1
00:00:00,000 -->
00:00:21,180
Strange Mysteries, Unexplained Phenomena and the Shadows in Between.
2
00:00:21,180 -->
00:00:32,220
This is the In-Between Official Podcast with your host, Carol Ann.
3
00:00:32,220 -->
00:00:35,340
Eleven Americans, four states, three years.
4
00:00:35,340 -->
00:00:39,779
They all worked on something the U.S. government would rather keep quiet, and every single
5
00:00:39,779 -->
00:00:42,900
one of them is now missing or in the ground.
6
00:00:42,900 -->
00:00:48,380
And if you know where to look, a strangely similar list sits in a filing cabinet in London
7
00:00:48,380 -->
00:00:50,980
dated 40 years ago.
8
00:00:50,980 -->
00:01:02,139
I'm Carol Anne, welcome to the In-Between.
9
00:01:02,139 -->
00:01:08,820
Between 2023 and the first months of 2026, at least ten American scientists, researchers
10
00:01:08,820 -->
00:01:13,779
and government officials have either vanished without a trace or turned up dead.
11
00:01:13,779 -->
00:01:17,320
Five of them simply walked away from their homes on foot.
12
00:01:17,320 -->
00:01:21,639
Four of them worked within the same defense corridors in New Mexico.
13
00:01:21,639 -->
00:01:26,040
Three were connected to the same NASA laboratory in California.
14
00:01:26,040 -->
00:01:31,879
Two were gunned down at their own front doors, and one was pulled from a frozen Massachusetts
15
00:01:31,879 -->
00:01:36,519
lake three months after he disappeared in the middle of the night.
16
00:01:36,519 -->
00:01:42,839
These cases were treated as isolated tragedies, unrelated, a missing hiker here, an unsolved
17
00:01:42,839 -->
00:01:43,839
shooting there.
18
00:01:43,839 -->
00:01:49,839
But when you put the names side by side, the institutions start overlapping.
19
00:01:49,839 -->
00:01:56,099
The timelines start compressing, and a picture begins to form that nobody in power seems
20
00:01:56,099 -->
00:01:57,879
willing to look at.
21
00:01:57,879 -->
00:02:02,080
Now, as usual, we did our best to dig a little deeper.
22
00:02:02,080 -->
00:02:07,080
We found a couple of things that add some more perspective to what is going on today.
23
00:02:07,559 -->
00:02:12,119
But first, I need to take you to a mountain trail in California.
24
00:02:12,119 -->
00:02:18,460
Because this story, for me, starts with a hiker who should not have disappeared.
25
00:02:18,460 -->
00:02:25,259
On the morning of June 22, 2025, a 60-year-old woman named Monica Reza sets out to summit
26
00:02:25,259 -->
00:02:28,960
Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest with two friends.
27
00:02:28,960 -->
00:02:33,000
The trailhead sits along the Angeles Crest Highway.
28
00:02:33,000 -->
00:02:36,360
The terrain is steep, dry, and mountainous.
29
00:02:36,360 -->
00:02:39,080
But Monica knows these trails.
30
00:02:39,080 -->
00:02:44,839
By multiple accounts, she's hiked this area regularly, possibly weekly.
31
00:02:44,839 -->
00:02:45,839
She's fit.
32
00:02:45,839 -->
00:02:46,839
She's experienced.
33
00:02:46,839 -->
00:02:49,399
She is in her element.
34
00:02:49,399 -->
00:02:54,160
The group departs the 6,000-foot trailhead around 630 AM.
35
00:02:54,160 -->
00:02:57,639
Early start, which is what you want to do in the San Gabriels.
36
00:02:57,639 -->
00:03:03,080
Get up, get to the summit, get off the mountain before the afternoon heat turns the trail
37
00:03:03,080 -->
00:03:04,639
into an oven.
38
00:03:04,960 -->
00:03:10,240
Now, the identities of the fellow hikers has never been released, so I don't know if they're
39
00:03:10,240 -->
00:03:11,240
male or female.
40
00:03:11,240 -->
00:03:14,919
So I'm just going to refer to them as Jane and John.
41
00:03:14,919 -->
00:03:19,039
Jane throws in the towel after less than a mile and a half because the terrain is just
42
00:03:19,039 -->
00:03:20,039
too steep.
43
00:03:20,039 -->
00:03:26,000
Monica and the lead hiker, John, they reach the summit around 815.
44
00:03:26,000 -->
00:03:28,759
Pictures are taken, and they start heading back down.
45
00:03:28,759 -->
00:03:34,679
At about 901 AM, a picture is taken of Monica near Double Delight Peak.
46
00:03:34,679 -->
00:03:40,880
A minute later, another picture, roughly 70 feet from the first.
47
00:03:40,880 -->
00:03:46,639
Six minutes later, a third picture is taken, her last confirmed location, about a quarter
48
00:03:46,639 -->
00:03:49,360
mile from that second photo.
49
00:03:49,360 -->
00:03:52,320
Then, they keep walking.
50
00:03:52,320 -->
00:03:54,440
John's about 30 feet ahead of Monica.
51
00:03:54,440 -->
00:03:59,000
He calls back up to let her know that a right turn is coming up on the ridge.
52
00:03:59,000 -->
00:04:01,240
Monica nods and waves at him.
53
00:04:01,240 -->
00:04:08,160
He makes the turn, descends about 150 feet, and when he looks back, Monica is gone.
54
00:04:08,160 -->
00:04:12,199
He waits five minutes, and then goes back to where he'd last seen her.
55
00:04:12,199 -->
00:04:13,199
Nothing.
56
00:04:13,199 -->
00:04:14,199
He calls her name.
57
00:04:14,199 -->
00:04:19,200
He searches about 500 feet to the west along the ridge, and then 120 feet south.
58
00:04:19,200 -->
00:04:20,200
Nothing.
59
00:04:20,200 -->
00:04:25,679
No response, no sound, no sign of Monica Reza.
60
00:04:25,679 -->
00:04:29,239
Search and rescue from six counties respond.
