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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(136,970 posts)
Wed May 6, 2026, 02:02 PM 11 hrs ago

Around a Dozen Scientists Have Died or Disappeared. What's Going On?

At least 11 U.S. scientists linked to U.S. nuclear and space research programs have died or vanished in recent years, prompting a federal investigation into a situation President Donald Trump called “pretty serious stuff.”

On April 20, the House Oversight Committee announced that it would look into the deaths and disappearances after committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) warned on Fox & Friends that “something sinister could be happening”. Comer said that at first he thought it was “some kind of crazy conspiracy theory,” but now he believes it could be a national security concern.

CNN reported that the FBI is leading efforts to find connections between the missing and deceased scientists and is working with the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and state and local law enforcement. NASA posted on X that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists,” but currently sees no national security threat.

Trump has slashed funding for science research in his second term, providing an opening for other countries to poach leading scientists. Could the missing researchers be part of a brain drain? Some GOP lawmakers seem to think so. Congressman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) posted on X, “We are in competition with China, Russia, and Iran on nuclear technology, advanced weapons, and space. Meanwhile, our top scientists keep vanishing.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/around-dozen-scientists-died-disappeared-151546377.html

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Around a Dozen Scientists Have Died or Disappeared. What's Going On? (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin 11 hrs ago OP
In the early Sixties, my friend was married to no_hypocrisy 10 hrs ago #1
Are any of them named Galen Erso? Renew Deal 10 hrs ago #2
If the families are worried then further investigation is certainly warranted question everything 7 hrs ago #3
The families are distressed at the conspiracy theories, and the denial of reality muriel_volestrangler 6 hrs ago #5
Carl Sagan testified in Congress. Blue Full Moon 7 hrs ago #4

no_hypocrisy

(55,245 posts)
1. In the early Sixties, my friend was married to
Wed May 6, 2026, 02:32 PM
10 hrs ago

an inventor. He created a compound, which mixed with tap water, could run motor vehicle engines. And he went to DC with his discovery.

And shortly thereafter, he didn’t come home.

Days ——> weeks ——-> months.

My friend searched endlessly. The Government had absolutely no record of his existence. Birth, family, schools, employment, their marriage.*

No other choice, my friend declared him dead after seven years.**


* Government missed the newspaper article announcing their engagement.


** This never made sense to me. If there was no record of her husband, then why did she have declare him dead?

muriel_volestrangler

(106,501 posts)
5. The families are distressed at the conspiracy theories, and the denial of reality
Wed May 6, 2026, 06:58 PM
6 hrs ago

From the Rolling Stone article:

Family members of the dead and missing are frustrated by the swirl of conspiracy theories. Michael David Hicks’ daughter said that speculation about her father’s death has shaken her. “From what I know of my dad, there’s no train of logic to follow that would implicate him in this potential federal investigation,” Julia Hicks told CNN. “I don’t understand the connection between my dad’s death and the other missing scientists. I can’t help but laugh about it, but at the same time, it’s getting serious.”

Amy Eskridge’s father, Richard Eskridge, a former NASA scientist, denied that his daughter’s suicide was suspicious, saying, “Scientists die also, just like other people.” William McCasland’s wife wrote on Facebook that, when McCasland was in the Air Force, he had access to “some highly classified programs and information,” but that he had been retired for more than a decade. “It seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him.”

From the BBC, published after Trump stuck his fat self into this:

Relatives of 10 scientists who died or vanished grapple with impact of wild speculation

"Ordinary mortality over 22 months predicts ~4,000 deaths, ~70 homicides, and ~180 suicides. The list has 10 … The deaths are real. The families' grief is real. The pattern is not."

Louise Grillmair, similarly, says that - while her husband "would laugh" at speculation that the deaths might be connected - he would also "probably talk statistically" to squelch conspiracies.

The wife of retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland - the highest-ranking and highest-profile of the missing - took to Facebook the week after his 27 February disappearance from their New Mexico home to "dispel some of the misinformation circulating".
...
The family of Melissa Casias also addressed the case on Facebook - again indicating that their loved one left deliberately. Their comments did little to dampen theorists' obsession with her case.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyw9rpdl4po

Blue Full Moon

(3,622 posts)
4. Carl Sagan testified in Congress.
Wed May 6, 2026, 05:41 PM
7 hrs ago

His friend committed suicide in the desert. He then changed his testimony.

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