House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer and Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison are seeking information from several federal agencies regarding the deaths or disappearances of scientists connected to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology, according to an April 20 statement.
The lawmakers say these incidents could pose a serious threat to national security if recent reports about at least ten individuals with access to sensitive scientific information who have died or vanished are accurate. They have requested briefings from the Department of Energy, Department of War, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) about any knowledge concerning these cases as well as procedures in place for protecting American scientific secrets.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating recent unconfirmed public reporting on the disappearance and death of individuals with access to sensitive U.S. scientific information. These reports allege that at least ten individuals who ‘had a connection to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology,’ have ‘died or mysteriously vanished in recent years.’ If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets. We request a briefing on any information regarding these deaths and disappearances, as well as the processes and procedures in place to protect American scientific secrets and ensure personnel safety,” wrote Comer and Burlison.
Public accounts indicate that this series of mysterious events began in 2023 with the death of Michael David Hicks, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1998 until 2022. Another JPL alumna, Monica Reza—who led JPL’s Materials Processing Group—disappeared while hiking in California in June 2025; she remains missing. In February 2026 retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland also disappeared from his Albuquerque home carrying a .38 caliber revolver.
Additional reported cases include two more people affiliated with NASA JPL, two associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory, an MIT scientist working on nuclear fusion projects, a pharmaceutical researcher, and a government contractor involved at a nuclear weapons component production facility.
Letters requesting further details were sent by Comer and Burlison to Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright; Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth; FBI Director Kash Patel; and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
