Families of US Scientists Denounce UFO and Nuke Conspiracy Theories, as FBI Deepens Probe on Disappearances

A growing list of dead and missing American scientists has triggered a federal investigation, congressional alarm and a wave of increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories linking nuclear research, UFO programmes and foreign espionage.

The families caught in the middle are now pleading for something far less dramatic, basic facts and a stop to the online frenzy turning personal tragedy into political spectacle.

At least 11 scientists and researchers connected to US aerospace, nuclear or defence-related work have died or disappeared in cases stretching back several years. Republican lawmakers have openly questioned whether hostile foreign powers could be targeting American scientific talent. Online influencers have gone much further, constructing sprawling theories involving anti-gravity technology, extraterrestrials and secret weapons programmes.

The FBI is now working alongside the Department of Energy, Department of Defense and local law enforcement agencies to examine whether any credible links exist between the cases. So far, officials have not presented evidence suggesting an organised campaign.

Donald Trump nevertheless called the matter 'very serious' this week, while House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer warned that 'something sinister could be happening.'

Families Say Conspiracy Theories Have Gone Too Far

For relatives of the scientists involved, the online obsession has become deeply distressing.

Julia Hicks, daughter of NASA scientist Michael David Hicks, said speculation surrounding her father's death had become surreal and upsetting. She told CNN she saw no logical basis connecting him to broader conspiracy narratives.

Amy Eskridge's father, Richard Eskridge, himself a former NASA scientist, bluntly rejected suggestions that his daughter's death involved foul play.

'Scientists die also, just like other people,' he said.

McCasland's wife similarly pushed back against theories claiming her husband had been abducted for classified knowledge, noting he retired from military service more than a decade ago.

Perhaps most strikingly, Monica Jacinto Reza's relatives say neither the FBI nor the White House has contacted the family despite her case being repeatedly cited online as part of the alleged pattern.

'She was just a regular person who had a family,' one relative told Los Angeles Magazine.

That detail cuts through much of the noise. Behind the viral posts, congressional rhetoric and UFO speculation are grieving families watching strangers transform deeply personal losses into entertainment, ideology and conspiracy content.

The Disappearance That Ignited The Panic

The current wave of speculation accelerated after the disappearance of retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland earlier this year.

McCasland, 68, vanished from his Albuquerque home on 27 February, reportedly leaving behind his glasses, electronics and mobile phone. Authorities believe he may have taken a .38 calibre revolver. He has still not been found.

His military background immediately attracted attention online. McCasland previously commanded Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, long associated in conspiracy culture with Roswell lore and classified aerospace projects. That connection proved enough to ignite internet speculation already circulating after the December 2025 killing of Portuguese physicist Nuno Gomes Loureiro at his Massachusetts home.

Loureiro had recently been appointed director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center and was widely respected in nuclear fusion research. YouTube commentator Daniel Liszt, known online as 'Dark Journalist,' suggested Loureiro's work may have made him a target because of its potential implications for advanced energy technology.

The theory quickly spread across social media and fringe political spaces.

Right-wing influencer Jessica Reed Kraus amplified comparisons between Loureiro's death and other unrelated cases involving scientists or engineers tied to defence, space or nuclear sectors. The Daily Mail then propelled the story into wider public attention with headlines about 'missing scientists' and possible national security fears.

What makes the situation revealing is how quickly isolated tragedies became folded into a single narrative despite vast differences in circumstances, timelines and evidence.

A Patchwork Of Unrelated Cases

The individuals now being grouped together worked across very different fields and agencies.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory researcher Michael David Hicks died in July 2023. Frank Maiwald, another JPL scientist, died in 2024, though no cause of death was publicly disclosed. Los Alamos engineer Anthony Chavez disappeared from New Mexico in May 2025, while administrative assistant Melissa Casillas vanished weeks later.

Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials processing director at JPL, disappeared while hiking in California's Angeles National Forest last summer. Pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas went missing in December before being found dead in March this year.

Then there is Amy Eskridge, an Alabama researcher whose 2022 suicide has become one of the internet's favourite conspiracy talking points because she once discussed anti-gravity theories and UFO-related ideas during a rambling interview.

Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer dismissed the growing theories outright, arguing they collapse under 'basic investigative principles.'

Daniel Engber of The Atlantic was even harsher, describing the narrative surrounding the scientists as 'unbelievably dumb.'

Still, the speculation has continued partly because Republican lawmakers elevated it beyond internet chatter.

Congress And The White House Enter The Story

The House Oversight Committee formally announced an inquiry in April after Comer and Congressman Eric Burlison publicly raised concerns about foreign interference and scientific espionage.

Burlison argued the disappearances carried 'all the hallmarks of a foreign operation,' particularly given intensifying geopolitical competition with China, Russia and Iran over nuclear technology and advanced weapons systems.

The White House later confirmed a federal review after Fox News questioned press secretary Karoline Leavitt about the issue.

Yet even some Republicans have approached the matter cautiously. Congressman James Walkinshaw, a Democrat serving on the Oversight Committee, noted that the United States employs thousands of nuclear and aerospace experts and warned against overstating the strategic significance of individual cases without evidence.

Trump himself acknowledged investigators had not established a clear connection.

'Some were sick. Some left this earth self-inflicted. Some had other things,' he told reporters.