidents, their clustering has fueled persistent conspiracy theories online, with some suggesting targeting by foreign adversaries or efforts to conceal knowledge about unidentified aerial phenomena.
One prominent case involves retired Air Force Major General Neil McCasland, 68, who vanished from his New Mexico home in February. According to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, he left with hiking boots, his wallet, and a .38 caliber revolver, but without his phone and glasses. Speculation quickly emerged that his former military position might have made him a target.
McCasland's wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, disputed that theory in a Facebook post, noting her husband had "only very commonly held clearances" since retiring nearly 13 years earlier. She added that his documented interest in UFO-related projects through an organization led by Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 did not indicate he possessed classified alien knowledge. "This connection is not a reason for someone to abduct Neil," she wrote.
Another unsolved case involved Monica Reza, a 60-year-old former NASA scientist specializing in rocket materials, reported missing June 22, 2025, while hiking in the Angeles National Forest. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating her disappearance.
The death of Caltech physicist Carl Johann Grillmair adds another layer to the debate. He was fatally shot February 16, and a 29-year-old suspect has been arrested. The suspect had a prior arrest related to alleged firearm discharge but no motive has been disclosed. The lack of clarity has fueled speculation despite the apparent straightforward nature of the case.
Some deaths investigators have examined appear less mysterious. MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro was gunned down in December by a suspect later identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Brown University graduate student who committed suicide after a shooting rampage at the university two days later. Both men were Portuguese nationals. The Department of Justice has not released a motive for either incident.
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee claimed in recent days that intelligence agencies had hindered his efforts to obtain information about McCasland and other scientists he described as having disappeared under mysterious circumstances. "The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research," he told the Daily Mail. "I think we'd better be paying attention, and I don't think we should trust our government."
NASA stated in a post on X that it was cooperating with the investigation while noting that "at this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat." The agency pledged to provide additional information as it becomes available.
Other cases included in the review span years and circumstances. Amy Catherine Eskridge, an Alabama-based anti-gravity researcher, died in 2022 at age 34 in what was ruled a suicide. Her case has become fodder for online theorists seeking connections among the disparate incidents.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The FBI's formal review should either confirm there's nothing here or expose a genuine pattern, but the agency faces enormous pressure to produce answers that satisfy both conspiracy theorists and legitimate oversight concerns."
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