Mysterious disappearance of UFO-linked Air Force general sparks search

[John J.]

There's a more recent report about items McCasland might or might not have had with him:
Whether he took/ wore hiking boots isn't certain; he might have taken a backpack.

From NewsNation website, "Sheriff: No sightings of retired Air Force General Neil McCasland", 17 March 2026, Jordan Perkins
https://www.newsnationnow.com/missi...ate-search-missing-retired-air-force-general/
(Ross Coulthart is a corresondent for NewsNation but doesn't seem to be involved with this report).

According to the sheriff's office, he left his phone, glasses and wearable devices at home. They say it would be highly unusual for him to leave those items at home.

Police said a wallet, red backpack, revolver and a holster for the gun that belonged to McCasland are still unaccounted for and were not found at the home.

At one point, investigators thought McCasland might be wearing a particular green shirt and hiking boots. However, those boots and that shirt were found in McCasland's second home in Pagosa Springs. Investigators aren't sure if he owned multiple versions of the boots or shirt.

Pagosa Springs is in Colorado, approximately 147 miles, 237 km NbW from Sandia Heights (according to https://distanceasthecrowflies.com/).

The report provides a bit more information about the rationale for a "Silver Alert" being issued:

The sheriff's office says they issued a Silver Alert because McCasland had once reported being in a "mental fog." However, investigators don't believe he was cognitively impaired and say he was in good health.

"There's no indication, and we are not putting forward that Mr. McCasland was disoriented or confused," said Lt. Kyle Woods of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office. "Arguably, he would still be the most intelligent person in the room that any of us would be in. Highly intelligent, highly capable, but that information was given to us early on, and out of an abundance of caution, we escalated to a silver alert to try to garner as much public attention as possible to try to help locate him as soon as possible."

 

[NorCal Dave]

Just to up the cringe factor with UFOlgist jumping on this story, one Christina Gomez is a rather prolific UFO poster on Facebook and has posted comments by congressman Burlison about the missing General:

Apparently when McCasland told Burlison and Grusch he had "nothing to say" on the UFO subject, that doesn't mean he literally had nothing to say, it means "covert silencing" may be the reason he's missing.

 

[Ann K]

Apparently when McCasland told Burlison and Grusch he had "nothing to say" on the UFO subject, that doesn't mean he literally had nothing to say, it means "covert silencing" may be the reason he's missing.

That's not really "apparent", of course, but is the interpretation of Burlison, Grusch, or perhaps Cristina Gomez. Quite possibly McCasland simply had nothing to say on the subject. Burlison is a dedicated UFOlogist, according to his Wikipedia page, and subject to other fringe beliefs.

In 2024, Burlison petitioned House leadership to create a committee to study UFOs.[30]​ Instead, a task force within the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — with no subpoena power — was created to investigate UFOs, among other topics; as of 2025, Burlison serves on the body.[31]​[32]​

He has stated that he believes purported UFOs are either angels or manmade objects,[33]​ and in 2025 introduced UFO-related legislation.[34]​

In July 2025, Burlison traveled to Mexico to examine the Nazca mummies,[35]​ a popular hoax[36]​[37]​ alleged to be the corpses of three-fingered space aliens.[37]​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Burlison

 

[Mendel]

Apparently when McCasland told Burlison and Grusch he had "nothing to say" on the UFO subject, that doesn't mean he literally had nothing to say, it means "covert silencing" may be the reason he's missing.

It's a good example of how a strong belief is impervious to facts.
Why wouldn't they believe McCasland himself when he said he had nothing to say?
If they made multiple attempts to get him to talk, my money is on him being annoyed, and sharing that annoyance with his wife, which is how she knew he didn't know anything about UFOs.

 

[MyMatesBrainwashed]

An interesting take on what General McCasland did and didn't take from Jennifer Coffindaffer (a retired FBI agent) who suspects it may be suicide...

He left without his cell phone so he could not be tracked. He took his gun — unnecessary for a hike. He took his wallet so he could be [identified] when found. He is an avid hiker and knows the mountain he fled to well, so he knew how to find a private place.

Full Newsweek article -> https://www.newsweek.com/former-fbi-agent-questions-missing-us-air-force-general-health-11683825

 

[jdog]

It's a good example of how a strong belief is impervious to facts.
Why wouldn't they believe McCasland himself when he said he had nothing to say?
If they made multiple attempts to get him to talk, my money is on him being annoyed, and sharing that annoyance with his wife, which is how she knew he didn't know anything about UFOs.

Of all the motivations that might prompt a retired military officer to flee their home with a gun, "possessing secret UFO knowledge" would not be in my top 10, maybe not the top 100.

