Tag: mysterious deaths

Mysterious deaths of UFO researchers stretch back decades as chilling pattern emerges

The recent probe into a collection of missing scientists has reignited the debate over a decades-old string of deaths among those researching UFOs. 

There have been at least 11 deaths and disappearances among prominent scientists, nuclear officials and experts linked to UFOs, such as retired Major General William Neil McCasland, since 2022.

Federal investigators have been looking into the cases, with FBI Director Kash Patel saying that the bureau is ‘spearheading the effort’ to uncover any possible links between cases.

However, UFO researcher Timothy Hood and others have alleged that there was a much older series of deaths, including mysterious ‘suicides,’ stretching back to the late 1940s – also known as the dawn of the UFO era.

Conspiracy theorists have suggested that hundreds of deaths could be linked to exotic research, including staged plane crashes and incidents made to look as if researchers took their own lives.

Nigel Watson, author of Portraits of Alien Encounters Revisited, told the Daily Mail that many of these suspicious events took place shortly after early civilian researchers and even military officers investigated witness reports of UFO sightings.

To this point, the US government has maintained that there has never been any evidence of UFOs or extraterrestrials, dismissing many incidents as explainable phenomena such as weather balloons or bird sightings.

However, many of the incidents researched by Hood and written about by Watson involved physical encounters with strange aircraft – including one incident which sent deadly debris raining down from the sky.

One of the most notorious cases allegedly took place at the start of the ‘flying saucer’ era in 1947.

Harold A Dahl, along with his son Charles and two crewmen, was in a tugboat off Maury Island in Puget Sound between Washington State’s Seattle and Tacoma.

The men said they saw six golden and silver doughnut-shaped objects flying above them, with one ‘wobbling’ before releasing a rain of thin metallic strips and black lumps.

One struck the boy’s arm, burning him, while others killed their dog. Dahl’s boss, Fred Lee Crisman, visited the site and recovered some of the debris.

Dahl was then confronted by a dark-suited man driving a black sedan, who drove him to a diner in Tacoma and warned him to keep silent about the entire incident.

Kenneth Arnold, who had spotted flying saucers just days earlier, asked for help from Air Force Intelligence.

On July 31, 1947, Captain William Davidson and Lieutenant Frank M Brown were dispatched to Tacoma, but found no evidence of a rain of molten lead, and thought the sample fragments were slag from a smelting plant.

Davidson and Brown died when their B-25 crashed on their way back to base. Many of the samples and photographs associated with the case have vanished.

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Missing Republican Oklahoma Senate candidate Barry Christian, 54, found dead in rural area

The body of a missing Republican Oklahoma state Senate candidate was found in a truck in a rural area — turning his family’s world “upside down,” his devastated daughter said.

Barry Christian, a 54-year-old Trump-supporting candidate for District 38 in western Oklahoma, was discovered dead Thursday after he mysteriously vanished just two days prior, his campaign said in a news release obtained by KOCO.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed to the outlet that Christian’s 2024 charcoal gray Ram truck was found just off Highway 30, south of Erick, with a body inside.

The truck was located by a ravine near the Sandy Sanders Wildlife Management Area. Because of where the vehicle is located, officials are unable to remove his body, delaying identification, the outlet reported.

A large campaign sign for Christian, however, was photographed eerily tossed onto the prairie land as authorities scoured the area.

The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. The OSBI did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Christian was reported missing Tuesday after he failed to show up to a scheduled meeting. He was last seen driving his Ram truck, according to the Harmon County Sheriff’s Office.

He last posted on Facebook on Saturday, asking his district’s residents to attend a meet-and-greet at the Mangum Oklahoma Rattlesnake Festival to discuss “issues that matter most to our community.”

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Crypto fund manager probed in the suspicious death of his fiancée in Zanzibar

According to an NBC News report, Zanzibar police investigating the death of Robinson confirmed she died by suicide following a “misunderstanding” between the couple.

Police confirmed the couple had been involved in a heated dispute before being separated twice by hotel staff and sent to separate rooms. However, police said Robinson’s death is still being investigated and have therefore withheld McCann’s passport, according to the news outlet.

Police have questioned McCann and have asked him to remain in the country while they receive the forensic results from Ashly’s autopsy.

The hotel said it was “deeply saddened” by what happened. “Our sincerest thoughts and sympathies go out to the family and loved ones during this painful time. We are providing our full cooperation to the local authorities and the U.S. Embassy,” the hotel said in a statement.

Robinson’s family, who said they doubt she died by suicide, have set up a GoFundMe page seeking to raise $50,000 to help with travel costs, arrangements and other unexpected expenses, they said. They have raised more than their target.

McCann, with an estimated net worth of $45 million, is a prominent figure in institutional crypto, leading Asymmetric, a hedge fund and venture firm backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon.

However, in December, he announced he would shut down Asymmetric’s Liquid Alpha Fund following claims of massive financial losses throughout 2025. McCann’s decision to wind down the fund followed unconfirmed social media chatter that the liquid fund was down 78% this year.

