The Daily Mail reported on March 21 that William Neil McCasland, 68, a former U.S. Air Force Major General and well-known figure in the UFO community, mysteriously disappeared while hiking in Albuquerque, New Mexico, drawing widespread attention. According to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, he left home on the morning of Feb. 27 carrying only a backpack, wallet, and a .38 caliber revolver, planning an off-trail run.
McCasland’s wife, Susan McCasland, later found him missing from their home, while his phone, prescription glasses, and smartwatch remained behind. Sheriff John Allen said at a press conference that a Silver Alert had been issued because McCasland had shown signs of “mental confusion” in the months prior to his disappearance. Despite searches by drones, helicopters, ground teams, and K-9 units, the experienced outdoorsman remains missing.
The sheriff noted that they had visited approximately 700 neighboring homes and conducted searches in areas McCasland frequently hiked, including Elena Gallegos and Domingo Baca Canyons. A few days later, authorities found a U.S. Air Force sweatshirt about 1.5 miles from his home, but it has not been confirmed to belong to McCasland, and no blood was found.
Aerospace engineer Monica Jacinto Reza, co-inventor of a key U.S. rocket alloy, vanished while hiking in 2025, and months later Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, who oversaw the program that funded it, has also vanished without a trace.https://t.co/VqjQ7sFHjl pic.twitter.com/4KKFn4t480
— Disclosure Party (@disclosureorg) March 16, 2026
Mysterious coincidence
The New York Post reported on March 21 that eight months ago, Monica Reza (also known as Monica Jacinto), a 60-year-old U.S. rocket scientist, disappeared while hiking in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles. Her case bears a striking resemblance to McCasland’s. Reza was hiking with two experienced companions, only 30 feet apart, yet vanished within a short time. Volunteers and authorities spent months searching by helicopter, radar, hiking teams, and K-9 units but found no trace.
Reza, who worked as a materials scientist at Aerojet Rocketdyne, developed the nickel-based superalloy “Mondaloy,” which brought her into McCasland’s research circle. McCasland had been responsible for Air Force advanced materials research, serving from 2001 to 2004 as Director of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Spacecraft Materials Division and Commander of the Phillips Research Institute at Kirtland Air Force Base. His work directly overlapped with Reza’s research. According to Daily Mail, citing SpaceNews, Reza’s superalloy technology enabled major breakthroughs in U.S. rocket engine technology in 2016, helping the U.S. reduce dependence on foreign rocket propulsion.
Success
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Success
Check your email to complete sign up
McCasland’s wife Susan clarified on social media that her husband has no dementia or confusion and has been retired for nearly 13 years. She explained that although McCasland briefly engaged with the UFO community, including providing technical and scientific advice in collaboration with former Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge, this was not a reason for his disappearance. She half-jokingly said, “The most reasonable assumption might be that aliens transported him to their mothership, but there have been no reports of a mothership over the Sandia Mountains.”
Meanwhile, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer speculated on X (formerly Twitter) that McCasland might have committed suicide but admitted this was personal opinion, noting his health could be a factor and that it was unrelated to his military background.
U.S. President Donlad Trump is reportedly preparing a historic speech on UFOs, potentially confirming recovered alien materials and non-human life. (Image: Adobe Sotck)
Disappearance context and national security concerns
McCasland had led highly classified research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Wyoming and oversaw advanced Air Force materials projects. He also commanded teams researching reusable spacecraft and advanced weapons systems. Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart told NewsNation that McCasland possessed “one of America’s most sensitive secrets,” and his mysterious disappearance “poses a serious threat to U.S. national security.”
Notably, McCasland’s disappearance occurred just six days after Donald Trump announced plans to release documents related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life. This timing has sparked numerous online conspiracy theories, though the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office emphasized that there is currently no evidence of abduction or criminal activity and stated that all leads are being thoroughly verified.
McCasland’s disappearance, along with Reza’s similar case eight months earlier, involving advanced aerospace technology and mysterious vanishing patterns, has drawn intense public and expert attention. However, the truth behind these cases remains elusive.