Article By Frank Bergman
Another scientist tied to America’s most sensitive space programs is dead, and once again, the circumstances are raising serious questions as the list of deaths and disappearances linked to NASA, UFO files, and nuclear secrets continues to grow.
Michael David Hicks, a veteran research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), died on July 30, 2023, at age 59.
Hicks’s cause of death was withheld from the public.
No autopsy has surfaced.
While Hicks may have died almost three years ago, his passing was barely covered in the media.
However, Hicks’s death is now gaining renewed attention as his links to other scientists who have recently died or disappeared in mysterious circumstances have now emerged.
Hicks wasn’t just another name in a lab.
He spent more than two decades working inside JPL, contributed to over 80 scientific papers, and played a role in critical missions like NASA’s DART asteroid defense program.
The technology is designed to protect Earth from incoming threats.
Then, suddenly, he was gone, without explanation.
And he’s far from the only one.
A Pattern That Keeps Growing
Hicks is now one of at least nine individuals connected to U.S. space, missile, or nuclear research who have died or disappeared in recent years.
Several of them are directly tied to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Monica Reza, a rising figure inside JPL working on advanced rocket materials, vanished during a hike in California in June 2025.
She has never been found.
Frank Maiwald, a senior JPL engineer and longtime colleague of Hicks, died in July 2024.
Despite his high-level role, his death received almost no public explanation.
Then, in February 2026, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, another scientist tied to NASA-backed missions, was murdered outside his own home in California.
Grillmair was shot dead at his desert home in Llano, allegedly by 29-year-old Freddy Snyder.
The two men are believed not to have known each other, and investigators have found no clear motive for the mysterious killing.
Different incidents. Same circle.
The Common Thread: High-Level Technology
These weren’t random researchers.
Grillmair worked on space telescope systems used to track objects in space, the same kind of technology used in missile detection and tracking.
Maiwald had been leading cutting-edge research that could help detect signs of life beyond Earth.
Reza was working on next-generation rocket materials.
Hicks was involved in planetary defense, the kind of work that sits at the intersection of space exploration and national security.
And the pattern doesn’t stop at NASA.
The Circle Expands
Retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland, who oversaw advanced military research programs, disappeared without a trace in February 2026.
McCasland once oversaw high-level aerospace research programs, including facilities long tied to UFO speculation.
He’s often described as a “gatekeeper” of government UFO secrets.
McCasland has been tied to Reza and Grillmair through their work on advanced missile or rocket science.
Physicist Nuno Loureiro, known for breakthrough work in nuclear fusion, was shot dead at his home in December 2025.
Two Los Alamos National Laboratory employees, Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casias, vanished within weeks of each other, both leaving behind all of their belongings.
Another researcher, Jason Thomas, was later found dead in a Massachusetts lake after going missing for months.
Different states. Different roles.
But the same type of people.
WATCH:
Officials Say This Isn’t Being Taken Seriously Enough
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) has been warning that something isn’t right.
“There have been several others throughout the country that have disappeared under suspicious circumstances,” Burchett said.
“I think we ought to be paying attention to it.”
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker pointed to a long-standing reality that scientists working on sensitive technologies are targets.
“You can say these are all suspicious, and these are scientists who have worked in critical technology,” Swecker said.
“China, Russia, even some of our friends – Pakistan, India, Iran, North Korea – they target this type of technology,” he added.
Silence Where There Should Be Answers
Despite the number of cases and the level of access these individuals had, public explanations remain limited.
NASA and JPL have not provided detailed answers about Hicks or Maiwald.
Several of the other cases remain unresolved.
And in multiple instances, key details, including causes of death, were never publicly clarified.
Too Many Questions, Not Enough Answers
No official connection between the cases has been confirmed.
But the overlap is hard to ignore:
- Advanced space systems
- Missile tracking technology
- Nuclear and energy research
- High-level access and clearance
- Many of the scientists have testified before Congress on UFO files
And now, a growing list of deaths and disappearances has created a chilling new connection.
Burchett summed it up bluntly.
“The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research,” he said.
“I think we’d better be paying attention.”
At some point, the question stops being whether each case can be explained on its own.
And starts becoming why so many of them are happening at once.
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