Trump Administration is investigating a series of deaths and disappearances of space scientists
The cases began in 2023 with the death of Michael David Hicks, a physicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory specializing in comets and asteroids.
Kash Patel, director of the FBI, at the Senate/Oliver Contreras.
The Trump Administration is investigating a possible link between the deaths and disappearances of a group of U.S. scientists over the past three years. This was announced by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on her X account. The official cited the existence of "troubling cases" and said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reviewing all cases to identify "any possible commonalities that may exist."
The cases began in 2023 with the death of Michael David Hicks, a physicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who specialized in comets and asteroids. According to the NewsNation network, the causes of his death are still unknown.
">In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential… pic.twitter.com/SJ9thaFegh
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 17, 2026
In addition, the media mentions "the fatal shooting of California Institute of Technology astrophysicist Carl Grillmair in February; the disappearance of retired Air Force Gen. William Neil McCasland in New Mexico in February; and the death of Novartis researcher Jason Thomas, whose body was recovered from a Massachusetts lake roughly three months after he went missing." Other cases involve unclear disappearances, for example on a hiking trail.
Speculation about the nature of the cases has exploded on social media, considering the work of some scientists with investigations into space, UFOs and related subjects.
On Thursday, Donald Trump was asked about it and responded as follows: "I just left a meeting on that subject," adding that this is "pretty serious stuff."
In this context, Leavitt confirmed Friday that the White House is actively looking into the cases: "In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist."
"No stone will be unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates when we have them," he added.
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