Multiple US government agencies have been called to testify about the deaths and disappearances of 11 scientists amid mounting public interest.
Eleven US scientists have either vanished or died under suspicious circumstances since 2022, prompting Republican lawmakers to warn that 'something sinister could be happening' behind the scenes. The latest case involves retired US Air Force General William McCasland, who disappeared in February.
Other missing or deceased individuals include experimental propulsion researcher Amy Eskridge, NASA scientist Monica Jacinto Reza, contractor Steven Garcia, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, MIT physicist Nuno Loureiro, NASA engineer Frank Maiwald, NASA researcher Michael David Hicks, pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas and Los Alamos National Laboratory employees Melissa Casias and Anthony Chavez.
How Are the Dead and Missing Scientists Connected?
'We know there are many countries around the world that would love to have our knowledge and nuclear capabilities. And these are the people who were at the forefront of it, and they're either dead or missing,' said Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
Describing the situation as a 'national security concern,' Comer called out the agencies he deemed accountable for the incidents. 'We want to try to piece this together,' he told Fox News.
'We've put a notice out to the Department of War, to the FBI, to NASA, to the Department of Energy, that we want to know everything that they know about what happened with these scientists, because those four agencies were predominantly the agencies that those 11 individuals were affiliated with,' he said.
Comer said he sent the letters to ensure that the agencies' testimony is not compromised by any classified investigations. He intends to bring them all before Congress.
President Trump Calls for an Official Investigation
President Donald Trump has promised an inquiry into the controversy, which continues to draw public interest. 'I hope it's random, but we're going to know in the next week and a half,' he told the press last Thursday. 'I just left a meeting on that subject.'
The National Nuclear Security Administration is also looking into the cases, Fox News reported. 'NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter,' a representative told the outlet.
The FBI has also confirmed it will collaborate with the agencies involved. 'The FBI is going to be spearheading the effort, collectively with our partners at the Department of Energy and the Department of War,' Director Kash Patel said.
McCasland's Disappearance Linked to UFO Research
The incidents, particularly McCasland's disappearance, have sparked rumours about their involvement in classified military programmes, including alleged UFO research. McCasland was commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for two years prior to his 2013 retirement.
Comer initially dismissed the reports as a 'bizarre conspiracy theory,' until he began receiving detailed briefings from staffers and intelligence committee contacts. 'It does appear that there's a high possibility that something sinister is taking place here,' he told Fox News.
Current and former Energy Department officials have said the incidents create an 'eyebrow-raising' pattern, acknowledging that National Laboratories personnel may be vulnerable to foreign espionage. One former DOE official said that resorting to conspiracy theories to explain the events is an overreach. 'People do just die. Strokes, heart disease, suicide, mugging, it happens,' they told CBS.