 

[Mendel]

An interesting take on what General McCasland did and didn't take from Jennifer Coffindaffer (a retired FBI agent) who suspects it may be suicide...

Yes, this occurred to me as well. However, I find it likely that if he had intended that, he'd have left a note—but apparently his wife did not find one.

 

[Ann K]

@MyMatesBrainwashed

He took his gun — unnecessary for a hike.

There are wolves and mountain lions in the area, a fact of which the retired agent seems to be unaware. In much of the US a gun might be considered a strange thing to carry on a hike, but that's not so in the desert southwest.

(Edit to add: there are also bears, a thing I found out for myself when I returned from a canyon hike by the same route and found my own footprints with bear prints on top of them.)

As for her choice of words, there is no evidence to suggest he "fled" at all.

 

[Gary C]

@MyMatesBrainwashed

He took his gun — unnecessary for a hike.

There are wolves and mountain lions in the area, a fact of which the retired agent seems to be unaware. In much of the US a gun might be considered a strange thing to carry on a hike, but that's not so in the desert southwest.

As for her choice of words, there is no evidence to suggest he "fled" at all.

I'm not familiar with that area but I have other friends in the South West who sometimes carry a revolver loaded with "snake shot" if they are going to be going off road for any length of time. By today's standards a .38 cal revolver is a rather minimal level of protection in the US.

YMMV

 

[jdog]

@MyMatesBrainwashed

He took his gun — unnecessary for a hike.

There are wolves and mountain lions in the area, a fact of which the retired agent seems to be unaware. In much of the US a gun might be considered a strange thing to carry on a hike, but that's not so in the desert southwest.

(Edit to add: there are also bears, a thing I found out for myself when I returned from a canyon hike by the same route and found my own footprints with bear prints on top of them.)

As for her choice of words, there is no evidence to suggest he "fled" at all.

I'm not sure I'd bring a handgun to a rattlesnake fight, but recent reddit posts also reminded me that it's rattlesnake season already here in San Diego. Rattlers apparently start coming out of hibernation around Albuquerque in March.

 

[JMartJr]

I'm not sure I'd bring a handgun to a rattlesnake fight

See:

...I have other friends in the South West who sometimes carry a revolver loaded with "snake shot" if they are going to be going off road for any length of time.

Snake shot, rat shot, or dust shot,[1] more formally known as shotshell[2] (a name shared with the shotgun shell) or canister shot, refers to handgun and rifle cartridges loaded with lead shot canisters instead of bullets, intended for pest control (essentially small arms canister shot). The main targets for such ammunition are snakes, rodents, birds, and other pests at very close range.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_shot

My Uncle spent a lot of time out in the woods and swamps of Georgia, he wouldn't get out of the car in those areas without a pistol loaded with snakeshot. (He was probably more concerned about snakebite than the local snake population really justified, but there were plenty of copperheads, water moccasins and rattlers out there, and he sent a number of them home to their maker, none of them ever laid a fang on him. I had to find a home for a number of boxes of such ammo when I cleaned out his house as his executor when he passed away -- not from a snake!

 

[Harabeck]

The lovely folks at the Daily Mail mentioned McCasland and connect with him 8 other deaths.

Another scientist with ties to America's space program has now joined the growing list of deaths and disappearances around the US.

Michael David Hicks, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), passed away on July 30, 2023 at the age of 59, but the cause of death was never made public, and no record of an autopsy being performed could be found.

...

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.

...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...asa-jet-propulsion-lab-scientists-deaths.html

Other names listed in the article:

• Michael David Hicks
• Monica Reza (or maybe Monica Jacinto?)
• Frank Maiwald
• Carl Grillmair
• Nuno Loureiro
• Anthony Chavez
• Melissa Casias
• Jason Thomas

That last one was a actually a cancer researcher apparently. The cohort appears to be anyone with a cool sciency job title, which gives them a nice big sample size to find deaths in.

 

[jdog]

The lovely folks at the Daily Mail mentioned McCasland and connect with him 8 other deaths.

Another scientist with ties to America's space program has now joined the growing list of deaths and disappearances around the US.

Michael David Hicks, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), passed away on July 30, 2023 at the age of 59, but the cause of death was never made public, and no record of an autopsy being performed could be found.

...

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.

...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...asa-jet-propulsion-lab-scientists-deaths.html

Other names listed in the article:

• Michael David Hicks
• Monica Reza (or maybe Monica Jacinto?)
• Frank Maiwald
• Carl Grillmair
• Nuno Loureiro
• Anthony Chavez
• Melissa Casias
• Jason Thomas

That last one was a actually a cancer researcher apparently. The cohort appears to be anyone with a cool sciency job title, which gives them a nice big sample size to find deaths in.

