James Comer is Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. | https://oversight.house.gov/chairman-james-comer/
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer and Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison requested information from several federal agencies on Apr. 20 regarding the deaths or disappearances of scientists connected to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology.
The lawmakers said they are seeking a briefing from the Department of Energy, Department of War, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after unconfirmed public reports suggested that at least ten individuals with access to sensitive scientific information have died or gone missing in recent years. The inquiry is intended to assess potential threats to national security as well as the safety of personnel working with classified scientific material.
"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 Comer and Burlison.
According to public accounts cited by the committee leaders, this series of incidents began in 2023 with the death of Michael David Hicks, a former scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Other cases include Monica Reza, former director at JPL's Materials Processing Group who disappeared while hiking in California in June 2025; retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland who went missing from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico in February 2026; two more individuals affiliated with NASA JPL; two associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory; an MIT scientist working on nuclear fusion; a pharmaceutical researcher; and a government contractor involved at a nuclear weapons component production facility.
Letters requesting briefings were sent by Comer and Burlison addressed respectively to Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
The outcome of this investigation could have implications for how federal agencies protect sensitive research staff amid growing concerns about threats related to advanced technologies.