61
00:04:29,239 -->
00:04:36,920
Helicopters with thermal imaging, forward-looking infrared cameras, dogs, they even run an algorithmic
62
00:04:36,920 -->
00:04:42,760
pixel-matching program through their aerial photography equipment calibrated specifically
63
00:04:42,760 -->
00:04:46,239
to pick up the red of Monica's shirt.
64
00:04:46,239 -->
00:04:50,799
The technology flags some targets, but every time searchers go check them out, all they
65
00:04:50,799 -->
00:04:54,079
find are Mylar balloons caught in the brush.
66
00:04:54,079 -->
00:05:00,079
The next morning, a beanie belonging to Monica is found in a steep ravine south of the ridge,
67
00:05:00,079 -->
00:05:02,920
about 600 feet from where she was last seen.
68
00:05:02,920 -->
00:05:05,279
A two-to-three-minute walk.
69
00:05:05,279 -->
00:05:09,320
Scent dogs are brought to the ravine, but can't pick up her trail.
70
00:05:09,320 -->
00:05:11,760
No entry point, no exit.
71
00:05:11,760 -->
00:05:13,600
She was not there.
72
00:05:13,600 -->
00:05:16,600
She'd never been there, as far as the dogs could tell.
73
00:05:16,600 -->
00:05:19,160
And yet, her beanie is.
74
00:05:19,160 -->
00:05:24,119
Later that afternoon, two hikers returning from Twin Peaks report hearing what sounded
75
00:05:24,119 -->
00:05:27,160
like a woman yelling around 2.30pm.
76
00:05:27,160 -->
00:05:31,320
But they also said it wasn't a cry for help, or like somebody was in pain.
77
00:05:31,320 -->
00:05:35,519
It was more like somebody was crying out in anguish.
78
00:05:35,519 -->
00:05:42,799
The coordinates they give place the sound about 1600 feet from Monica's last known position.
79
00:05:42,799 -->
00:05:45,079
Later, a third of a mile.
80
00:05:45,079 -->
00:05:47,160
A five-minute walk.
81
00:05:47,160 -->
00:05:49,519
Some people said it could have been a coyote.
82
00:05:49,519 -->
00:05:56,000
But if it was Monica, why could she scream then, but not respond to her name being called
83
00:05:56,000 -->
00:05:58,040
hours earlier?
84
00:05:58,040 -->
00:06:03,200
If you've ever listened to David Paulides talk about his missing 411 cases, this story
85
00:06:03,200 -->
00:06:05,420
has every hallmark.
86
00:06:05,420 -->
00:06:11,079
An experienced hiker, in familiar terrain, vanishes within minutes while just a few feet
87
00:06:11,079 -->
00:06:13,160
away from another person.
88
00:06:13,160 -->
00:06:14,640
Dogs lose the scent.
89
00:06:14,640 -->
00:06:16,320
The body's never found.
90
00:06:16,320 -->
00:06:19,119
The search reveals almost nothing.
91
00:06:19,119 -->
00:06:25,920
And the details don't add up in ways that feel intentional, as if the case was designed
92
00:06:25,920 -->
00:06:28,040
to resist explanation.
93
00:06:28,040 -->
00:06:35,079
But here's where Monica's case takes a hard left from the standard missing hiker story.
94
00:06:35,079 -->
00:06:38,880
Because Monica Reza was not just a woman who liked the mountains.
95
00:06:38,880 -->
00:06:44,959
She was a materials scientist and aerospace engineer who worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion
96
00:06:44,959 -->
00:06:47,160
Laboratory, or JPL.
97
00:06:47,160 -->
00:06:52,880
Before that, she spent decades at a company called Aerojet Rocketdyne, where she co-invented
98
00:06:52,880 -->
00:06:59,760
a nickel-based superalloy called Mondalloy in the 90s, with her name on the patent coming
99
00:06:59,760 -->
00:07:01,359
in 2010.
100
00:07:01,359 -->
00:07:04,980
The mon in Mondalloy stands for Monica.
101
00:07:04,980 -->
00:07:10,160
This alloy can withstand extreme temperatures and pressures in oxygen-rich environments
102
00:07:10,160 -->
00:07:13,000
without cracking or igniting.
103
00:07:13,000 -->
00:07:18,660
And it solved a problem that the United States had been unable to solve for decades.
104
00:07:18,660 -->
00:07:24,519
How to build a rocket engine as powerful and efficient as the Russian RD-180 without having
105
00:07:24,519 -->
00:07:26,440
to buy it from Russia.
106
00:07:26,440 -->
00:07:32,980
For years, the U.S. depended on Russian-built engines to launch its spy satellites, military
107
00:07:32,980 -->
00:07:38,299
communication systems, and GPS infrastructure into orbit.
108
00:07:38,299 -->
00:07:45,920
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, that put a little bit of a kink in the U.S. and Russia's
109
00:07:45,920 -->
00:07:47,820
aerospace bromance.
110
00:07:47,820 -->
00:07:52,380
Thankfully, somebody could see the writing on the wall and started scaling up design
111
00:07:52,380 -->
00:07:58,459
of new engines, some that included Mondalloy, before the final breakup that happened in
112
00:07:58,459 -->
00:08:02,200
2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
113
00:08:02,200 -->
00:08:06,980
Because the U.S. government didn't have nice things to say about that little move, Russia
114
00:08:06,980 -->
00:08:12,720
took its toys and went home, cutting off all support for their engines, including spare
115
00:08:12,720 -->
00:08:16,019
parts, troubleshooting, and technical assistance.
116
00:08:16,019 -->
00:08:22,359
The RD-180 engines that powered our Atlas rockets were suddenly orphan technology.
117
00:08:22,359 -->
00:08:25,220
No more service, no more replacements.
118
00:08:25,220 -->
00:08:30,179
And Monica's superalloy became one of the most critical materials in the effort to build
119
00:08:30,220 -->
00:08:32,179
domestic alternatives.
120
00:08:32,179 -->
00:08:38,380
Multiple components in Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR-1 engine were made from Mondalloy.
121
00:08:38,380 -->
00:08:39,820
The Air Force funded it.
122
00:08:39,820 -->
00:08:41,260
NASA funded it.
123
00:08:41,260 -->
00:08:44,039
The alloy wasn't just for rocket engines either.
