US President Donald Trump has broken his silence on a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances of high-profile scientists. Ten people linked to top-secret space and nuclear research in America have died or vanished since 2023 in strange or unexplained circumstances. Mr Trump addressed the concerning pattern this week, telling reporters that he “hoped it was random” but pledged to find out “in the next week and a half”.
“I just left a meeting on that subject,” he said. “Pretty serious stuff… Some of them were very important people, and we’re going to look at it over the next short period.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was also asked about the disappearances on Wednesday and admitted that she hadn’t spoken to the relevant agencies about it, but would do so.
Many of the scientists, who were linked to NASA, aerospace programmes and nuclear research, had access to sensitive information, including on space missions, nuclear technology and advanced defence systems, Metro reports.
The most recent high-profile figure to vanish was retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland, 68, who disappeared on February 27, after leaving his home without his phone or glasses, carrying only a pistol. His wife told police that it appeared he was trying “not to be found”.
Monica Jacinto Reza, 60, who worked under Mr McCasland at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, disappeared while hiking with friends in California last June.
Steven Garcia, 48, a government contractor who had top security clearance at US nuclear weapons facilities, was also last seen carrying a handgun after leaving his home in August 2025.
Anthony Chavez, 79, and Melissa Casias, 54, who both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a major nuclear research site, were similarly seen leaving their homes in New Mexico without their phones, keys or wallets before disappearing without a trace.
Five other scientists have died in mysterious circumstances over the last three years, including nuclear physicist Nuno Loureiro and astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, who were fatally shot in their homes in December 2025 and February 16, 2026, respectively.
NASA scientists Michael David Hicks, 59, and Frank Maiwald, 61, who worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab, also died from unknown circumstances in July 2023 and 2024, with no cause of death or autopsy given.
And Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis was found dead in a lake in Massachusetts on March 17 after vanishing in December. Local police said there was no foul play suspected.
