A growing cluster of unexplained NASA deaths and disappearances in the United States has revived claims of a shadowy campaign against scientists with access to UFO secrets and advanced missile technology, after a ninth expert, research scientist Michael David Hicks, was confirmed dead in California in July 2023, aged 59.
Hicks spent more than two decades at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working there from 1998 to 2022. Public records and scientific citations show he published more than 80 papers and helped shape missions studying the behaviour of comets and asteroids. He also worked on NASA's DART project, which tested whether a spacecraft could deflect a hazardous asteroid, and on the 2001 Deep Space 1 mission.
Questions have centred not only on Hicks' role in the space programme, but on the limited public detail around his death. His passing on 30 July 2023 was not publicly announced at the time. No cause of death has been published and there is no autopsy record on file.
Cluster Of NASA Deaths Fuels UFO And Spy Fears
The NASA deaths controversy does not rest solely on Hicks. The news came after three of his colleagues and contemporaries, all with substantial experience in rocket, missile or deep space research, either died unexpectedly or went missing with minimal explanation.
At JPL, materials scientist Monica Jacinto Reza vanished in June 2025, months after becoming director of the Materials Processing Group. There has been no public account of what happened to her.
SHOCKING: NASA Scientist Michael David Hicks Dies, Raising National Security Concerns
— Sergeant News Network (@sgtnewsnetwork) April 8, 2026
Michael David Hicks, 59, a longtime researcher at @NASAJPL NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has died under unexplained circumstances with no cause of death or autopsy released
Hicks, who… pic.twitter.com/VPTE01vbK8
Two other figures with close ties to JPL also died in recent years. Hicks' long-time co-worker, senior scientist Frank Maiwald, died in July 2024 at the age of 61. His cause of death has not been widely disclosed. Thirteen months earlier, he had been appointed lead researcher on a mission aimed at identifying signs of life on planets across the galaxy.
Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was shot dead on the front porch of his home on 16 February 2026, aged 67. He had worked in the same broad field of exoplanet research as Maiwald and recently contributed to the discovery of a so-called 'water planet', research that renewed interest in possible alien life.
The grouping has drawn scrutiny from some members of the US intelligence community and Congressional staff, not only because of UFO speculation but because several of the scientists worked on missile, rocket engine and space-based detection technologies.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker, speaking about the pattern of NASA deaths and missing experts, did not endorse any conspiracy theory. But he said: 'You can say these are all suspicious, and these are scientists who have worked in critical technology.'
NASA Deaths List Extends Beyond Space Scientists
The concern extends beyond a single NASA lab. Los Alamos National Laboratory worker Melissa Casias is missing. Nuclear research worker Anthony Chavez is also missing, as is retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland, who has been linked to advanced aerospace work.
Frank Maiwald — died Jul 2024, no autopsy
— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz BP (@Schwartz_Cose) April 8, 2026
Carl Grillmair — shot Feb 2026 Michael Hicks — died Jul 2023, cause hidden
Monica Reza — vanished Jun 2025
Melissa Casias — vanished Jun 2025
Anthony Chavez — vanished May 2025
William McCasland — vanished Feb 2026
These deaths… pic.twitter.com/RQuYrOmP9O
There are unexplained deaths outside the traditional space sector too. Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, has died. Nuclear physicist Nuno Loureiro is also dead. All have, in one way or another, been linked back to the wider worries about how America protects its most sensitive knowledge base.
Swecker said foreign intelligence services have long targeted people with access to sensitive US technology. 'China, Russia, even some of our friends, Pakistan, India, Iran, North Korea, they target this type of technology,' he said.
That is not proof that the deaths or disappearances were murders, or that they were tied to UFO secrets rather than more conventional national security concerns. There has been no public allegation of foul play in Hicks' case, and the circumstances of several other cases have not been fully set out in public material.
Without autopsy reports, investigative files or official statements linking the cases, claims of a co-ordinated campaign remain speculative. None of the available material independently confirms targeted killings or UFO-related cover-ups.