It's the conspiracy theory feedback loop.

 

[MonkeeSage]

• Michael David Hicks

No indication he worked on anything secret or that there was anything unusual about his death, just the fact he once worked at JPL and died in 2023 is apparently enough to be included in the conspiracy.

https://lpl.arizona.edu/about/memoriam/michael-hicks
https://obituaries.forestlawn.com/obituaries/michael-hicks

Not be be insensitive, but he was a 59 year old heavy-set man. With no indication otherwise, a health related issue would be a logical assumption.

My only hope is that people don't go harass their families because of this nonsense.

 

[Rick Robson]

Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/fAp1wfL8cAo?si=P0uEpmK-Jrz_qgS8


I wouldn't have ears at all to whatever this man says any more. Yesterday he stated that "in a week and a half" we'll know whether the now eleven (Amy Eskridge included) missing scientists are just a coincidence or not.

 

[NorCal Dave]

Some potetnialy new stuff, but it's from the Daily Mail, so get out the salt shaker. Previous DM articles about McCasland and the so-called "missing scientists" seem to be heavy on hype, while ultimately saying near the end, there may not be UFOs or anything nefarious.

https://www.dailymail.com/sciencete...-ufo-pentagon-disappearance-new-mexico.html?i

As for the latest, there is now some body-cam footage of someone from the "shadowy" Space Force claiming that she, and others dined with McCalsnd the evening before he disappeared:

A missing Air Force general met members of the Pentagon's shadowy space unit just hours before he disappeared, footage shows.

Police spoke to an unidentified female witness who claimed she and members of the US Space Force had dinner with William Neil McCasland the night before he vanished without a trace on February 27.

According to the anonymous (aren't they always) informant, they were discussing McCaslands involvement with the local AFB, but again, Space Force is "shadowy":

He met with the group at a restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, around 6pm local time, according to a phone call between police and the witness, obtained by the Law&Crime Network from bodycam footage.

Officially, the Space Force equips the military for operations in space, protecting satellites and other assets from threats, but the newest branch of the Armed Forces also tracks unexplained space objects, such as UFOs, as part of national security.

The unnamed caller claimed she worked with McCasland, who was still a member of the Kirtland Partnership, a nonprofit working to protect and expand Kirtland Air Force Base, a major military research facility and nuclear weapons lab.

How shadowy and nefarious can one be, when dining at a public restaurant? The gist was that this anonymous sources suggested that McCasland still had high clearance and that his name will be in the UFO documents:

Previously, McCasland's wife, Susan Wilkerson, had posted online that the retired general only had 'very commonly held clearances' since retiring from the Air Force 13 years ago, but the new witness revealed that the 68-year-old was still a key figure in secretive government circles.

'He was the head of Air Force Research Lab to the point the man's names are in the UFO documents that are fixed to be released,' the witness claimed. 'He's in that depth, so he has a very high security clearance.'

Has his name appeared in any document yet?

Perhaps more revealing is MCCasland's wife's concerns, also captured on body-cam:

The bodycam footage also revealed the conversation between officers from the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and Wilkerson, revealing that McCasland's disappearance caught her completely off guard.

However, she noted that the retired general was just prescribed a new medication hours before he vanished, which was supposed to help battle several symptoms he was having that may have been signaling cognitive decline.

'Today he had taken a drug that the doctor prescribed last night that was supposed to help him sleep,' she said in the recording obtained by Law&Crime Sidebar with Jesse Weber.

She seems to be saying he MAY have been battling early cognitive decline, but it's unclear what that means. But she did describe the side effects of the new prescription for sleeping (bold by me):

'With weight gain, he's lost about 20 pounds for no reason, and with anxiety, today he woke up and said, "Well, I have got better sleep, but it's like the after effects of a bad hangover. I'm just foggy. I can't get any motivation to do anything."'

McCasland was reportedly seeing doctors for his physical and mental difficulties. Before police arrived at the home, Wilkerson had told 911 dispatchers the military veteran feared his brain was 'deteriorating.'