124
00:08:44,039 -->
00:08:49,340
Its ability to survive extreme conditions makes it applicable to hypersonic weapons,
125
00:08:49,340 -->
00:08:54,859
missile systems, and next-gen propulsion across the board.
126
00:08:55,059 -->
00:08:59,820
And the man who oversaw that funding at the Air Force Research Laboratory was a two-star
127
00:08:59,820 -->
00:09:05,260
general named William Neal McCasland, but we'll talk about him in a minute.
128
00:09:05,260 -->
00:09:09,719
Because Monica's disappearance was just the beginning, and the names that follow will
129
00:09:09,719 -->
00:09:13,940
show you that this is not a story about one missing hiker.
130
00:09:13,940 -->
00:09:19,299
It's a story about a pattern, a pattern that stretches across three states, spans three
131
00:09:19,299 -->
00:09:26,140
years, and touches some of the most sensitive programs in the United States government.
132
00:09:26,140 -->
00:09:32,659
Around May 4, 2025, roughly seven weeks before Monica vanished, this 78-year-old man named
133
00:09:32,659 -->
00:09:37,020
Anthony Chavez is last seen at his home in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
134
00:09:37,020 -->
00:09:43,539
Anthony had retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2017 after decades of work there.
135
00:09:43,539 -->
00:09:48,940
His specific role has never been disclosed, which, if you know anything about Los Alamos,
136
00:09:48,940 -->
00:09:51,619
tells you something all by itself.
137
00:09:51,619 -->
00:09:56,619
When family and authorities search his house, they find his wallet, his keys, and his personal
138
00:09:56,619 -->
00:10:00,059
belongings all sitting right where he'd left them.
139
00:10:00,059 -->
00:10:01,979
His car is locked in the driveway.
140
00:10:01,979 -->
00:10:05,500
No signs of forced entry, no sign of a struggle.
141
00:10:05,500 -->
00:10:09,219
Anthony Chavez simply is just gone.
142
00:10:09,219 -->
00:10:11,659
He has never been found.
143
00:10:11,659 -->
00:10:17,580
So not even two months later is when Monica disappears, and four days after that, on June
144
00:10:17,580 -->
00:10:22,179
26, 2025, 53-year-old Melissa Casillas vanishes.
145
00:10:22,179 -->
00:10:27,340
She worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory as an administrative employee, but she held
146
00:10:27,340 -->
00:10:29,219
a security clearance.
147
00:10:29,219 -->
00:10:34,700
Given the nature of what goes on behind those fences, administrative doesn't mean what it
148
00:10:34,700 -->
00:10:37,700
means at your local insurance office.
149
00:10:37,700 -->
00:10:41,700
That morning, Melissa drives her husband, Mark, to Los Alamos, where they both work.
150
00:10:41,700 -->
00:10:45,260
Now, here's a detail that doesn't get enough attention.
151
00:10:45,260 -->
00:10:49,859
The story is that Melissa tells her husband she forgot her badge and would have to work
152
00:10:49,859 -->
00:10:51,340
from home that day.
153
00:10:51,340 -->
00:10:57,539
But to enter the parking lot at Los Alamos, you need your badge to get through the gate.
154
00:10:57,539 -->
00:11:00,140
She had it when she dropped him off.
155
00:11:00,140 -->
00:11:05,140
So what happened to it between the gate and the explanation?
156
00:11:05,140 -->
00:11:09,000
At some point during the day, Melissa picks up a sandwich and drops it off for her daughter
157
00:11:09,000 -->
00:11:10,460
in Taos.
158
00:11:10,460 -->
00:11:12,739
Then she vanishes.
159
00:11:12,739 -->
00:11:18,700
She is last seen walking eastbound along a state road near Tulpa in Taos County.
160
00:11:18,700 -->
00:11:24,380
When her family gets home, they find her car, her purse, her keys, and both of her cell
161
00:11:24,380 -->
00:11:28,460
phones, her personal one and the one for work.
162
00:11:28,460 -->
00:11:35,619
Both phones had been factory reset, wiped clean, recent calls, messages, everything
163
00:11:35,619 -->
00:11:36,619
gone.
164
00:11:37,219 -->
00:11:43,260
Her family has pushed back hard against any suggestion that she left voluntarily.
165
00:11:43,260 -->
00:11:47,539
They've pointed out that she was actively planning to care for her mother during an
166
00:11:47,539 -->
00:11:49,739
upcoming surgery.
167
00:11:49,739 -->
00:11:52,500
Melissa Cassius is still missing.
168
00:11:52,500 -->
00:11:58,619
Steven Garcia, 48 years old, government contractor employed at the Kansas City National Security
169
00:11:58,619 -->
00:12:06,219
Campus facility in Albuquerque, which manufactures over 80 percent of the non-nuclear components
170
00:12:06,219 -->
00:12:10,260
that go into building the U.S.'s nuclear weapons.
171
00:12:10,260 -->
00:12:14,140
This company is directly downstream from Los Alamos.
172
00:12:14,140 -->
00:12:19,739
Basically, Los Alamos dreams it up and Kansas City National Security builds it.
173
00:12:19,739 -->
00:12:26,659
His job gave him top-secret clearance and oversight of assets worth tens of millions,
174
00:12:26,659 -->
00:12:31,780
possibly hundreds of millions of dollars, some classified, some not.
175
00:12:31,780 -->
00:12:38,020
On August 28, 2025, so just two months after Melissa goes missing, surveillance footage
176
00:12:38,020 -->
00:12:43,900
captures Steven leaving his Albuquerque home on foot around 9 a.m.
177
00:12:43,900 -->
00:12:46,080
He's carrying a handgun.
178
00:12:46,080 -->
00:12:50,780
He left behind his phone, his wallet, his keys, and his car.
179
00:12:50,780 -->
00:12:55,859
Authorities initially said he might be a danger to himself, but an anonymous source close
180
00:12:55,859 -->
00:13:01,619
to the case pushed back, describing him as a very stable person.
181
00:13:01,619 -->
00:13:04,940
Steven Garcia has not been seen since.
