A RETIRED Air Force general with links in UFO circles has vanished during a hike in New Mexico just months after his former colleague disappeared in a nearly identical case.
US Major General William Neil McCasland, 68, headed out from his Albuquerque home for a trail run on the morning of February 27.
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Retired US Major General William Neil McCasland, 68, disappeared after going for a trail run in late FebruaryCredit: USAF
McCasland’s disappearance is starkly similar to former colleague Monica Reza’s disappearance just months agoCredit: Facebook/Help Find Monica Reza in the Angeles National Forest
McCasland only took a backpack, wallet and his .38-caliber revolver on his runCredit: Facebook/Susan McCasland Wilkerson
According to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, he had only taken a backpack, wallet and his .38-caliber revolver.
Sources close to McCasland said he was a ‘gatekeeper’ and ‘participant’ in the UFO community, The New York Post reported.
His disappearance has added another layer of intrigue to an ongoing missing person’s investigation for his former colleague Monica Reza.
Reza, 60 – who went missing in June 2025 – had worked on a rocket project overseen by McCasland.
In a spine-tingling coincidence, Reza had also last been seen hiking.
According to NewsNation she had set out into a Californian forest with a colleague, smiling and waving just moments before she “vanished off the face of the earth“.
Authorities and volunteers have spent months combing through the area and using every resource at their disposal.
But as their search continues in vain, the aerospace engineer remains missing without a trace.
At a recent press conference, Sheriff John Allen said a Silver Alert had been issued for McCasland, following reports of “mental fog” in the months before his disappearance.
Allen added that McCasland had no other known health issues.
Despite the extensive search – aided by drones, helicopters, ground crews and K-9 Units – the keen outdoorsman also remains missing.
“Let me be straight. We’ve had a lot of tips, and we will go through every tip,” Allen said.
“But there are some tips with some outlandish theories, conspiracy theories.
“We will look into everything, but we are trying as a law enforcement agency and entity,” he added.
The general’s wife, Susan McCasland, has spoken out in a social media statement to dispel what she called “misinformation” being spread about her husband’s disappearance.
“It is true that Neil had a brief association with the UFO community,” she wrote.
Reza had worked on a rocket project overseen by McCaslandCredit: Aerojet Rocketdyne
The pair both shared a love of hikingCredit: Facebook/Help Find Monica Reza in the Angeles National Forest
“This connection is not a reason for someone to abduct Neil. Though at this point with absolutely no sign of him, maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership.
“However, no sightings of a mothership hovering above the Sandia Mountains have been reported.”
Just nine months prior, Reza – professionally known as Monica Jacinto at Aerojet Rocketdyne as a material scientist – was last seen hiking on the popular Mount Waterman Trail in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles.
Similar to her former colleague, Reza had also loved hiking.
She had been walking just 30 feet behind a man before she disappeared in what has since been described as “a normal day”, according to NewsNation.
“He turned around, next thing you know, she was just completely gone,” the outlet reported.
“Rescue teams spent days looking for her, but actually never recovered her body.”
SpaceNews reported that Reza worked for Aerojet Rocketdyne, a high-profile company funded for years by NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
In the 1990s she engineered a a nickel-based superalloy that could survive extreme oxygen environments without added weight.
The technology helped to create the AR1 engine, set to replace Russian RD-180 engines on United Launch Alliance rockets.
Her patented invention brought her into McCasland’s orbit, when he was overseeing the Air Force group that funded early-2000s research on advanced materials for reusable spacecraft and weapons systems.
According to McCasland’s Air Force biography, he oversaw advanced materials as director of the Space Vehicle Directorate’s materials wing and commanded the Phillips Research Site at Kirtland Air Force Base between 2001 and 2004.
McCasland had overseen the Air Force group that funded early-2000s research on advanced materials for reusable spacecraft and weapons systemsCredit: Facebook/Susan McCasland Wilkerson
He had left his phone, prescription glasses and smartwatch inside his home when he left for the trail runCredit: Facebook/Susan McCasland Wilkerson
It has been revealed that he worked in direct connection with Reza’s highly successful research.
McCasland also led research at Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The base was once described as “where all the super-secret research happens” by Marik Von Rennenkampff – a former Obama-era national security analyst, according to CNN.
The sheriff’s office said the general had spoke with a repair person at his home at 10am on the day of his disappearance, after which his wife left for a medical appointment.
She returned home at noon, finding her husband’s phone, prescription glasses and smartwatch inside their house, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“His wearable devices and taking his phone were common practice with him,” Deputy Kyle Woods said in a press conference.
“That is out of the norm.”
It has since been revealed that authorities had door knocked 700 homes, including those near McCasland’s Quail Run Court residence in an attempt to find him.
Search teams have combed the areas McCasland often hiked, including Elena Gallegos and Domingo Baca Canyon, utilising dogs and horse units to investigate mysterious odours.
Authorities discovered a US Air Force sweatshirt about a mile and a half from his home days after he disappeared.
It has yet to be confirmed as McCasland’s, and no blood was found on it.
Lt Woods said there was nothing to indicate foul play and no evidence from his electronics suggesting unusual circumstances.
Authorities have mentioned his reported “mental fog” but added they would not provide any more details regarding mental health issues.
“There’s no indication, and we are not putting forward that Mr McCasland was disoriented or confused,” Woods said.
“Arguably, he would still be the most intelligent person in the room that any of us would be in.
“Highly intelligent, highly capable.”
But the deputy did acknowledge the grim reality of the passing time.
“We are many weeks in, and if he were to have gone into the mountains, the likelihood of surviving this time frame would be very low,” he said.
Police have reinforced they were chasing every lead, but warned that “countless rabbit holes” had made their investigation more challenging.
The overlap in time coupled with the eerily similar details of both cases has sparked a storm of online theories attempting to connect them.
McCasland’s mysterious disappearance also came just six days after President Donald Trump promised to release long-awaited files on UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
McCasland was described as “a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States head” by investigative journalist Ross Coulthart, NewsNation reported.
“The timing is screechingly relevant,” he said.
“The fact that General Neil McCasland has disappeared off the face of the earth is a grave national security crisis for the United States of America.”
Sheriff Allen has maintained there is no evidence suggesting criminal activity, including kidnapping, calling some public tips “tedious to go through”.
McCasland’s wife said her husband did not have dementia and “was not confused or disoriented”.
“It is true that when Neil was in the Air Force, he had access to some highly classified programs and information,” she wrote.
Adding that he had retired almost 13 years ago, she also said it was “quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him”.
McCasland’s UFO ties were through Tom DeLonge, ex-frontman of Blink-182 and founder of To The Stars.
His wife said he had willingly worked alongside DeLonge after retiring, offering unpaid expertise on military, technical and scientific matters.
The information was to bring authenticity to DeLonge’s books and media projects.
“After the Russians hacked John Podesta’s emails, there was less contact with Tom and the community pushing for release of UFO information,” she said.
“Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt.”
Police fear McCasland has not survived the weeks out in the wildernessCredit: Facebook/Susan McCasland Wilkerson