Editor’s Note: This article contains discussions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can find resources in your area on the National Crisis Line website or by calling 988.
(NewsNation) — A NASA electrical engineer is among the latest individuals joining the baffling list of U.S. researchers who have died or gone missing under mysterious circumstances in the past half-decade.
The body of 29-year-old Joshua LeBlanc was pulled from the burnt wreckage of his Tesla last July 22 near Huntsville, Alabama, and identified days later by state forensic officials. LeBlanc’s vehicle reportedly struck a guardrail and several trees before it burst into flames.
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At the time of the crash, the family of LeBlanc, a native of New Iberia, Louisiana, had raised questions with NewsNation affiliate KLFY-TV.
NASA electrical engineer Joshua LeBlanc’s family questioned his death
LeBlanc had been reported missing after failing to show up for work, and his phone, wallet and pet dog were still at his apartment, the station reported.
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Last summer, the family hoped video from LeBlanc’s Tesla could help answer questions about what happened. At the time of his death, he worked on nuclear propulsion projects at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as an aerospace technologies electrical engineer.
Missing and dead scientists causing speculation
The young researcher fits the profile of at least a dozen people with ties to the aerospace or defense industries who have met mysterious fates in recent years, either vanishing or dying in violent circumstances that some observers have contested.
Speculation has grown online about potential connections between cases, and the FBI recently confirmed it is reviewing the deaths and disappearances with the help of multiple agencies.
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Theories suggest members of the group of researchers may have been targeted by U.S. adversaries or because their work intersected with the study of “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UFOs.
But in at least two of the cases, family members have pushed back at online conspiracies.
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In a similar vein, the family of YouTuber and author David Wilcock this week sought to tamp down speculation surrounding his death Monday of an apparent suicide after the Boulder County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call.
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Wilcock was known as an advocate for the U.S. government to release secret information it has on UFOs. He was 53.
“David Wilcock took his own life on April 20, 2026, after a long struggle with depression and overwhelming financial debt. His family, and chosen family, hope this loss encourages more focused attention to mental health care access,” his loved ones said in a prepared statement released through police.