Republican lawmakers have requested information from several federal agencies about reports of scientists and other personnel connected to sensitive U.S. research who have died or gone missing in recent years.
In letters sent Monday, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Rep. Eric Burlison requested briefings from the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, the FBI and NASA.
The lawmakers cited unconfirmed public reports alleging that at least 10 individuals with ties to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology have “died or mysteriously vanished.”
"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,’" the lawmakers stated. "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."
One of the cases that Scripps News has reported on involved retired Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland. The 68-year-old was last seen in February at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
McCasland previously commanded the Phillips Research Site of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base.
"Others who are missing or deceased include individuals affiliated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a pharmaceutical researcher and a government contractor tied to a nuclear weapons facility."
The lawmakers did not confirm or allege that the cases are linked, but said the reports raise concerns that warrant further review.