182
00:13:04,940 -->
00:13:11,099
That is four people, all connected to classified defense and nuclear programs, all vanishing
183
00:13:11,099 -->
00:13:15,140
from New Mexico within a span of about four months.
184
00:13:15,140 -->
00:13:20,460
And I need you to notice the pattern in how they all vanish, because it is almost identical
185
00:13:20,460 -->
00:13:21,979
in every case.
186
00:13:21,979 -->
00:13:23,440
They walk away on foot.
187
00:13:23,440 -->
00:13:27,780
They leave behind their phones, their wallets, their keys, their cars.
188
00:13:27,780 -->
00:13:29,380
No signs of a struggle.
189
00:13:29,380 -->
00:13:31,299
No evidence of forced entry.
190
00:13:31,299 -->
00:13:33,380
No ransom demands.
191
00:13:33,380 -->
00:13:34,380
No bodies.
192
00:13:34,380 -->
00:13:38,859
They just step out of their lives as though they were shedding a skin.
193
00:13:38,859 -->
00:13:43,659
And the devices that could track them, the phones that ping cell towers, the smart watches
194
00:13:43,659 -->
00:13:50,900
that log GPS coordinates, every single one of those gets left behind every time.
195
00:13:50,900 -->
00:13:53,820
It's the kind of behavior that screams deliberate.
196
00:13:53,820 -->
00:13:55,179
But deliberate by whom?
197
00:13:55,580 -->
00:13:57,859
Did these people choose to vanish?
198
00:13:57,859 -->
00:14:00,179
Were they told to?
199
00:14:00,179 -->
00:14:05,619
Or did someone who understands counter-surveillance strip them of everything traceable before
200
00:14:05,619 -->
00:14:07,179
making them disappear?
201
00:14:07,179 -->
00:14:13,679
I don't know, but keep pondering that while we head to Massachusetts.
202
00:14:13,679 -->
00:14:20,859
On the night of December 12, 2025, a 45-year-old man named Jason Thomas left his home in Wakefield,
203
00:14:20,859 -->
00:14:21,859
Massachusetts.
204
00:14:21,859 -->
00:14:27,739
Jason was an associate director of chemical biology at Novartis, working on cancer treatments.
205
00:14:27,739 -->
00:14:32,099
He and his wife had just come home from dinner with friends, and everything seemed normal.
206
00:14:32,099 -->
00:14:36,140
They took care of the dogs, and Jason tells his wife he's going for a walk.
207
00:14:36,140 -->
00:14:41,260
He opens the front door and walks down the street into the darkness, with his phone and
208
00:14:41,260 -->
00:14:44,820
his wallet still in the house.
209
00:14:44,820 -->
00:14:48,900
Surveillance footage captures him walking near train tracks shortly after midnight,
210
00:14:48,900 -->
00:14:51,340
and then he's gone.
211
00:14:51,340 -->
00:14:57,059
Three months later, in March, after the ice thaws on Lake Quinnipiac, his body is recovered
212
00:14:57,059 -->
00:14:58,539
from the water.
213
00:14:58,539 -->
00:15:01,340
No cause of death has been publicly released.
214
00:15:01,340 -->
00:15:07,580
Authorities say no foul play is suspected, but they haven't explained how he ended up
215
00:15:07,580 -->
00:15:10,179
in that lake or why.
216
00:15:10,179 -->
00:15:16,179
Three days after Jason Thomas vanished, on December 15, 2025, a man named Nuno Lorero
217
00:15:16,179 -->
00:15:21,140
is shot at the front door of his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and dies the next
218
00:15:21,140 -->
00:15:22,140
day.
219
00:15:22,140 -->
00:15:28,380
Nuno was a Portuguese physicist and director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
220
00:15:28,380 -->
00:15:32,059
He held research contracts with the Department of Energy.
221
00:15:32,059 -->
00:15:38,739
The suspect in his killing, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, shot up Brown University two
222
00:15:38,739 -->
00:15:45,099
days earlier, killing two people and injuring nine more, before hitting Nuno's front porch.
223
00:15:45,099 -->
00:15:51,539
Nuno then deleted himself the next day inside a storage unit, so we will never know for
224
00:15:51,539 -->
00:15:53,179
sure why.
225
00:15:53,179 -->
00:15:56,739
Now, Nuno and Claudio were not strangers.
226
00:15:56,739 -->
00:16:02,380
They went to college together in Lisbon many years ago, and it is said that Claudio held
227
00:16:02,380 -->
00:16:09,580
a grudge against Brown University for being too easy and having bad cafeteria food, and
228
00:16:09,580 -->
00:16:16,340
against Nuno for him achieving the life that Claudio had always wanted, but never got.
229
00:16:16,340 -->
00:16:22,140
Okay, seems a little out there, but those people certainly exist.
230
00:16:22,140 -->
00:16:25,460
Now let's flip back to California.
231
00:16:25,460 -->
00:16:32,859
Carl Grillmer was a 67-year-old Caltech astrophysicist who had spent decades working on some of NASA's
232
00:16:32,859 -->
00:16:38,900
most important missions, including the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes.
233
00:16:38,900 -->
00:16:45,219
In June of 2023, he was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space
234
00:16:45,219 -->
00:16:52,500
missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds, including Jupiter's moon Europa and
235
00:16:52,500 -->
00:16:54,739
Saturn's moon Enceladus.
236
00:16:54,739 -->
00:16:59,739
He was part of the team that discovered water on distant exoplanets.
237
00:16:59,739 -->
00:17:06,180
But by this year, he was working on the NEO Surveyor, a next-generation space telescope
238
00:17:06,180 -->
00:17:11,060
designed to detect asteroids and comets that could impact Earth.
239
00:17:11,060 -->
00:17:17,699
He built the algorithms that find cold, dark objects against the even darker and colder
240
00:17:17,699 -->
00:17:23,979
background of space by detecting the faint heat they borrow from the sun.
241
00:17:23,979 -->
00:17:27,780
Carl lived in Llano, California, out in the Antelope Valley.
242
00:17:27,780 -->
00:17:29,060
Squirrel moment!
243
00:17:29,060 -->
00:17:33,420
While I was looking for Llano, I found Lake Los Angeles.