Anecdotally, the first thing that jumped to my mind was Ambien (zolpidem). I've had family, not personal, experience with this common sleep aid. And I'm purely speculating here based on what little information is provided in the UFO-hyped article. My familiar experience with Ambien resulted in multiple falls, episodes of sleepwalking, and general "fogginess" for much of the following day. In my case the family member was using Ambien well past the recommended time frame and probably mixing it with alcohol, with dangerous results. Ambien also may have issues with suicide:

Results: This meta-analysis was based on four studies with 344,753 participants, of which 42,279 were zolpidem users. The methodological quality of all the included studies was of high quality. A significantly increased risk of suicide or suicide attempt was found in zolpidem users compared to non-users, with a pooled relative risk of 1.88 (95% CI: 1.54 - 2.30). Furthermore, an increased risk of suicidal death was observed in zolpidem users compared to non-users, with a pooled relative risk of 1.82 (95% CI: 1.43 - 2.30). Dose-response analysis also revealed a significantly increased risk of suicide in patients receiving ≥ 180cDDD (cumulative defined daily doses) of zolpidem (124 times), followed by 90-179cDDD (113 times) and <90cDDD (93 times) of zolpidem compared to non-users.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35985088/

Again, I'm just speculating with what information is publicly provided. McCasland's wife appears to have told investigators that McCasland may have had, or thought he had, cognitive issues. He was proscribed a sleeping aide. Ambien is a common sleeping aid. His wife told investigators that his prescription sleeping aide left his "hung over" and "foggy". Ambien may have a demonstrated increase in suicidal thoughts. He left his house with no form of communication or ID, but with a .38 hand gun. As sad as this speculated scenario is, it doesn't involve MiBs or other nefarious players.

I don't know what to make of the anonymous Space Force person. Space Force has a presence at Kirtland AFB and McCasland seems to be with a group promoting Kirtland AFB. Seems rather mundane.

As a side note, it may be that Grusch, or whoever is feeding him information, may be the person responsible for claiming McCasland know all about UFOs:

Just days before the Pentagon began releasing declassified UFO files to the public in early May, Air Force veteran David Grusch specifically named McCasland as one of the officers who had been in charge of non-human craft recovery and reverse-engineering UFOs.

Grusch, who is now a UFO whistleblower and adviser to Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri, claimed that the general had not been cooperative with lawmakers seeking to interview individuals tied to America's alleged contact with aliens.

Grusch told Chris Farrell on Judicial Watch: 'They already have the list of some of these hostile folks that ran those programs. Unfortunately, one of those individuals, Major General retired Neil McCasland, is currently missing, which is very concerning to me as well.'

So, maybe Grusch heard McCasland was in charge of the UFO recovery programs he was told about, but couldn't get read into. Grusch then told the UFO caucus about McCasland being a "hostile" person involved in all of this. Talk about nefarious.

 

[John J.]

As for the latest, there is now some body-cam footage of someone from the "shadowy" Space Force claiming that she, and others dined with McCalsnd the evening before he disappeared:

I think the Daily Mail's choice of words is misleading.

Chilling bodycam reveals UFO-linked Air Force general met shadowy Pentagon unit before he vanished... ...A missing Air Force general met members of the Pentagon's shadowy space unit just hours before he disappeared, footage shows.

https://www.dailymail.com/sciencete...-ufo-pentagon-disappearance-new-mexico.html?i, Daily Mail 27 May 2026, Chris Melore, US deputy science editor, my emphasis. (I don't really know why The Daily Mail or its source consider it chilling).

But the bodycam footage doesn't show a meeting.
In the link provided by The Daily Mail, there is bodycam footage of Sherriff's deputies talking to Mrs McCasland, apparently shortly after she reported him missing. There is no mention of a meeting with Space Force personnel during this.

The link is to YouTube video "Missing Air Force General's Chilling Last Actions Before Vanishing: Bodycam" uploaded by Law&Crime Network, 26 or 27 May 2026 (see below).

The information about meeting Space Force personnel at a coffee shop is apparently from a bodycam recording of a 'phone call between a detective and an unidentified woman, who claims she knows McCasland from working on the Kirtland Partnership
(website https://kpcnm.org/about/; there are four women board members, https://kpcnm.org/board/, but we don't know if the woman on the phone is one of them).
The corresponding video (from approx. 7:19 into the video, see below) is a static view of part of the interior of a car. No people are visible, and it isn't a video of a meeting or McCasland going into a coffee shop or whatever. It is effectively an audio recording of the phone call.

Why someone who knows McCasland through Kirtland Partnership (as opposed to knowing him from e.g. the USAF) would know about his past involvement in hypothetical ( and I suspect very improbable) UFO-related matters, or anything else of a sensitive nature, is not questioned.

(Video timestamped to start with 'phone call with Kirtland Partnership woman).

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPHOksXTkD0&t=450s

 

[Ann K]

Grusch then told the UFO caucus about McCasland being a "hostile" person involved in all of this. Talk about nefarious.

