At least six scientists and military officials connected to classified U.S. aerospace and UAP programmes have died or disappeared since late 2025. The Trump administration is now reviewing a broader cluster of 11 cases, and the FBI has been brought in to investigate.
Representative Tim Burchett told reporters on 24 March 2026 that intelligence agencies were actively thwarting his attempts to investigate the pattern. “The people who know the details are dying or disappearing,” he said.
The confirmed cases
The most high-profile disappearance is that of retired Major General William Neil McCasland, one of the military’s leading authorities on UAP. On 27 February 2026, McCasland walked out of his New Mexico home and did not return. He left behind his phone, prescription glasses and wearable devices; his wallet and a firearm were missing. McCasland was named in the 2016 WikiLeaks email releases as an adviser to Tom DeLonge during the formation of To the Stars Academy.
Carl Grillmair, a 67-year-old astrophysicist at Caltech, was shot and killed on his own front porch at six in the morning on 16 February 2026. No arrest has been publicly announced.
Monica Jacinto Reza, an aerospace engineer and co-inventor of a key U.S. rocket alloy, vanished while hiking in 2025. Her case remains open.
Jason Thomas was found dead near a lake in Wakefield, Massachusetts on 17 March 2026.
Four additional Southern California researchers, including Frank Maiwald and Michael David Hicks, are part of the broader 11-case review now under federal scrutiny.
Congressional blockade
Burchett has stated publicly that intelligence agencies are interfering with his investigation into the deaths and disappearances. The obstruction claim adds a troubling dimension to an already extraordinary situation: the very institutions Congress is trying to oversee appear to be preventing oversight of potential harm to the people with knowledge of classified programmes.
The pattern has drawn comparisons to historical cases of researchers and officials connected to sensitive defence work dying under unusual circumstances, though investigators caution against drawing premature conclusions about any coordinated campaign.
White House response
The White House confirmed it is “actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI” on the cases. The review encompasses the full cluster of 11 missing or dead scientists, with particular attention to whether any of the individuals had connections to the same classified aerospace network.
The investigation runs in parallel with the administration’s broader UAP transparency push, creating an uncomfortable juxtaposition: the government is simultaneously promising to release UAP files while investigating whether the people who worked on those programmes are being silenced.