Several well-known American scientists and researchers have died or vanished over the last year, sparking widespread speculation that at least some of the disappearances might involve foul play.
One Republican congressman has even said that enough scientists/researchers have gone missing to warrant an investigation.
“There have been several … that have disappeared under suspicious circumstances,” Rep. Tim Burchett told the Daily Mail. “I think we ought to be paying attention to it.”
The latest death occurred earlier this month.
“Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, was found dead in a Wakefield lake on March 17, 2026, after disappearing without a trace three months earlier,” according to the Daily Mail.
🚨JASON THOMAS: CANCER SCIENTIST FOUND DEAD UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES 🚨
Scientist **Jason Thomas — Assistant Director of Chemical Biology at Novartis** — was found dead on March 17, 2026.
His body was recovered from Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA after the ice… pic.twitter.com/cw60PhevU6
— The Dr. Margaret Show (@DrMargaretShow) March 28, 2026
Prior to his death was the death of astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, 67, who was killed at his home on Feb. 16 after reportedly being shot on his front porch early in the morning.
“Before his murder, the California Institute of Technology researcher’s work was heavily supported by NASA JPL and Grillmair was personally involved with major space telescope missions led by NASA,” the Daily Mail reported.
“The scientist also worked on the NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor, infrared telescope projects that track asteroids but use the same physics as military systems for tracking satellites and hypersonic missiles,” according to the outlet.
Scientist Carl Grillmair, known for helping discover water on a distant planet, was found f*tally sh*t at his home in Llano on February 17, 2026.
The 67-year-old astrophysicist, who worked at Caltech Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, was discovered on his front porch… pic.twitter.com/Hk2FupnLcB
— Morbid Knowledge (@MorbidKnowledge) March 1, 2026
Grillmair’s death was preceded by the disappearance of retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland, who was last seen on Feb. 27.
“The former general left his New Mexico home with only a pair of boots and a handgun, and did not take his phone, smart devices or glasses,” the Daily Mail reported, adding that he had “allegedly possessed top-secret knowledge of nuclear and UFO-related secrets.”
Burchett commented on McCasland’s disappearance.
“Everybody’s talking about the UFO stuff. Those folks are very secretive about what they know. So I suspect very much that [McCasland] was involved in some of that,” he said.
Months earlier, in December, Nuno Loureiro, a scientist “working on breakthroughs using nuclear fusion as an unlimited energy source,” was killed during a shooting in his Brookline home.
Some believe he was assassinated:
Joe Rogan and Jay Anderson discussed the ideas of the assassinated MIT professor Nuno Loureiro on geomagnetic reversals and lost civilizations.
“Imagine if they killed him because he’s telling us Earth’s about to reverse its magnetic poles.”
Loureiro was found dead in… https://t.co/Al6towXkJJ pic.twitter.com/zLGRfHCCcy
— Defiant Ghost (@TheDefiantGhost) February 21, 2026
During the prior summer in June, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) employee Melissa Casias suddenly vanished without a trace.
Later that month, Monica Reza, a scientist who “had worked on the creation of advanced rocket technology before becoming a director at NASA JPL,” went missing while on a hike in California.
In May, Anthony Chavez, a former employee at LANL, similarly disappeared without a trace — just like Casias.
“The Los Alamos Police Department [said] that the search for Chavez, 79, is still ongoing and no new information in the case has emerged, nearly one year later,” according to the Daily Mail.
A year earlier, in July of 2024, NASA scientist Frank Maiwald died, though his cause of death was never released, and an autopsy was never performed.
“Maiwald had been a prominent researcher at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) since 1999 and worked on multiple projects tied to advanced satellite technology that could scan Earth and other planets,” the Daily Mail notes.
“In June 2023, just 13 months before his death, he was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds, including Jupiter’s moon Europa, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, or the dwarf planet Ceres,” according to the outlet.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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