A renowned theoretical physicist, bestselling author and physics professor is concerned by a documented trend of high-level scientists, some associated with UFO research, who have mysteriously disappeared or died over the past several years.
“If a scientist goes missing, it’s a matter of some concern. But if 10 scientists suddenly die or go missing who all have advanced security clearance with access to sensitive research, it’s a cause for national concern,” Dr. Michio Kaku told Fox News Digital.
“It’s unheard of,” he said. “This has never been done before. The next step is to determine whether there is a single, common thread in their investigations that connects them to a particular aspect of national security.”
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Dr Michio Kaku was interviewed on stage at Livewire! Radio show at the Aladdin Theater on April 11, 2009 in Portland, Oregon.
(Getty Images)
Kaku is also a popular television personality. He has appeared on cable news, late night and talk shows with several episodes of the History Channel’s “Universe” and “Ancient Aliens” series. In 2009, he started hosting the weekly television series “Sci Fi Science: The Physics of the Impossible” for the Science Channel.
The most recent and prominent example of this trend is the mysterious disappearance of Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neal McCausland (Ret.). He disappeared from his New Mexico home on February 27 with a handgun and a pair of shoes. He left his phone, keys and glasses,
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A retired general who once headed an Air Force research lab is missing
McCausland, 68, was the former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and reportedly held top secret information on UFOs.
He had ties to the state’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. The lab developed nuclear weapons during the World War-era Manhattan Project. It is a Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility and prides itself on its achievements in the nuclear technology space.
Two other former employees of the laboratory have also disappeared.
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Anthony Chavez, 79, worked there until his retirement in 2017, according to the Daily Mail. He was last seen walking from his home in Los Alamos on May 8, 2025, his car locked in the driveway. He didn’t bring his phone, wallet or keys with him when he walked.
So, too, was Melissa Cassius, who disappeared a month after Chavez.
On the day she disappeared, she left lunch for her daughter and was never seen again.
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The NNSA told Fox News Digital it is investigating the deaths and disappearances.
“NNSA is aware of reports related to personnel at our laboratories, plants and sites and is looking into the matter,” the department said in a statement.
Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are also apparently missing or dead.
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Monica Reza, an aerospace engineer reportedly overseeing the lab’s materials processing group, which focuses on the development of “new materials and advanced manufacturing techniques for spacecraft, specializing in bulk metallic glass alloys and metal additive manufacturing,” disappeared last year while hiking in the California National Park for Angels.
Michael David Hicks died on 30 July 2023 aged 59.
He worked at the lab from 1998 to 2022 on the space program’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project, which focused on understanding the physical properties of asteroids and comets, and whether they could be redirected into outer space.
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The cause of his death has not been revealed.
The following year, Frank Maiwald of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory also died. He was only 61 years old, and the cause of his death is unknown.
He designed a critical instrument for the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) – Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR) project, NASA’s future mission to launch a satellite into space and map the Earth’s “living color” in greater detail than the human eye can see.
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A year before his death, he was working on a program to help astronauts on space missions detect signs of life on other planets, including Jupiter’s moon Europa, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, or the dwarf planet Ceres.
Carl Grillmaier, also associated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was shot dead outside his home in February. He was 47 years old. A man named Freddie Snyder, 29, has been charged with her murder.
Grillmair was an astrophysicist and distinguished research scientist at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, which “partnered with NASA’s lab to provide science operations, user support, archive and data services, and scientific vision to maximize discovery with observers both in space and on the ground.”
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Steven Garcia was a contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus, which develops most of the non-nuclear components that go into building nuclear weapons. He had a top secret security clearance. He went missing last August.
He was only 48 years old.
Amy Eskridge, a Huntsville, Alabama-based researcher, co-founded the Alien Science Institute. She said her work focuses on experimental propulsion concepts, which she refers to as “antigravity” research.
He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on June 11, 2022 at the age of 34. Further details are few.
He looks scared before his death.
“We discovered antigravity, and our lives went (expletive) and people started sabotaging us,” she said in a 2020 interview with YouTuber Jeremy Rees. “It’s harassment, bullying. It’s horrible.
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“If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head is cut off,” she continued. “If you stick your neck out in solitude, they’ll bury you. They’ll burn your house down while you’re sleeping in your bed, and it won’t even make the news.”
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News of the pattern of disappearances has made its way to the White House, which addressed it on Friday.
“In light of these troubling cases and the recent and legitimate questions about President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to conduct a holistic review of all cases and identify potential similarities that may exist,” Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt told The X Post on Friday.
“No stone will be left unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates as we have them.”
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On Thursday, President Donald Trump said he had a meeting about the strange events, and described the situation as “very serious.”
So far, there is no official link between any deaths or disappearances.
Original article source: Prominent physicist worried about ‘unheard of’ number of dead or missing scientists now on White House radar
