A string of researchers connected to advanced weapons, space, and nuclear programs have turned up dead or vanished in recent years — and physicist Michio Kaku thinks treating each case in isolation is a mistake the government can't afford to keep making.
"If 10 scientists suddenly die or vanish who all have access to sensitive research, this is cause for national concern," Kaku told Fox News Digital, according to Newsweek's Steve Mollman. Kaku called the situation "unheard of" and said nothing like it has crossed his desk in a long career in physics and science policy.
Among the higher-profile cases: retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, who commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory and worked with scientists at Los Alamos, walked out of his Albuquerque-area house at some point this year and never came back — his phone and glasses found sitting where he left them. Other cases involve JPL researchers and private contractors on federal grants; some turned up dead months later without an official explanation, some haven't turned up at all.
Dr. Joe Masiero, a Caltech scientist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center who knew two of the dead, pushes back on the sinister read. "Sometimes, life is weird like that," he told Newsweek. "It's really unfortunate to see a tragedy played out over and over again."
Missouri congressman Eric Burlison disagrees, calling for federal probes and posting on X that "our top scientists keep vanishing" in ways that "have all the hallmarks of a foreign operation." On April 20, the House Oversight Committee formally demanded records from the FBI, NASA, the Defense Department, and the Energy Department. The White House said it's looking for patterns across the cases — shared clearance levels, research areas, employers.
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