In April 2026, rumors circulated online that at least 11 high-profile scientists, purportedly with access to national security secrets due to their alleged involvement in organizations such as NASA and Los Alamos National Laboratory, had gone missing or were found dead since 2022.
Users on social media shared the purported names and areas of research of the missing and dead people, with some suggesting that their deaths or disappearances were "fishy" and somehow connected to their alleged research into things such as UFOs or nuclear weapons.
At least 11 of America's top scientists in nuclear secrets and U.S. rocket technology are dead or missing with no real explanation.
It's fishy and doesn't pass the smell test. https://t.co/h1tbtcDd2Z— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) April 22, 2026
It's true that a number of people reportedly involved with NASA and other high-profile science labs have gone missing, were killed or died of other causes since 2022. We haven't put a truth rating on this claim as we have not been able to independently verify the employment of, the relationships between or the precise areas of research of all of the subjects, or, where applicable, their causes of death.
While it's clear the people on the list have indeed gone missing or died, until evidence is produced to prove otherwise, it's purely speculation to posit a string of crimes connecting their places of employment or the nature of their work, let alone a conspiracy.
It appears this speculation and the air of mystery around it was at least partly fueled by one of the missing people's alleged connections to the UFO community, which prompted rumors of his disappearance possibly being related to UFOs.
The "dead or missing scientists" conspiracy theory first gained mainstream traction when it was covered on Fox News' "The Will Cain Show" in an episode that aired April 2, 2026. CNN, The New York Post, The Daily Mail and Men's Journal followed suit, and Fox News published a follow-up story.
On April 16, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he had been briefed on the situation and said, "I hope it's random." The following week, the FBI stated it would be looking into the reports.
Snopes reached out to the White House press office to ask whether the administration was considering an official investigation and it replied with a link to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's response to a related question during a news conference on April 17, 2026.
Leavitt said in a post on X, "the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist."
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
One primary focus was an alleged connection between four scientists — Frank Maiwald, Monica Reza, Michael David Hicks and retired Air Force Gen. William "Neil" McCasland — all of whom purportedly had ties to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA has not responded to Snopes' inquiries seeking to confirm the employment or involvement of the four at NASA's JPL.
-
Maiwald died in 2024, and according to his obituary he "dedicated many years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where his expertise and leadership were instrumental." No cause of death was cited.
-
Reza went missing in June 2025 while hiking, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Reza's LinkedIn page listed her as a 37-year employee of Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of aerospace company L3Harris Technologies. Snopes could not independently verify Reza's employment.
-
Hicks died in 2023 due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to a medical examiner's report. Hicks' obituary said he enjoyed "a long career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California."
-
McCasland went missing in February 2026, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office. McCasland, a retired Air Force general, was reported to have connections to the UFO community, which appeared to be part of the public appeal of the alleged mystery behind these disappearances. McCasland's wife dismissed these notions and posted to Facebook (archived):
Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt. Though at this point with absolutely no sign of him, maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership. However, no sightings of a mothership hovering above the Sandia Mountains have been reported.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Two other missing people named in the conspiracy theory were allegedly employees of New Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory, best known for its role in the development of the atomic bomb.
-
Anthony Chavez disappeared in May 2025, according to Los Alamos County. There was no mention of Chavez's employment in the missing person notification issued by the county, nor in reporting from local news outlet Los Alamos Reporter. A LinkedIn page for a Mark Anthony Chavez of Los Alamos lists him as a longtime employee of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The institution did not reply to Snopes' request for verification of Chavez's employment there.
-
Melissa Casias was reported missing in summer 2025. Local newspaper Taos News wrote that she drove herself and her husband to "Los Alamos National Laboratory, where they both work" and was last seen that afternoon dropping off lunch for her daughter. (Though many reports of the missing people identified all of them as "scientists" or "researchers," Fox News reported Casias served an administrative role at the laboratory.) Casias' profile on LinkedIn appeared to confirm she was employed as an administrative assistant at Los Alamos, but the laboratory did not reply to Snopes' request for verification of her employment.
Other reported deaths and missing people
Following increased reports of alleged connections between the disappearances and deaths, previously dead or missing people were reconsidered as having potential involvement in the alleged conspiracy.
-
A June 2022 death by suicide of a researcher named Amy Eskridge was resurfaced by Fox News as having a potential connection to the other disappearances and deaths. Eskridge co-founded The Institute for Exotic Science, according to her obituary, but media outlet NewsNation reported that her father said her death was not suspicious.
-
A man named Steven Garcia was listed as a missing person in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in August 2025. The Daily Mail reported that Garcia worked as a contract employee of Kansas City National Security Campus, which has a location in Albuquerque. KCNSC has not yet responded to Snopes' inquiries about Garcia's employment.
-
Another reportedly missing person, Jason Thomas, vanished in December 2025, according to police. In March 2026, People magazine reported his remains were found in a lake near his home and that no foul play was suspected. Reporting from NBC News on Thomas' disappearance and subsequent death said he was an assistant director of chemical biology at Novartis, a pharmaceutical company, but Novartis did not immediately confirm Thomas' employment status. It's unknown whether Novartis had any potential connection to NASA or the other places of employment of the other missing and deceased people.
Finally, two other people on the list of alleged victims of the conspiracy died of gunshot wounds:
-
Nuno Loureiro, a professor of physics and professor of nuclear science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was killed by a gunshot wound at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Dec. 15, 2025, by Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the perpetrator of the Brown University shooting two days earlier.
- Carl Grillmair, an astrophysicist at California Institute of Technology, was killed at his home on Feb. 16, 2026, and a suspect was arrested. News reports said police didn't believe the perpetrator and victim knew each other. Caltech posted a memorial to Grillmair, verifying his employment and work with NASA, including receiving the 2011 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.
In sum, the claim that all of these missing or dead people are meaningfully connected and victims of a conspiracy targeting U.S. scientists is purely conjecture. According to the Trump administration, these cases are being investigated, but until such time as evidence they are all linked together by foul play is produced, this article will remain without a rating.