From Russia, we frequently hear news of a high-ranking military officer, a government official, or a popular dissident disappearing, or dying under mysterious circumstances. “Falls” from a window in a tall building have become nearly epidemic; and being poisoned by an exotic substance such as Novichok (Aleksei Navalny) or polonium (Aleksandr Litvinenko) is a particularly nasty way to go.

Sometimes they’re simply shot on their way home (Boris Nemtsov and Anna Politkovskaya) by unknown assailants. And one bothersome individual — founder of the Wagner Group of Kremlin-sanctioned mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin — was taken down, along with nine others, in his private plane.

Not surprisingly, all of these cases seem to fade into obscurity, remaining unsolved despite claims that they have been thoroughly investigated by the appropriate authorities.

And regardless of the usual Kremlin denials, it is generally accepted that most, if not all, of these incidents were carried out on orders from the top of the government hierarchy — something that no longer surprises us as it has become more and more commonplace under the reign of Vladimir Putin.

But when a similar situation surfaces in the United States, it is unusual to say the least; and there is a tendency to disbelieve that a series of ten unsolved deaths and disappearances, even though within a single professional community, might be related . . . or, heaven forbid, connected to “official” sources.

We’d sooner attribute the disappearances to the usual suspects:

Or even to these little guys:

But it’s difficult to ignore the deaths and disappearances of at least ten individuals connected to sensitive U.S. nuclear and aerospace research who have died or disappeared since July of 2023. There are several from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) alone, including Michael David Hicks, 59, a specialist in comets and asteroids, who died on July 30, 2023; Frank Maiwald, a space research specialist, dead at 61; and aerospace engineer Monica Reza, 60, who disappeared while hiking in a Los Angeles forest in June of 2025. [Natasha Chen, Alex Stambaugh and Chris Boyette, CNN, April 21, 2026.]

Also missing since February 27th of this year is retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, 68, who walked out of his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico — leaving behind his phone, prescription glasses and wearable devices — and hasn’t been heard from since. McCasland was central to some of the Defense Department’s most advanced aerospace research, and once commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. [Id.]

The FBI says it “is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists . . . working with the Department of Energy, Department of War [sic], and with our state . . . and local law enforcement partners to find answers.” [Id.]

Separately the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has announced that it is also investigating the cases, noting that the individuals had access to sensitive scientific information, raising “questions about a possible sinister connection.” [Id.]

Conversely, in a post on X, NASA said that it is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies . . . [but that] . . . [a]t this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat.” [Id.]

But House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said on Fox News:

“It’s very unlikely that this is a coincidence. Congress is very concerned about this. Our committee is making this one of our priorities now because we view this as a national security threat.” [Id.]

Even Donald Trump referred to the situation as “pretty serious stuff.” [Id.]

On the other hand, Representative James Walkinshaw, who also serves on the Oversight Committee, said that — while he agrees an investigation is warranted — he is not convinced there is a single, coordinated motive behind the cases, telling CNN:

“The United States has thousands of nuclear scientists and nuclear experts. It’s not the kind of nuclear program that potentially a foreign adversary could significantly impact by targeting 10 individuals.” [Id.]

Perhaps so . . . if those ten individuals were indeed expendable. But what if the research in which they were involved was of a maximally sensitive nature, subject to a “need-to-know” firewall restricting information to only a handful of people? Such programs exist in all governments, for reasons of security. But the obvious downside is that the small handful of people then becomes indispensable; if something happens to them, the entire program dies with them.

Anything is possible, of course. But ten nuclear scientists dying or disappearing within less than three years is decidedly strange. I seriously doubt we’ll ever be told the whole story, simply because of the national security issues and the lack of transparency for which the Trump administration has become infamous.

But if I were a betting woman, I would first rule out the little green men as suspects, just because . . . well, just because.

And, while I place zero faith in our government as it is now being run (or not run), these incidents have spanned two administrations with diametrically opposed agendas. So I seriously doubt that we are looking at a U.S. version of a Putinesque purge.

Which leaves a foreign bad actor as the most likely perpetrator. Hmm . . . I wonder who that might be.

But again . . . to what purpose?

It is indeed a mystery.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/22/26