244
00:17:33,420 -->
00:17:34,420
Where's the lake?
245
00:17:34,859 -->
00:17:37,060
I don't think it means what you think it means.
246
00:17:37,060 -->
00:17:42,699
So Carl owns almost 40 acres in the middle of nowhere, probably so he could get a decent
247
00:17:42,699 -->
00:17:44,300
view of the night sky.
248
00:17:44,300 -->
00:17:50,300
The news sources say it's the 3700 block of 165th Street East.
249
00:17:50,300 -->
00:17:55,900
Considering that there are no other houses anywhere near that spot, it's pretty easy
250
00:17:55,900 -->
00:17:58,180
to pick out his house.
251
00:17:58,180 -->
00:18:04,660
On December 20, 2025, Carl spots some random dude walking on his property with a rifle.
252
00:18:04,660 -->
00:18:08,900
Carl's wife says she thinks he's a little weird, but Carl just lets it go.
253
00:18:08,900 -->
00:18:12,900
But somebody else calls the cops, and the man is arrested.
254
00:18:12,900 -->
00:18:16,459
That man is 29-year-old Freddy Snyder.
255
00:18:16,459 -->
00:18:19,939
Freddy apparently lives a couple of miles away.
256
00:18:19,939 -->
00:18:25,380
There are only two real neighborhoods anywhere near Carl, and one would be too close to make
257
00:18:25,380 -->
00:18:31,380
that statement true, so we can pretty confidently narrow down about where Freddy is living.
258
00:18:31,380 -->
00:18:38,420
Freddy tells police he's headed to the post office and has the gun to ward off any animals.
259
00:18:38,420 -->
00:18:39,780
Seriously?
260
00:18:39,780 -->
00:18:45,459
The biggest problem with that statement is that the post office is in the other direction.
261
00:18:45,459 -->
00:18:50,900
Freddy spends three days in jail on weapons charges and is released on December 23 on
262
00:18:50,900 -->
00:18:53,140
his own recognizance.
263
00:18:53,219 -->
00:19:01,300
Two months later, on February 16, 2026, Freddy allegedly pays Carl a visit and shoots Carl
264
00:19:01,300 -->
00:19:08,260
in the chest on the front porch of his house, where he dies before paramedics can arrive.
265
00:19:08,260 -->
00:19:11,140
Investigators say the two didn't know each other.
266
00:19:11,140 -->
00:19:13,699
No motive has been disclosed.
267
00:19:13,699 -->
00:19:19,780
There remain, in the words of the investigators, a lot of unknowns.
268
00:19:19,780 -->
00:19:24,020
We still haven't gotten to the biggest name on the list.
269
00:19:24,020 -->
00:19:27,459
But first, there are two people I haven't talked about yet.
270
00:19:27,459 -->
00:19:34,099
And keep in mind that Caltech, the place where Carl worked, manages the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
271
00:19:34,099 -->
00:19:36,579
or JPL, for NASA.
272
00:19:36,579 -->
00:19:39,699
So these places are very connected.
273
00:19:39,699 -->
00:19:44,900
To first, a guy named Michael David Hicks, a research scientist at JPL who worked on
274
00:19:44,900 -->
00:19:51,780
the DART project, the mission where we literally crash the spacecraft into an asteroid to test
275
00:19:51,780 -->
00:19:54,420
whether we could deflect one.
276
00:19:54,420 -->
00:19:59,459
He dies on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59.
277
00:19:59,459 -->
00:20:03,619
And so far, no cause of death has been released.
278
00:20:03,619 -->
00:20:09,099
And Frank Maywald, a principal researcher and systems engineer at JPL who worked on
279
00:20:09,099 -->
00:20:15,339
spaceflight instrumentation and remote sensing technologies, dies a year later on July 4,
280
00:20:15,339 -->
00:20:18,459
2024, at the age of 61.
281
00:20:18,459 -->
00:20:25,420
Again, no public cause of death, and reports indicate that no autopsy was ever done.
282
00:20:25,420 -->
00:20:31,579
Two JPL scientists, dead within a year of each other, no explanations.
283
00:20:31,660 -->
00:20:39,339
And then a third JPL scientist, Monica Reza, vanishes on a hiking trail nine months after that.
284
00:20:39,339 -->
00:20:41,579
All three worked at the same place.
285
00:20:41,579 -->
00:20:48,060
Somehow, I don't think JPL is going to make Fortune Magazine's best places to work list.
286
00:20:48,060 -->
00:20:55,260
Now let's talk about the last guy, and probably the biggest reason that any of this is in the news,
287
00:20:55,260 -->
00:20:57,660
William Neil McCaslin.
288
00:20:57,739 -->
00:21:04,219
Bill is a retired United States Air Force Major General, two stars, with a Master's
289
00:21:04,219 -->
00:21:09,260
and a PhD in Astronautical Engineering from MIT.
290
00:21:09,260 -->
00:21:11,260
This guy is no slouch.
291
00:21:11,260 -->
00:21:16,859
He was also the former Director of Special Programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
292
00:21:16,859 -->
00:21:21,339
That means if the project was black, he knew about it.
293
00:21:21,339 -->
00:21:26,939
Then he takes the job of Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson
294
00:21:26,939 -->
00:21:34,459
Air Force Base in Ohio, where he oversaw a $7 billion portfolio of research into advanced
295
00:21:34,459 -->
00:21:41,420
materials including Mandaloy, directed energy weapons, space systems, and classified programs
296
00:21:41,420 -->
00:21:45,900
that most members of Congress don't even know about.
297
00:21:45,900 -->
00:21:52,459
Wright-Patterson, by the way, is the same base that housed Project Blue Book for 22 years.
298
00:21:52,459 -->
00:22:00,060
The same base that the Air Force's own 1994 Roswell Report described as a logical location
299
00:22:00,060 -->
00:22:02,859
for the study of unknown materials.
300
00:22:02,859 -->
00:22:08,939
So it makes perfect sense to have him there, since he knows all the secrets already anyway.
301
00:22:08,939 -->
00:22:13,500
And McCaslin wasn't just a retired general playing shuffleboard.
