A series of deaths and disappearances among scientists in the United States has raised alarm, as some of the cases are both puzzling and high-profile. Among the missing is a retired Air Force general, with several other scientists having professional ties to him. The long list recently grew to nine with the death of Michael David Hicks, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who passed away on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. The cause of death was never made public, and no record of an autopsy could be found. Hicks worked at JPL from 1998 to 2022 and was credited with publishing over 80 scientific papers. He contributed to multiple teams that helped NASA understand the physical properties of comets and asteroids. Whether there is a connection between these cases remains unclear. However, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department in New Mexico told Newsweek that it is investigating the disappearance of retired Air Force General William "Neil" McCasland. Two of the missing scientists, McCasland and Monica Reza, "had a close professional connection" and vanished within eight months of each other, according to The New York Post, which described Reza as a "rocket scientist." Some of the deaths appear unrelated. Four of the eight other scientists simply disappeared under mysterious circumstances. While these cases have been widely reported across multiple media outlets, authorities have not indicated any confirmed connection.