Robinson and her fiancé, McCann, traveled to Zanzibar on April 4, according to a translated video statement from Tanzanian police.

CoinDesk called Zanzibar police several times, but the staff answering the phones immediately hung up, refusing to answer any questions. The Tanzania Police Force has also not responded to an email request for information.

The U.S. State Department said it had no further comment, only offering its condolences to the Robinson family.

“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment. For additional questions about any investigation, we refer you to local authorities. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family of Ms. Robinson and her loved ones on their loss.”

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Would-be UFO whistleblower died of accidental drug overdose after agreeing to testify to Congress

An Air Force veteran who agreed to testify before Congress about secret government UFO programs died just months before the hearings of an accidental drug overdose, The Post has learned.

Matthew James Sullivan, 39, died at his home in Falls Church, Va., on May 12, 2024 from a lethal mix of alcohol, alprazolam, cyclobenzaprine and imipramine, according to the Northern District Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Alprazolam is generic Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication; cyclobenzaprine is a powerful prescription muscle relaxant that works on the central nervous system; imipramine is a drug for children used to treat anxiety and bedwetting.

The mysterious death is of “grave concern” to Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), who referred the matter for investigation to the FBI due to “implications for national security,” according to a letter obtained by The Post.

“Mr. Sullivan’s death was a local Virginia medical examiner case, and the manner and circumstances of
his of death raise substantial questions, as he was preparing to provide testimony to Congress,” the April 16 letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel read.

“The sudden and suspicious circumstances surrounding his death raise significant concerns about potential foul play and the safety of other individuals involved in this matter.”

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Chinese Scientists Have Been Dying Mysterious Deaths Too

The star of China’s booming artificial intelligence defense sector had been working on Taiwan invasion scenarios—until he died in an unexplained car crash in the early hours of the morning in Beijing, aged just 38.

Many questions remain over the July 1, 2023 death of Feng Yanghe, a professor at the National University of Defense Technology, who had won national competitions with his pioneering “War Skull” platform.

Such as, why did an obituary in the state-run science news website, Sciencenet.cn, say he was “sacrificed”? Why was the brilliant scientist from Gansu province buried in a special cemetery in Beijing for the Communist Party elite, state heroes, and revolutionary martyrs?

Yet as in the U.S., Feng’s death was just one of many unexpected deaths of top-flight scientists working in ultra-sensitive fields such as military AI, hypersonic weapons, and space defense, according to reports in Chinese and overseas Chinese media.

The phenomenon mirrors the wave of disappearances or deaths among American scientists that is now being investigated by Washington. In the U.S, there have been 11 cases, in China at least nine.

It’s prompted a disturbing question among some military analysts: Is there a silent “scientist war” going on?

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NASA nuclear engineer found dead in burned Tesla after vanishing from his Alabama home last year

A NASA nuclear scientist died after a fiery crash in a rural Alabama town last year, which at the time caused suspicion among family members.

Joshua LeBlanc, 29, died in a fiery crash in his Tesla on July 22, 2025.

The crash happened in Huntsville, Alabama where his Tesla was found burned beyond recognition at about 2:45 in the afternoon, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency told Fox News Digital.

The vehicle collided with a guardrail, then several trees, before the vehicle burst into flames.

At 4:32 a.m. on the same day, LeBlanc’s family reported him missing, according to KLFY.

He uncharacteristically failed to show up to his job as an aerospace technologies electrical engineer at NASA, where he worked on nuclear propulsion projects.

His body was also burned beyond recognition, and police confirmed his identity three days later after his body was transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

At the time, his family told KLFY that they feared he had been abducted and that he had left his phone and wallet in his home at the time of the disappearance.

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Read the chilling texts UFO-linked scientist sent before being found dead that raise major questions over suicide ruling

The deaths and disappearances of eleven top scientists have mystified the nation, with President Donald Trump and senior members of Congress demanding answers and vowing to uncover whether the cases are connected.

Now, chilling claims have come to light about the death of Amy Eskridge, a 34-year-old researcher working on anti-gravity technology, who was found with a gunshot to the head.

She died in Huntsville, Alabama, on June 11, 2022, and her death was ruled a suicide. But four years on, newly uncovered text messages raise chilling questions about what really happened.

Franc Milburn, a retired British paratrooper and intelligence officer who claims to have been in contact with Eskridge before her death, shared messages he says she sent him. 

One dated May 13, 2022, read: ‘If you see any report that I killed myself, I most definitely did not. If you see any report that I overdosed, I most definitely did not. If you see any report that I killed anyone else, I most definitely did not.’

Milburn told the Daily Mail that Eskridge – as well as some of her colleagues involved in advanced propulsion and energy research – had been subjected to what he described as a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation designed to derail their work.

He also said he spoke with the young scientist just four hours before her death and noticed nothing unusual.

‘She said, “Everything’s fine, Franc, I’m feeling okay.” She sent me, and others, emails and LinkedIn messages saying, ‘If anything happens to me – suicide or an accident – it wasn’t, it’s suspicious, treat it as such,’ Milburn claimed.

Eskridge also purportedly told Milburn she believed she had been the target of repeated physical and psychological attacks – claims he says he documented and is now making public.