302
00:22:13,500 -->
00:22:19,579
After leaving the military, he became Director of Technology at AeroVironment, defense contractors
303
00:22:19,579 -->
00:22:25,420
building sensors, space payloads, and laser systems for the Department of Defense.
304
00:22:25,420 -->
00:22:30,859
He founded a consulting firm that advised the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.
305
00:22:30,859 -->
00:22:39,260
He sat on the board of Riverside Research, a non-profit with $450 million in active defense
306
00:22:39,260 -->
00:22:41,420
and intelligence contracts.
307
00:22:41,420 -->
00:22:48,459
He was still in the game, just as connected to the secrets as he'd always been.
308
00:22:48,459 -->
00:22:53,260
His name shows up in Wikileaks in a batch of emails from John Podesta
309
00:22:53,260 -->
00:22:57,500
on a calendar invitation for a January 2016 meeting.
310
00:22:57,500 -->
00:23:01,979
The attendee list reads like a Fox Mulder slumber party.
311
00:23:01,979 -->
00:23:08,380
John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and a long-time advocate for UFO disclosure.
312
00:23:08,380 -->
00:23:14,619
Tom DeLonge, co-founder of the 80s band Blink-182, who would later release authenticated
313
00:23:14,619 -->
00:23:19,900
Navy UAP footage through his own organization, the To The Stars Academy.
314
00:23:20,540 -->
00:23:26,540
Rob Weiss, the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works.
315
00:23:26,540 -->
00:23:30,380
They're the division within Lockheed Martin that makes all the fun stuff.
316
00:23:31,020 -->
00:23:33,900
And our friend, Major General McCaslin.
317
00:23:34,540 -->
00:23:38,859
He confirmed the meeting time himself in a direct email exchange with Podesta.
318
00:23:38,859 -->
00:23:45,420
And in a separate message, DeLonge wrote that McCaslin was in charge of the relevant laboratory
319
00:23:45,420 -->
00:23:51,339
and that when Roswell crashed, they shipped it to the laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
320
00:23:52,060 -->
00:23:56,140
Now, that is a claim, not a confirmed fact.
321
00:23:56,140 -->
00:24:03,339
But it's a claim made in writing, naming a specific general, a specific base, and a specific event.
322
00:24:03,900 -->
00:24:06,859
On the morning of February 27th, 2026,
323
00:24:06,859 -->
00:24:13,020
eight days after President Trump publicly directed the Pentagon to begin identifying
324
00:24:13,020 -->
00:24:18,939
and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life,
325
00:24:18,939 -->
00:24:25,099
Bill McCaslin leaves his home in Albuquerque on foot while his wife is gone at a doctor's appointment.
326
00:24:25,099 -->
00:24:29,979
He leaves behind his cell phone, his prescription glasses, and his wearable devices,
327
00:24:29,979 -->
00:24:34,140
which I assume means like an Apple Watch or a Fitbit.
328
00:24:34,140 -->
00:24:39,339
He takes his wallet, his hiking boots, and a .38 caliber revolver with a leather holster.
329
00:24:39,339 -->
00:24:42,619
Now, let me back up here for just a second,
330
00:24:42,619 -->
00:24:46,380
because there is another timeline going on that's kind of important.
331
00:24:47,020 -->
00:24:55,020
On February 19th, 2026, the President of the United States directs the Pentagon to release UFO files.
332
00:24:55,739 -->
00:25:02,540
February 24th, five days after that directive, the United States Navy formally denies
333
00:25:02,540 -->
00:25:08,859
a Freedom of Information Act appeal requesting the release of 78 UAP photographs.
334
00:25:09,420 -->
00:25:15,180
The Navy confirms all 78 photos exist, but they withhold every single one,
335
00:25:15,180 -->
00:25:18,060
citing classified national security information.
336
00:25:18,699 -->
00:25:19,339
Interesting.
337
00:25:19,979 -->
00:25:22,219
Why do I feel a fight brewing?
338
00:25:22,219 -->
00:25:29,020
And just as a little side coincidence, around the same window, the operator of the Black Vault,
339
00:25:29,020 -->
00:25:34,300
which is the largest civilian archive of government UFO documents in existence,
340
00:25:34,859 -->
00:25:38,780
discovers that the site's main document server has been white.
341
00:25:39,500 -->
00:25:41,979
Millions of files gone.
342
00:25:42,540 -->
00:25:47,420
The hosting provider tells him it looks like a deletion, not corruption.
343
00:25:47,420 -->
00:25:51,260
But nobody can figure out who did it and how it was done.
344
00:25:51,900 -->
00:25:57,020
Thankfully, all the files are backed up, so the site is up and running in no time.
345
00:25:57,020 -->
00:25:59,500
But then comes Friday, February 27th,
346
00:25:59,500 -->
00:26:03,180
the day that Bill McCaslin walks out of his house and vanishes.
347
00:26:03,819 -->
00:26:10,300
Investigators canvas more than 700 houses looking for security camera footage.
348
00:26:10,300 -->
00:26:14,060
Not a single camera captures him leaving the neighborhood.
349
00:26:14,699 -->
00:26:19,660
Now, I realize that not everyone has security cameras on their houses,
350
00:26:19,660 -->
00:26:24,699
but if you look at his neighborhood, I bet a good chunk of them do.
351
00:26:25,420 -->
00:26:30,300
But there are no confirmed sightings, so there's also no idea which way he went.
352
00:26:31,180 -->
00:26:38,060
His wife Susan tells the 911 operator something that has stuck with everyone who has heard it.
353
00:26:38,060 -->
00:26:40,859
She says it seems deliberate.
354
00:26:40,859 -->
00:26:44,380
She says he left his phone behind, which he never does.
355
00:26:44,380 -->
00:26:47,739
It's like he planned not to be found.
356
00:26:48,380 -->
00:26:54,060
Now, if that's the case, take a look at his neighborhood on the map and then zoom out.
357
00:26:54,780 -->
00:26:59,660
His backyard is essentially the Sandia Mountain Range.
358
00:26:59,660 -->
00:27:05,339
It's just a quick jaunt of just over a mile to get on trails leading into the mountains
359
00:27:05,339 -->
00:27:08,219
and away from everything and everyone.
