The White House breaks the silence: the mysterious deaths of scientists do not stop / Collage 24 Channel / Unsplash / Freepik
A series of events reminiscent of a spy thriller is unfolding in the United States. Leading scientists involved in top-secret space and nuclear programs are disappearing without a trace or dying under mysterious circumstances. The authorities first officially commented on the situation only after the public learned of the eleventh death.
What is behind the wave of deaths and disappearances of the elite of American science?
The US presidential administration has broken its silence for the first time on a disturbing series of deaths and disappearances of scientists who had access to the most important state secrets. White House spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt said during a briefing that the government does not yet have definitive answers, but plans to contact the relevant agencies to investigate the connection between these incidents. Donald Trump personally confirmed the seriousness of the situation, saying that he had already held a meeting on this issue and expects the results of the inspection within the next ten days. Meanwhile, the media are writing about the eleventh death, the Daily Mail reports.
As we wrote earlier, the central figure in this chain was 68-year-old retired General William Neil McCasland, who disappeared on February 27. He is the former head of the US Air Force Research Laboratory, who is considered a key keeper of secrets about nuclear weapons and unidentified flying objects. The circumstances of his disappearance are extremely suspicious: he left his home in New Mexico without communication equipment or glasses, carrying only a pistol. His wife told emergency services that the general seemed to be trying to avoid being found.
General William Neal McCasland / US Air Force Photo
Similar incidents have occurred with other specialists. In particular, NASA engineer Monica Jacinto Reza disappeared while hiking in California in June 2025. She was working on the creation of a high-strength alloy Mondaloy for rocket engines. Her disappearance is linked to McCasland, as he was the one who previously approved funding for her research.
No less mysteriously disappeared nuclear laboratory employees: Steven Garcia, Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casillas. They all left their homes on foot, leaving behind personal belongings and phones. What is especially strange is that Melissa Casillas' devices were completely wiped to factory settings before her disappearance. We also covered these events in another article.
In addition to disappearances, there have been a number of murders and sudden deaths. Physicist Nuno Loureiro, who was involved in groundbreaking research into thermonuclear fusion, was shot dead in his Boston home. Analysts suggest his work could have threatened the trillion-dollar traditional energy industry. Astrophysicist Carl Grillmayr was shot dead on his doorstep in February 2026. He was working on asteroid-tracking telescopes that use the same systems that the military uses to track hypersonic missiles.
The list of dead also includes NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists Frank Maywald and Michael David Gicks, the circumstances of whose deaths in 2023-2024 the space agency declined to comment on.
Another victim was pharmaceutical researcher Jason Thomas, whose body was found in a lake three months after his disappearance.
Eleventh case
The eleventh and one of the most high-profile cases was the death of 34-year-old Amy Eskridge. According to sources, this happened back in 2022, but the significance of the event has only been reinterpreted now, against the background of others. The antigravity technology researcher has repeatedly stated about surveillance and threats.
Amy Eskridge / Photo from Facebook Amy Eskridge/Daily Mail
She claimed to have founded the “Institute of Exotic Sciences” specifically to publicize her developments, believing that publicity would protect her from reprisals. Eskridge reported attacks using directed energy weapons that caused burns to her body.
During a podcast hosted by Jeremy Rice and Mark Sokol, Eskridge said: “If you take a risk publicly, at least someone will notice if your head is cut off. If you take a risk privately… you will be buried, your house will be burned down while you sleep in your bed, and it will not even be mentioned in the news. That is why this institution exists,” she warned.
Suicide or murder?
Despite the official version of suicide (Eskridge allegedly shot herself in the head), independent investigators and former intelligence officers suspect murder in order to seize her scientific works. Interestingly, neither the police nor the forensic experts have publicly released any details about whether an investigation was conducted.
Before her death, Amy Eskridge openly researched and attempted to develop a way to control or neutralize gravity, which could revolutionize space travel and energy production. Anti-gravity movement has also been widely discussed by UFO researchers, who have claimed that this advanced technology allows alien spacecraft to reach incredible speeds. Conspiracy theorists and various types of fraudsters claim without evidence that the US military has been experimenting with this technology for many years, but the government denies the existence of alien technology.
In 2020, Eskridge announced that she planned to present new fundamental work on antigravity, but needed NASA approval. In 2018, she and her father gave a presentation on behalf of their company, HoloChron Engineering, describing both historical and modern experiments related to gravity modification, including allegedly illegal projects that allegedly developed a triangular antigravity device known as the “TR3B”.
That same year, she appeared in an interview for another podcast, where she detailed a plan to publicly disclose information about UFOs and aliens, but was afraid to do so because the threats against her were becoming stronger.
According to the Daily Mail, before her death, Eskridge sought the help of former British intelligence officer Frank Milburn to help investigate the harassment and intimidation she had suffered. Both Eskridge and Milburn documented numerous instances of physical and psychological abuse. Milburn concluded that her death was not a suicide.
Journalist Michael Shellenberger testified at a public hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena that Eskridge was “murdered by a private aerospace company in the United States because she was involved in a discussion about UFOs.”
Authorities are called to action
Congressman Tim Burchett has sharply criticized intelligence agencies for their secrecy and said that such a number of incidents among scientists in narrow fields cannot be a coincidence. Former FBI Deputy Director Chris Swecker has expressed suspicion that foreign intelligence agencies, such as those of China, Russia, or Iran, which have been hunting American technological secrets for decades, may be behind these events.