Comer & Burlison Seek Information on Missing Nuclear and Rocket Scientists

WASHINGTON-House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) today are seeking information from the Department of Energy, Department of War, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) about the scientists and other personnel connected to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology who have died or mysteriously vanished in recent years.

"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 the lawmakers.

Public reports raise questions about a possible sinister connection between a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances which began in 2023 with the death of Michael David Hicks, who worked as a scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1998 to 2022. Another JPL alum, Monica Reza, who served as the director of the NASA Lab's Materials Processing Group, disappeared while hiking in California in June 2025 and remains missing. In February 2026 retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland disappeared from his Albuquerque, New Mexico home with a .38 caliber revolver, and remains missing. The other missing or deceased individuals, according to the reports, are two more affiliated with NASA JPL, two affiliated with Los Alamos National Laboratory, an MIT scientist working on nuclear fusion, a pharmaceutical researcher, and a government contractor working at a nuclear weapons component production facility.

Read the letters here:

• Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright
• Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth
• FBI Director Kash Patel
• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman