A famed theoretical physicist, bestselling author and physics professor is alarmed by the documented trend of high-level scientists, some related to UFO research, who have oddly disappeared or died over the past several years
“If a scientist disappears, it’s a matter of some concern. But if 10 who all have advanced security clearance with access to sensitive research, this is cause for national concern,” Dr. Michio Kaku told Fox News Digital.
“This is unheard of,” he said. “This has never happened before. The next step is to determine if there is a single, common thread to their research that ties them to a specific aspect of national security.”
Kaku is also a well known television personality. He has appeared on cable news, late night and talk shows, along with several episodes of the History Channel’s “Universe” and “Ancient Aliens” series. In 2009, he began hosting a weekly television series for the Science Channel “Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible.”
The most recent and prominent example of this trend is the of Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland (Ret.). He went missing from his home on Feb. 27, bringing only a handgun and a pair of boots with him. He left his phone, keys and glasses behind,
McCasland, 68, was the former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and reportedly possessed .
He had ties to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the state. The lab famously developed nuclear weapons during the WWII-era Manhattan Project. It is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility and prides itself on breakthroughs in the nuclear technology space.
Two other former employees of the lab have also gone missing.
Anthony Chavez, 79, worked there until he retired in 2017, according to the Daily Mail. He was last seen leaving his house in Los Alamos on foot on May 8, 2025, with his car locked in his driveway. He did not bring his phone, wallet or keys on his walk.
So, too, did missing woman Melissa Casias, who disappeared less than a month after Chavez.
On the day she disappeared, she dropped off lunch for her daughter and was never seen again.
The NNSA told Fox News Digital it is investigating the deaths and disappearances.Â
“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants and sites and is looking into the matter,” a statement from the department said.Â
Scientists from have also conspicuously vanished or died.
Monica Reza, an aerospace engineer, reportedly overseeing the lab’s Materials Processing Group, which “focuses on developing new materials and advanced manufacturing technologies for spacecraft, specializing in bulk metallic glass alloys and metal additive manufacturing,” disappeared last year while on a hike in the Angeles National Forest in California.
Michael David Hicks died on July 30, 2023 at the age of 59.
He worked at the lab from 1998 to 2022, on the space program’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project, which focused on understanding the physical properties of asteroids and comets, and whether they could be re-directed in outer space.
His cause of death has not been released.
The next year, Frank Maiwald of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory also died. He was only 61, and his cause of death is unknown.
He designed a critical instrument for a project called Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) â Visible to Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR), a future to launch a satellite into space and map the “living color” of the Earth in far greater detail than can be observed by the human eye, according to his obituary.
Just over a year before he died, he was working on a program to help astronauts on space missions identify signs of life on other planets, including , Europa, Saturns moon, Enceladus, or the dwarf planet Ceres.
Carl Grillmair, also linked to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was shot and killed outside of his home i
