Missing UFO Scientist Tried to Quit Secret Program Days Before Vanishing

A retired U.S. Air Force general tied to some of America’s most sensitive UFO research reportedly tried to walk away from a secretive Pentagon-linked job just days before he vanished without a trace.

Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, 68, disappeared from a hiking trail in Albuquerque on Feb. 27, setting off alarm bells among UFO researchers, national security insiders, and Americans already suspicious of what the federal government has been hiding for decades.

Now, newly uncovered documents are raising even more disturbing questions about what happened to him.

According to records first uncovered by historian Sara Bondink, McCasland’s wife, Susan Wilkerson, told authorities that her husband had been suffering from a severe mental decline before he disappeared. She also said he was trying to resign from several secret projects he had been working on.

But the timing has only fueled speculation.

Just days before he vanished, McCasland reportedly flew alone to Washington, D.C., to formally resign from Riverside Research, a nonprofit research organization that works on advanced technology, engineering, and scientific projects.

The group has major contracts with the Pentagon, the U.S. intelligence community, and the Air Force, with deals reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

At the time of his disappearance, McCasland was involved in high-level work tied to national security and advanced technology for what the outlet described as the Department of War.

For many watching the case unfold, the question is simple: What did he know, and why did he suddenly want out?

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office issued a Silver Alert for McCasland and cited unspecified “medical issues.” But sources described the retired general as fit, sharp, and highly capable, making the mystery even more troubling.

Government officials also reportedly still viewed McCasland as a key potential witness in the growing push to declassify long-buried government files related to UFOs and extraterrestrial activity.

That detail alone has sent shockwaves through the UFO community.

Some sources fear McCasland may have been silenced because of the secrets he carried. Others have pushed even wilder theories, questioning whether forces far beyond the government could have played a role in his disappearance.

Reality Check podcaster and UFO investigator Ross Coulthart sounded the alarm, calling the timing “screechingly relevant.”

He also noted that McCasland, who earned a doctorate in astronautical engineering from MIT, carried some of the nation’s “most sensitive secrets” in his head.

And McCasland was not just any retired military figure.

During a 47-year career, he oversaw some of the Air Force’s most classified programs. He worked with the Office of Special Projects, a little-known unit believed to be responsible for securing sensitive aerospace technologies.

He also commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory, a multibillion-dollar weapons and technology operation headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

That location has long held special significance in UFO lore.

Wright-Patterson was home to Project Blue Book, the Air Force’s official UFO investigation that ran from 1952 to 1969. For decades, UFO researchers have claimed that wreckage from the alleged 1947 Roswell crash was taken there for study and possible reverse engineering.

Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee previously made a stunning claim about McCasland’s alleged role in the UFO secrecy machine.

“I’ve been told by several sources that he was the gatekeeper for the UFO stuff,” Burchett said.

That quote has taken on chilling new weight now that McCasland has disappeared.

Sources also said the FBI has been investigating the case, though authorities have not publicly confirmed any grand conspiracy.

Still, McCasland’s vanishing comes amid a larger pattern that has unnerved UFO researchers. At least 10 scientists and military leaders tied to classified information have reportedly disappeared or died under mysterious circumstances.

But McCasland’s case may be the most explosive of them all.

A decorated Air Force general. A Pentagon-linked research job. A sudden attempt to resign. A mysterious disappearance on a hiking trail. And a lifetime of secrets tied to America’s most controversial UFO files.

For Americans who have spent years demanding transparency from Washington, this case only deepens the belief that the government knows far more than it has ever admitted.

And now one of the men who may have known the most is missing.