I think "hostile", in this context and from this person, probably is synonymous with "skeptical". @Mick West is likely to be similarly described by dedicated UFO aficionados. There's a strong "us vs them" feeling among those who see every light in the sky as alien and nefarious, and every mundane explanation as a coverup.

 

[NorCal Dave]

(I don't really know why The Daily Mail or its source consider it chilling)

As seems typical with the DM, on the one hand it makes for good copy, add in the "shadowy" Space Force and a section of the article rehashing the "missing scientists" story and the hype level goes up considerably. On the other hand, they can just say the video of the body-cam footage at the heart of the story uses the word "chilling" in the title, so they're just reporting what it was called.

The information about meeting Space Force personnel at a coffee shop is apparently from a bodycam recording of a 'phone call between a detective and an unidentified woman, who claims she knows McCasland from working on the Kirtland Partnership
(website https://kpcnm.org/about/; there are four women board members, https://kpcnm.org/board/, but we don't know if the woman on the phone is one of them).
The corresponding video (from approx. 7:19 into the video, see below) is a static view of part of the interior of a car. No people are visible, and it isn't a video of a meeting. It is effectively an audio recording of the phone call.

It was time to make dinner when I saw a link to this article, so my bad for not digging into the source material. Honestly, the DM website is SO distracting and SO full of links and ads and look at this and look at that and unclosable videos running in the corner, that I just grabbed quotes as quick as I could and closed it. It was literally crashing my cheap Chromebook.

In listening to the actual phone call, it's unclear exactly who this woman is, but it sounds like she has something to do with the Kirtland Partnership:

7:30
Yeah. Um, so I called in trying to get a hold of everyone. I'm actually walking into his favorite coffee shop right now

to see if they've seen him. So I work with Mr. McCasslin on the Kirtland Partnership. He's a board member. Um,

he's a retired general with Air Force Research Lab.

They apparently had dinner at Cervantes with some people from Space Force:

7:48
Okay. And um we had dinner Thursday evening at Cervantes off of Gibson,

okay, at six o'clock with um Space Force.

If true, Space Force operate out of Kirtland AFB and if McCasland is part of an organization promoting Kirtland AFB, there is nothing strange about this. Maybe more relevant, the witness thought McCasland was off:

7:56
okay, at six o'clock with um Space Force. And what I noticed, I was shocked this

morning when I saw the alert because what I noticed Thursday evening is he wasn't his usual self. He was kind of

spacey and quiet and you know that that happens with people. So I didn't put anything with it, right?

This seems to have been recorded on Saturday morning according to the body-cam info:

McCasland was last seen at 11:00am Friday and the Silver Alert was issued later that day. The woman on the phone says she is entering McCasland's favorite coffee shop at the beginning of the recording to see if any of the regulars had heard from him:

7:30
Yeah. Um, so I called in trying to get a hold of everyone. I'm actually walking into his favorite coffee shop right now
to see if they've seen him.

She also claims she contacted Kirtland AFB to see if McCasland had scanned his card. Something I would think law enforcement was already doing:

8:20
Um he left um in his vehicle and then I called this morning. I called uh

security forces out at Kirtland just to ensure he hasn't used his card out there and he hasn't. He has an access base and

they're going to keep monitoring that area. But from what I understand, well, let me tell you this first.

She goes on to describe what he was wearing, presumably on Thursday evening, which seems a bit useless. And tells the detective what he probably already knows:

8:53
And he was wearing a little name tag, his his KPC name tag. And so from what I

understand is he left the house his wife didn't take anything was on the running trail and he was last seen at 11:00 yesterday.

Then she claims his clearance was still very high and he's in the UFO files:

9:09
(Detective) Right. Right. Is he carry like a security clearance or anything like that?

(witness) He has a very classified security clearance.

He was the head of Air Force Research Lab. Um he I mean to the point the man's names

are in the the UFO documents that are fixed to be released.

He's in that in depth. So he has a very high security clearance.

How she know any of this is unclear as it's unclear who she is.

Besides the use of the word "chilling" in the title of the video, which the DM then ran with, there is this tidbit from the video just before the host plays the body-cam recording of the woman:

7:20
deputies were already on their way to the house and the first call a detective made wasn't to search the mountains. It was to a woman who had dinner with (McCasland) the night before.

It's got the vibe of, hey I got a hold of this body-cam interview and it must be really important because this Detective went straight to this woman instead of going out and looking for the General like he should have. If this guy is a detective, he's supposed to go out and "detect" stuff. He's supposed to gather information and talk to witnesses, not go trapesing around in the desert. That's what the patrol officers do, and likely in this case the Search and Rescue team along with volunteers. It's also unclear if the detective called the woman or the other way around. Always with the hype of some sort.