360
00:27:09,180 -->
00:27:10,939
Just food for thought.
361
00:27:11,579 -->
00:27:16,699
The next day, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office issues a silver alert,
362
00:27:16,699 -->
00:27:20,140
which is like an amber alert, except it's for seniors
363
00:27:20,140 -->
00:27:24,060
who have demonstrable and irreversible cognitive decline.
364
00:27:24,699 -->
00:27:29,900
But Susan says he doesn't have Alzheimer's, wasn't confused or disoriented.
365
00:27:29,900 -->
00:27:33,500
He'd completed a 60-mile bike ride the week before.
366
00:27:34,380 -->
00:27:39,260
A lot of news outlets are jumping on the idea that maybe that's not true.
367
00:27:39,979 -->
00:27:42,060
Maybe he is having some issues.
368
00:27:42,140 -->
00:27:47,819
They point out that at some point, Bill is said to have mentioned having brain fog.
369
00:27:48,459 -->
00:27:49,739
Who doesn't?
370
00:27:49,739 -->
00:27:51,900
I know I do on a daily basis.
371
00:27:52,459 -->
00:27:59,979
So, we still have no idea why the Sheriff's Office decided to issue that silver alert.
372
00:27:59,979 -->
00:28:04,140
Investigative journalist Ross Coldheart has called McCaslin's disappearance
373
00:28:04,140 -->
00:28:07,420
a grave national security crisis,
374
00:28:07,420 -->
00:28:13,739
because that guy knows where all of the bodies in the UFO community are buried.
375
00:28:14,540 -->
00:28:17,819
So, let me pull back and show you the web.
376
00:28:18,540 -->
00:28:22,939
Monica Reza invented a super alloy that the Air Force Research Laboratory,
377
00:28:22,939 -->
00:28:27,420
under McCaslin's command, funded and developed for rocket engines.
378
00:28:27,420 -->
00:28:31,900
Melissa Cassius and Anthony Chavez both worked at Los Alamos.
379
00:28:31,900 -->
00:28:38,300
Steven Garcia worked at the Kansas City National Security Campus with heavy ties to Los Alamos.
380
00:28:38,939 -->
00:28:42,380
Nuno Larrero held Department of Energy contracts.
381
00:28:43,020 -->
00:28:47,500
Carl Gilmer worked at Caltech, which manages JPL,
382
00:28:47,500 -->
00:28:52,699
the same lab where Monica Reza, Michael Hicks, and Frank Maywald all worked.
383
00:28:52,699 -->
00:28:57,099
Jason Thomas worked at Novartis in the Boston Defense Corridor.
384
00:28:57,099 -->
00:29:01,020
Steps from MIT, where McCaslin earned his doctorate,
385
00:29:01,020 -->
00:29:04,060
and where Nuno Larrero ran the Fusion Center.
386
00:29:04,699 -->
00:29:08,140
These people didn't just work in the same general field.
387
00:29:08,140 -->
00:29:11,579
They worked in the same facilities, on the same programs,
388
00:29:11,579 -->
00:29:16,380
funded by the same agencies, during the same narrow window of time.
389
00:29:17,099 -->
00:29:21,099
But, believe it or not, this isn't the first time
390
00:29:21,099 -->
00:29:26,219
that a significant group of people working on significant defense-related programs
391
00:29:26,219 -->
00:29:28,380
have seemingly been targeted.
392
00:29:28,939 -->
00:29:34,540
Between 1982 and 1990, more than 20 scientists and engineers
393
00:29:34,540 -->
00:29:41,020
connected to GEC Marconi, a major UK defense contractor,
394
00:29:41,660 -->
00:29:47,099
died under circumstances that were, to put it mildly, hard to explain.
395
00:29:48,060 -->
00:29:50,300
These weren't ordinary deaths.
396
00:29:50,859 -->
00:29:54,780
And I need to walk you through some of them because the methods are so bizarre,
397
00:29:54,780 -->
00:29:58,780
so theatrically violent, that when you hear them in sequence,
398
00:29:58,780 -->
00:30:02,140
the word coincidence doesn't quite cover it.
399
00:30:02,140 -->
00:30:09,660
In March 1982, Dr. Keith Bowden, a senior computer scientist contracting for GEC Marconi,
400
00:30:09,660 -->
00:30:14,219
drove his car across a divided highway, off a bridge,
401
00:30:14,219 -->
00:30:18,060
and into an abandoned rail yard, coming home from a party in London.
402
00:30:18,780 -->
00:30:21,660
The authorities say Keith was driving drunk,
403
00:30:21,660 -->
00:30:25,099
and his wife and his attorney begged to differ.
404
00:30:25,819 -->
00:30:29,020
Friends said that he wasn't really drinking that much,
405
00:30:29,020 -->
00:30:33,020
and an investigator made a note that the tires on his car at the scene
406
00:30:33,660 -->
00:30:37,500
were not the same tires that had been on the car that morning.
407
00:30:38,140 -->
00:30:42,939
His pristine tires had been swapped out for worn ones.
408
00:30:42,939 -->
00:30:50,699
In August 1986, 24-year-old Vimal Dajibhai, a computer scientist at Marconi Underwater Systems,
409
00:30:50,780 -->
00:30:53,660
working on the Stingray Torpedo Control System,
410
00:30:54,300 -->
00:30:59,260
jumped 331 feet from Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge.
411
00:30:59,819 -->
00:31:03,420
He was found with his pants around his ankles,
412
00:31:03,420 -->
00:31:09,020
and a needle-sized puncture wound on his butt that the coroner called unexplained.
413
00:31:09,739 -->
00:31:10,939
His case is still open.
414
00:31:11,739 -->
00:31:16,060
Two months later, in October 1986, Arshad Sharif,
415
00:31:16,060 -->
00:31:20,140
a 26-year-old computer analyst at Marconi Defense Systems,
416
00:31:20,140 -->
00:31:24,619
ties a rope around his neck with the other end tied to a tree,
417
00:31:25,500 -->
00:31:28,060
gets into his car, and drives.
