NASA nuclear engineer latest in list of missing or dead scientists, adding to troubling trend
Another NASA scientist died when his Tesla drove around for hours and then crashed, killing him. Joshua LeBlanc, who was reportedly working on nuclear propulsion technology, is the latest in the list of nuclear and space engineers who either went missing or died.
NASA nuclear scientist Joshua LeBlanc died in Tesla crash
Another NASA scientist has been added to the list of those dead or missing and involved with sensitive nuclear and space technology. Joshua LeBlanc, a NASA nuclear engineer, died at age 29 last year. His Tesla crashed on July 22 last year in Huntsville, Alabama. Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri posted about his death on X and wrote that he was working on nuclear propulsion technology that would send humans to Mars. He has demanded an inquiry into his death, along with the other 11 scientists who have died or disappeared in the past few years.
Joshua went on a sudden trip without his phone and wallet
Joshua had been working as an aerospace technologies electrical engineer at NASA since October 2019. According to Burlinson, his Tesla "drove two hours by itself on Missouri-style backroads" before it crashed, killing Joshua. He wrote in another post that his family reported him missing in the early morning. "His Tesla is at the airport for four hours, belongings inside. The Tesla then drives two hours into nowhere and crashes into a tree. Body unrecognizable," Burlinson wrote. His family suspects Joshua was abducted. Talking to the Louisiana news site KLFY, they said that the trip was sudden and he remained out of contact with them, something he never did. His phone and wallet were still inside the house.
NASA engineer Amy Eskridge has gone public about the threats she was receiving
LeBlanc is the second scientist with ties to Huntsville, Alabama, to die under mysterious circumstances. Aerospace engineer Amy Eskridge allegedly killed herself in Huntsville in 2022. She was the daughter of a former NASA scientist and was working on anti-gravity engines.
She had gone public about the alleged threats she was receiving because of her work with advanced propulsion technology. "If you see any report that I killed myself, I most definitely did not. I would never kill myself or anyone else," Eskridge reportedly said.
The mystery of dead and missing scientists
In what has suddenly become a full-fledged mystery, several American scientists have vanished under suspicious circumstances. Others have died, with some of them being murdered. This has triggered calls for an investigation into the matter. Burlinson, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky and Tim Burchett of Tennessee, a House Oversight Committee member, have led calls for an FBI investigation.
Former FBI official, Chris Swecker, says scientists likely targeted by hostile foreign intelligence service
Talking to Fox News, Comer called it a "national security threat". He said, "It does appear that there's a high possibility that something sinister is taking place here." Chris Swecker, former assistant director of the FBI, has raised the possibility that a foreign country could be involved in the matter. He told Fox News, "What they were working on would certainly, without a doubt, be a target of a hostile foreign intelligence service like Russia or China. It could be Iran, could be Pakistan."
William Neil McCasland went missing from his home, leaving behind his phone and taking a shotgun
Meanwhile, Burchett has said, "It's just too much going on. We need to start paying attention [to] it. I don't have a lot of faith in the intelligence community." He was one of the first ones to flag the disappearance of Retired General William Neil McCasland, "a major national security issue". McCasland is said to be privy to secret UFO programs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and was also aware of the work around nuclear weapons.
McCasland was involved with secret nuclear technology
McCasland is one of the biggest names on the list. He was reportedly involved with the development of secret nuclear technology. He went missing from his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on February 27, and left behind his phone, keys and glasses, and left with a handgun. A Silver Alert was issued by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. His wife does not suspect foul play and thinks his ill health was the reason for his leaving in such a haphazard manner.
NASA engineer Monica Jacinto Reza and McCasland were reportedly working on Mondaloy
However, McCasland's link with another scientist, NASA aerospace engineer Monica Jacinto Reza, has been flagged by Burchett. He claims Reza was working on special metals used in missiles and rocket technology. This material is known as "Mondaloy," a high-performance nickel-based futuristic superalloy. Reza is said to have developed Mondaloy, while McCasland supervised her work. She has been missing since June 22, 2025.
Physicist Nuno Loureiro was murdered outside his Boston home
Other prominent names on the list of those dead include NASA Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, who was murdered on February 16, 2026. Physicist Nuno Loureiro, who was working on plasma physics and was reportedly close to a breakthrough on clean energy, was killed outside his Boston home on December 15, 2025. Jason Thomas, assistant director of chemical biology at Novartis, was found dead on March 17. Frank Maiwald, Principal Researcher at NASA JPL and Michael David Hicks, veteran physicist at NASA JPL, also passed away.
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