Susan Wilkerson was gone for just one hour when her husband, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland — who once oversaw some of the military’s most advanced and highly classified research programs — reportedly vanished from their Albuquerque home.

McCasland, 68, left his phone behind, but his wallet and a .38-caliber revolver were missing, according to the Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Sheriff’s Office.

The general previously had said he was experiencing what he described as a “mental fog,” according to investigators, but authorities stressed there was no indication he was disoriented at the time of his disappearance.

“Arguably, he would still be the most intelligent person in the room,” Albuquerque police Lt. Kyle Wood said March 16.

McCasland’s disappearance is one of 10 recent cases involving scientists tied to U.S. military and government research that have drawn attention, including at the White House, where officials said they are looking into the matter after being asked about a potential pattern.

“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “I just left a meeting on that subject.”

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told Fox News Digital it is looking into the matter.

“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter.”

Here’s what we know about the scientists who have disappeared or died under a range of circumstances over the past three years.

Neil McCasland: Disappeared Feb. 27, 2026

Ret. Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, 68, was reported missing in New Mexico in February. (Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office)

McCasland disappeared Feb. 27 and police have found no trace of him since. His phone, prescription glasses and wearable devices were found at home, but his hiking boots, wallet and a .38‑caliber revolver were reported missing, according to the Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Sheriff’s Office.

McCasland held senior roles in space research and acquisition, including leadership positions at the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Reconnaissance Office, according to the Air Force. He held senior roles at the Pentagon and commanded the Phillips Research Site of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, according to the Air Force.

McCasland’s name also surfaced in an unexpected place years earlier — the 2016 WikiLeaks release of emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. In those messages, musician and UFO enthusiast Tom DeLonge described working with McCasland on discussions related to unidentified aerial phenomena, noting that the general had previously led the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — a facility long tied in UFO lore to the alleged 1947 Roswell crash.

“Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt,” his wife, Susan, wrote on Facebook shortly after his February disappearance.

The 1947 Roswell incident involved debris later identified by the U.S. government as part of a classified military balloon program, though it has long been the subject of UFO and extraterrestrial conspiracy theories.

Susan Wilkerson also noted that her husband retired in 2013.

“It seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him,” she said on Facebook.