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FBI Officially Investigating Reports Of Deaths, Disappearances Of US Scientists

The FBI said it is leading federal efforts to investigate potential connections in reports of dead or missing U.S. scientists in recent years, coming days after President Donald Trump expressed alarm.

“The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” an FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

The spokesperson, who didn’t provide additional comment, was responding to a question about whether the federal law enforcement agency was involved. Last month, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) called on the bureau to investigate the deaths.

This past week, Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to questions from reporters about roughly 10 scientists who went missing or died in recent years and whether those incidents involved any national security concerns.

Reports of the scientists dying or going missing, Trump told reporters on April 16, should be considered serious because “some of them were very important people.“ He added that he hopes they are ”random” occurrences.

A day earlier, Leavitt was asked a similar question during a daily press briefing, with the reporter saying that some of the scientists had knowledge of nuclear or aerospace research.

“I haven’t spoken to our relevant agencies about it. I will certainly do that, and we’ll get you an answer. If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into,” she said in response.

Multiple House lawmakers, including Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), have suggested the possibility that their disappearances or deaths are connected.

“The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research. I think we’d better be paying attention, and I don’t think we should trust our government,” Burchett told the Daily Mail in March, referring to the researchers.

In the interview, Burchett referred to the case of a former Air Force general, William McCasland, who went missing from his New Mexico home without his phone or glasses in February. His colleague, Monica Reza, who works as a rocket scientist, was also reported missing last year after going hiking in Southern California.

Speaking to Fox News this week, Burlison said he was particularly concerned about McCasland’s case, describing him as an expert on unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. He said that his office was working to contact the former general about a separate congressional investigation.

“He was on our list to talk to, and he disappeared, so that kind of piqued our interest,” Burlison told Fox News.

He later added, “It’s just really, really strange that in about a five-month period of time, four or five people walked out their front door and never returned, and were all doing advanced aerospace research.”

NASA released a statement on Monday saying that, while it is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists,” there is nothing to suggest “a national security threat.”

“The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able,” NASA wrote in a post on X, responding to a video with Leavitt’s comments.

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Search for 11 missing nuclear scientists escalates as top lawmakers reveal NEW ’national security’ fears

Lawmakers are demanding a sweeping investigation into the mysterious disappearances and deaths of nearly a dozen top US scientists, citing national security concerns.

At least 11 experts with ties to NASA, nuclear research, aerospace programs and classified projects have vanished or turned up dead in recent years.

Many of the individuals held top security clearances, granting them access to sensitive information on space missions, nuclear technology or advanced defense systems, prompting speculation about possible ‘sinister’ connections.

Lawmakers are now demanding that the FBI, Pentagon, NASA and the Department of Energy open probes into the concerning deaths and disappearances, which included researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

‘The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating recent unconfirmed public reporting on the disappearance and death of individuals with access to sensitive US scientific information,’ Republican chairman James Comer wrote in letters sent on Monday. 

‘These reports allege that at least ten individuals who “had a connection to US nuclear secrets or rocket technology,” have “died or mysteriously vanished in recent years,”‘ he writes. 

‘If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to US national security and to US personnel with access to scientific secrets.’

Comer specifically notes the ‘possible sinister connection between a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances which began in 2023.’

President Donald Trump said that he was briefed on the string of disappearances and deaths last week, saying that answers about the alarming cases should come out in the coming weeks. 

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Death of Air Force whistleblower set to reveal UFO secrets declared ‘suspicious’

A former US Air Force intelligence officer died before he could testify in a whistleblower hearing about UFOs, sparking demands for an FBI investigation.

Matthew James Sullivan was just 39 when he died on May 12, 2024 after reportedly taking his own life. However, his official cause of death has not been made public, nor was the case reported on by local media at the time.

Now, Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri has told the Daily Mail that Sullivan was preparing to be a key witness for congressional investigators looking into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, more commonly known as UFOs.

Burlison shared he had ‘grave concerns’ that Sullivan’s death appears ‘suspicious,’ suggesting that the veteran intelligence officer may have been targeted to silence him before revealing knowledge of non-human spacecraft and extraterrestrials. 

‘Look at Matthew Sullivan’s credentials and his experience. He certainly was someone who was read in at the highest classification levels and knew some of our nation’s most important secrets,’ Burlison explained. ‘And so did a lot of these other people.’ 

The congressman explained that an investigation by the Intelligence Community Inspector General uncovered ‘serious allegations of misconduct and potentially unlawful activities’ which pointed to the 39-year-old’s death not being a suicide.

Burlison said: ‘The fact that he had been scheduled by the UAP Task Force. That he had been scheduled to come and speak… After hearing about this tragedy, I felt it was worth looking into.’ 

On Thursday, he made a formal request to FBI Director Kash Patel to have agents investigate Sullivan’s death as a potential crime.

‘The sudden and suspicious circumstances surrounding his death raise significant concerns about potential foul play and the safety of other individuals involved in this matter,’ Burlison wrote in a letter to the FBI shared with the Daily Mail.

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