These are the U.S. scientists linked to space research and nuclear programs who have recently died or vanished

The conspiracy theory rumor mill was already spinning before David Wilcock, a famed UFO researcher, died by suicide in late April. Now it’s kicking into high gear. He is supposed to be the twelfth person, there are others who are believed that should be on the list, to have died or disappeared in an “unbelievably dumb” plot involving scientists with ties to nuclear or space programs.

The hullabaloo began on the fringes of the internet and social media but has made its way to Congress and the White House. The story first made its way into the mainstream with a March report in The Daily Mail titled “Mystery of five missing scientists sends chill across America. Three are dead. And one troubling link is now under scrutiny in DC.”

The outlet spoke with Republican Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett who said “we ought to be paying attention to” these people dying and disappearing under suspicious circumstances. “The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research.”

Then on April 15, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt if anyone was looking into the death or disappearance of 10 scientists since mid-2024. She told him that she would look into it.

The following day when Doocy asked Trump about it and the president said he had just left a meeting on the subject. May 1 Trump told reporters: “So far we’re finding that, there’s not much of a connection. We’ll let you know. We’re going to be doing a full report. And it’s very serious.”

On April 17, Leavitt announced that the White House was planning to launch an investigation. On April 20, the Republican House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer informed FBI Director Kash Patel in a letter that it too was looking into the matter and sought the agency’s cooperation.

These are the U.S. scientists linked to space research and nuclear programs who have recently died or vanished

Retired Air Force major general named Neil McCasland: 68

The former commander of the Wright-Patterson base, where the crashed UFO from the Roswell incident is supposedly stored, left for a walk from his New Mexico home in February 27, 2026 and never returned.

Monica Jacinto Reza: 60

The Director of Materials Processing at JPL was the co-inventor of the special metal called Mondaloy, a nickel-based superalloy used in rocket engines, disappeared on June 22, 2025, while hiking with a friend in the Angeles National Forest.

Nuno Gomes Loureiro: 47

The renowned Portuguese nuclear science professor and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was murdered outside his house in Massachusetts on December 15, 2025. Authorities say that the gunman was Claudio Neves Valente, a former classmate in Portugal. He was reportedly “working on something that is potentially so transformative, that if you get a real leg up in the research — if you learn something, then you become a sort of database that needs to be erased potentially,” according to ‘Dark Journalist’ Daniel Liszt.

Carl Grillmair: 67

The astrophysicist contributed to the discovery of water on a distant planet. He was shot on the front porch of his house in Llano, California on February 16, 2026. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have charged Freddy Snyde with his murder along with carjacking and burglary.

Jason Thomas: 45

The assistant director of chemical biology at Novartis, a pharmaceutical company with contracts with the U.S. Defense Department, disappeared on December 12, 2025. His remains were recovered form Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

Michael David Hicks: 59

The scientist who specialized in comet and asteroid research at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California died in July 30, 2023.

Amy Eskridge: 34

The anti-gravity scientist working in Alabama committed suicide in 2022. The Daily Mail reported that she said on a podcast in 2020 that she was planning to make a public disclosure about UFOs and extraterrestrial and that her life was being threatened as a result.

Frank Maiwald: 61

The researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California died in July 4, 2024 but the cause of his has not been publicly disclosed.

Anthony Chavez: 78

The retired engineer had worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in nuclear weapons research. He disappeared in May 2025 from his New Mexico home.

Melissa Casillas: 53

An administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory went missing on June 26, 2025.

Steven Garcia: 48

The New Mexico government security contractor was a property custodian with high-level clearance at a national nuclear facility that manufactures over 80% of non-nuclear components for the U.S. military’s nuclear weapons. He disappeared on August 28, 2025.

Matthew James Sullivan: 39

The former Air Force intelligence officer died from a drug overdose at his home in Falls Church, Virginia on May 12, 2024 according to the Northern District Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Joshua LeBlanc: 22

The NASA electrical engineer and nuclear scientist died in a car crash when his Tesla reportedly struck a guardrail and several trees before bursting into flames in Huntsville, Alabama on July 22, 2025.

Ning Li: 79

The Chinese-born anti-gravity physicist died in 2021 after being struck by a car.

David Wilcock: 53

The regular contributor on the History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens” and popular personality on YouTube, who created content about conspiracy theories involving world governments, committed suicide in Boulder County, Colorado on April 20, 2026.

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