The 'missing scientists' were killed in a secret plot

What we know

The theory took shape in spring 2026. After retired US Air Force Major General William McCasland, a former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory, was reported missing in February 2026, social media posts began linking his case to earlier deaths and disappearances of people connected to NASA, national laboratories and the military. Lists of 'about ten' or 'eleven' scientists who were missing or dead spread on X in April, were amplified by television segments and by some members of Congress, and prompted the FBI to say it would look for connections. President Trump said the cases were 'hopefully, coincidence'.

The lists do not describe a coherent group. PolitiFact tracked 14 names, covering events from 2021 to 2026 and several unrelated employers. It found no evidence that most of the people worked together, or that they worked on classified nuclear or UFO programs. Several were not scientists at all: the lists include an administrative assistant and a former construction foreman linked to Los Alamos, and a property custodian at a federal contractor site.

Many of the cases have ordinary, documented explanations. MIT physicist Nuno Loureiro was shot in December 2025 by Claudio Neves Valente, who had carried out the Brown University shooting two days earlier; on April 29, 2026 the FBI concluded that Valente acted alone, out of personal grievances, with no link to terrorism. A 29-year-old man was charged with the February 2026 killing of Caltech astronomer Carl Grillmair, and authorities believe the two did not know each other. Amy Eskridge's 2022 death was reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A pharmaceutical researcher was found dead in a lake with no foul play suspected, and one of the missing Los Alamos workers was later found dead in a New Mexico national forest. A CBS News review of obituaries, family statements and police findings found no links between the deaths.

Some cases remain open, including McCasland's disappearance, and a few deaths have no publicly stated cause. An unexplained case is not evidence of a connection, though. Writing in Scientific American, journalist Faye Flam cited statistician David Hand, who noted that about 200,000 American adults go missing each year and that roughly 70,000 people work in fields tied to nuclear energy, so around 50 of them would be expected to go missing in any year by chance alone. Searching a population that large over five years, with loose criteria for who counts as a scientist, will always produce a list. 'I don't really think there's a mystery or, indeed, anything suspicious that needs to be explained,' Hand said.

Relatives have rejected the theory. McCasland's wife wrote that it 'seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him', and a niece of the Los Alamos administrative assistant said she had seen no evidence linking her aunt's case to the others. NASA said that nothing related to the agency indicated a national security threat. In the reporting cited here, no agency has presented evidence that the cases are connected.

Common claims

• About a dozen scientists were killed or abducted in a coordinated plot.Not supported. No investigation or news review has found a link between the cases.
• All of them were scientists working on secret UFO or nuclear programs.False. Several were not scientists, and there is no evidence most worked on classified programs.
• The FBI confirmed that the deaths are connected.False. The FBI said it would look for connections; it has not announced any.
• MIT physicist Nuno Loureiro was assassinated because of his research.Not supported. The FBI concluded his killer acted alone out of personal grievances.
• So many cases cannot be a coincidence.Misleading. In a workforce of tens of thousands, dozens of disappearances a year are expected by chance.

Evidence hierarchy

All sources

• Fact-checking claims about missing, dead scientists: Were they researching UFOs, nuclear weapons?PolitiFact · 2026
• FBI investigating deaths and disappearances of staff at secretive government laboratories. Here's what we know.CBS News · 2026
• Brown University shooting suspect targeted symbolic victims tied to grievances, FBI saysCNN · 2026
• Math and statistics help explain the FBI's 'missing scientists' casesScientific American · 2026
• Did 11 US scientists connected to sensitive research die or go missing? What we knowSnopes · 2026
• FBI will look for connections to deaths and disappearances of scientistsNBC News · 2026
• Lab worker who vanished last year found dead in New Mexico national forestCBS News · 2026

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