Nine top US researchers and administrators in major fields have died or gone missing in the past three years
The situation has worsened with nine deaths and disappearances of high-profile American scientists over the past three years “Disturbing Pattern,” According to US intelligence sources cited by the Daily Mail.
In the latest incident, the body of missing cancer research scientist Jason Thomas was discovered in a Massachusetts lake last month. A month earlier, retired Air Force General William McCasland, who reportedly worked on the US nuclear program, went missing, while astrophysicist Carl Grillmeyer was shot on his veranda in California.
“You could say these are all suspects, and these are scientists who have worked in critical technology,” The Daily Mail quoted former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker as saying.
He reportedly said that foreign intelligence services of both US allies and adversaries have targeted Americans holding top scientific secrets for decades. “This has been happening since the Cold War…especially when nuclear technology and missile technology were first emerging.”
Before his disappearance, McCasland had led the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), where he reportedly oversaw the funding of a jet engine project by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) materials chief Monica Reza, who went missing last year just months after assuming the post.
Grillmeyer’s work on the US NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor orbital telescopes is also tied to the Air Force, as both are used by the US military to track foreign satellites and missile launches, the outlet reports.
Two other scientists at NASA’s JPL have reportedly died by 2023: Frank Maiwald and Michael Hicks. According to the Daily Mail, no foul play has been alleged in the latter two cases and no cause of death has been made public.
Anthony Chavez and Melissa Cassius, who both worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which has collaborated with AFRL on nuclear research, were reported missing last summer. The two reportedly left their New Mexico homes on foot and left behind their car, keys, wallet and phone before disappearing.
Nuno Loureiro, another respected physicist who was reportedly working on breakthrough fusion energy research, was fatally shot in Massachusetts in December.
