The list of individuals connected to America’s space initiatives who have died or disappeared continues to grow, with yet another scientist now added to the roster.
Michael David Hicks, a distinguished researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), passed away on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. However, details surrounding his death remain shrouded in mystery as the cause was not disclosed, and no autopsy report has emerged.
During his tenure at JPL from 1998 to 2022, Hicks contributed over 80 scientific papers and played a pivotal role in teams that advanced NASA’s understanding of comet and asteroid properties.
Hicks notably contributed to the DART Project, which aimed to test humanity’s ability to redirect potentially hazardous asteroids. Additionally, he participated in the Deep Space 1 Mission, which was instrumental in testing novel spacecraft technology and successfully flew by a comet in 2001.
Although there have been no public claims of foul play, Hicks’ death is the ninth such incident involving individuals linked to U.S. space or nuclear endeavors in recent times. This pattern has raised concerns among national security experts in the United States.
Notably, three of these scientists shared professional connections with Hicks, having either worked at JPL or been involved in NASA missions there. Among them is Monica Reza, who assumed the role of Director of the Materials Processing Group at JPL before mysteriously disappearing in June 2025, mere months into her position.
Two other men with deep ties to JPL died recently, including a long-time coworker of Hicks, Frank Maiwald, who died in July 2024 at age 61, with even less public acknowledgement of his untimely passing.
Meanwhile, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, 67, was murdered on the front porch of his home on February 16, 2026. The California Institute of Technology researcher’s work was heavily supported by NASA’s JPL, and Grillmair was personally involved with major space telescope missions led by NASA.
Michael David Hicks (Pictured) was a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory prior to his death in 2023
The Daily Mail has reached out to NASA, Hicks’ alma mater at the University of Arizona, and the scientist’s friends and colleagues for comment on the circumstances surrounding his death.
Strangely, a series of online obituaries dedicated to Hicks did not mention any health issues before the 59-year-old’s death, which appeared to happen suddenly, roughly one year after leaving NASA JPL.
A similar situation unfolded after Maiwald’s death on July 4, 2024, when the prominent JPL researcher died in Los Angeles from unknown circumstances.
Despite Maiwald being a JPL Principal – an award given to scientists ‘making outstanding individual contributions’ in their fields – there were no public comments from authorities after the esteemed scientist’s death, and the only public record marking his passing was a single obituary posted online.
NASA and JPL have not commented on the deaths of Maiwald or Hicks, and did not reply to Daily Mail’s inquiries into the nature of the scientists’ work before their deaths.
In June 2023, just 13 months before his death, Maiwald was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds in the solar system and beyond.
As for the other JPL-connected scientist, Grillmair had contributed to the discovery of water on a distant planet, with colleagues calling his work ‘ingenious’ and adding that the research could point to signs of life less than 160 light-years from Earth.
According to his Caltech profile, he also worked on the NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor, infrared space telescopes that track asteroids. However, experts have also expressed concern that this technology has also been used in advanced missile designs.
Frank Maiwald (Left) and Carl Grillmair (Right) had deep ties to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California before both men died within the last two years
Monica Reza (Pictured) went missing during a hike in California in June 2025. Reza had worked on the creation of advanced rocket technology before becoming a director at NASA JPL
The string of deaths and missing person cases has drawn the attention of Congress and members of the US intelligence community, who see a disturbing pattern surrounding experts with knowledge of missiles and rocket engines.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker recently told the Daily Mail: ‘You can say these are all suspicious, and these are scientists who have worked in critical technology.’
Swecker claimed that multiple foreign intelligence services, including enemies and allies of the US, have been targeting Americans possessing secrets of the nation’s technology for decades.
’China, Russia, even some of our friends – Pakistan, India, Iran, North Korea – they target this type of technology,’ Swecker revealed.
Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett told the Daily Mail in March: ‘There have been several others throughout the country that have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. I think we ought to be paying attention to it.’
Burchett was referencing at least four other investigations around the US in recent months, including the high-profile disappearance of retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland and the murder of respected physicist Nuno Loureiro.
Pictured: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, California
McCasland, 68, was the latest disappearance, vanishing without a trace on February 27, 2026, after reportedly leaving his home on foot with only a handgun.
The disappearance of McCasland, who reportedly held nuclear and UFO-related secrets, has been tied to Reza and Grillmair through their work on advanced missile or rocket science.
While commanding the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the general supervised and approved funding for Reza’s work to invent a new metal used to create space-age rocket engines.
Meanwhile, Grillmair’s work with NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor has also been linked to the Air Force, as the NASA telescopes used the same systems the military relies on to track satellites and hypersonic missiles.
While Loureiro’s murder has not been directly connected to the other deaths and disappearances, Burchett, Swecker and independent investigators have noted that his revolutionary work in nuclear fusion may have made him a target of a greater conspiracy against US scientists.
Nuno Loureiro, 47, was assassinated at his home in the Boston suburb of Brookline on December 15, 2025. Authorities said the gunman was Claudio Neves Valente, a former classmate from Portugal.
’It’s been happening since the Cold War,’ Swecker explained. ’Especially when nuclear technology and missile technology were first coming to the forefront.’
Nuno Loureiro (Pictured) was leading efforts to create fusion energy, a form of clean energy that could upend the multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel energy
Two others with ties to nuclear research went missing just weeks apart. Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casias, who both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), vanished from their homes in 2025 under nearly identical circumstances.
Chavez, 79, worked at the nuclear research lab until his retirement in 2017. Casias, 54, was an active administrative assistant at the facility and is believed to have had top security clearance.
Both were last seen leaving their homes in New Mexico on foot, leaving behind their cars, keys, wallets and phones before disappearing without a trace nearly one year ago.
In another mysterious incident, Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, was found dead in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026, after disappearing without a trace three months earlier.
Burchett has blasted the nation’s intelligence community, specifically calling out the so-called ‘alphabet agencies’ such as the FBI, for being unhelpful and frustrating his attempts to find out the truth about what has happened to these scientists.
‘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,’ he warned.