418
00:31:28,859 -->
00:31:32,540
Reports say that the day before, he'd been acting really weird,
419
00:31:32,540 -->
00:31:36,219
paying for things with unusually large denomination bills.
420
00:31:36,859 -->
00:31:38,939
That case is still open too,
421
00:31:38,939 -->
00:31:43,660
and the coroner actually called it out as being a lot like the last case.
422
00:31:44,459 -->
00:31:48,619
In January 1987, so just three months later,
423
00:31:48,619 -->
00:31:54,140
Richard Pugh, a 37-year-old computer consultant and digital communications expert,
424
00:31:54,140 -->
00:31:57,339
is found in his flat with his feet tied up,
425
00:31:57,339 -->
00:32:02,300
a plastic bag over his head, and thick rope wrapped around his body.
426
00:32:03,020 -->
00:32:07,420
Police rule his death as a sexual misadventure.
427
00:32:08,300 -->
00:32:12,859
Just two months later, in March of 1987,
428
00:32:12,859 -->
00:32:18,300
David Sands, 38, a senior scientist at a Marconi sister company,
429
00:32:18,380 -->
00:32:25,420
is driving along and makes a sudden high-speed U-turn into an empty restaurant.
430
00:32:25,420 -->
00:32:29,500
His car is packed with gas cans.
431
00:32:29,500 -->
00:32:35,979
The crash created a firewall so intense, David has to be identified by dental records.
432
00:32:36,699 -->
00:32:43,579
In August of 1988, Alastair Beckham is a 50-year-old software engineer at Plessy,
433
00:32:43,579 -->
00:32:48,140
another company that supplied advanced tech to the UK Ministry of Defense.
434
00:32:48,619 -->
00:32:52,939
Their scientists and engineers sometimes overlapped in projects.
435
00:32:53,500 -->
00:32:59,339
Alastair was working on what investigators believed were SDI pilot programs,
436
00:32:59,339 -->
00:33:02,780
that's the Star Wars program that Reagan talked about.
437
00:33:03,579 -->
00:33:08,300
Alastair is found in his garden shed with wires attached to his chest,
438
00:33:08,300 -->
00:33:11,500
plugged directly into a wall socket.
439
00:33:11,500 -->
00:33:15,099
The fuse had been bypassed so the current wouldn't trip it.
440
00:33:15,099 -->
00:33:17,660
A handkerchief is stuffed in his mouth.
441
00:33:18,300 -->
00:33:24,060
His wife says there's no way he did this to himself of his own volition.
442
00:33:24,060 -->
00:33:29,739
The Ministry of Defense clears out all of his files from his house within hours.
443
00:33:30,540 -->
00:33:35,500
That same month, John Ferry, a 60-year-old Marconi marketing director,
444
00:33:36,140 -->
00:33:41,500
apparently electrocutes himself by jamming wires into his tooth fillings.
445
00:33:42,140 -->
00:33:45,020
This is just a few of the cases in that cluster.
446
00:33:45,660 -->
00:33:51,660
Journalist Tony Collins documented 25 cases in his 1990 book, Open Verdict.
447
00:33:52,219 -->
00:33:58,939
Clive Jenkins, leader of the ASTMS Union, which is the Association of Scientific,
448
00:33:58,939 -->
00:34:04,699
Technical, and Managerial Staffs, called the death rate statistically incredible.
449
00:34:05,579 -->
00:34:08,459
Members of Parliament demanded an inquiry.
450
00:34:08,459 -->
00:34:10,699
The British government, under Margaret Thatcher,
451
00:34:10,860 -->
00:34:15,179
pooh-poohed the whole thing, saying it was all just a big coincidence.
452
00:34:15,179 -->
00:34:20,219
Just a few people having personal issues with their high-security clearance, high-stress jobs.
453
00:34:20,780 -->
00:34:23,419
And before you decide to agree with her,
454
00:34:23,419 -->
00:34:27,979
just know that multiple victims had complained before their deaths
455
00:34:27,979 -->
00:34:33,100
about being assigned impossible or unscientific tasks.
456
00:34:33,100 -->
00:34:34,780
Some of them were planning to quit.
457
00:34:35,419 -->
00:34:38,939
Others had scheduled meetings with members of Parliament.
458
00:34:38,939 -->
00:34:40,379
And after their deaths,
459
00:34:40,379 -->
00:34:44,379
Ministry of Defence teams sometimes arrived to clear out their files
460
00:34:44,379 -->
00:34:47,739
before the families could even process what had happened.
461
00:34:48,459 -->
00:34:52,459
Now, finally, we need to talk about Amy.
462
00:34:53,419 -->
00:34:58,060
Amy Catherine Eskridge, 34 years old, Huntsville, Alabama.
463
00:34:58,699 -->
00:35:01,580
She died on June 11, 2022,
464
00:35:01,580 -->
00:35:05,739
from what has been reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
465
00:35:06,300 -->
00:35:09,179
Neither the police nor the medical examiners in Huntsville
466
00:35:09,179 -->
00:35:13,179
have publicly released any details of an investigation.
467
00:35:13,179 -->
00:35:17,899
No police report, no autopsy findings, no coroner's statement.
468
00:35:18,699 -->
00:35:19,100
Nothing.
469
00:35:19,820 -->
00:35:23,179
A young woman dies, and the public record is a black hole.
470
00:35:23,739 -->
00:35:29,100
Before her death, Amy was researching and attempting to develop anti-gravity technology.
471
00:35:29,659 -->
00:35:32,540
She graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville
472
00:35:32,540 -->
00:35:35,179
with a double major in chemistry and biology.
473
00:35:35,739 -->
00:35:41,340
She became an interdisciplinarian who mastered electrical engineering,
474
00:35:41,340 -->
00:35:43,659
physics, and genetic engineering.
475
00:35:44,219 -->
00:35:49,260
She co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science with her father, Richard Eskridge,
476
00:35:49,260 -->
00:35:55,020
a retired NASA engineer who specialized in plasma physics and fusion technology.
477
00:35:55,659 -->
00:35:58,860
Together, through their company, Holocron Engineering,
478
00:35:58,860 -->
00:36:03,260
they delivered presentations about gravity modification experiments
479
00:36:03,260 -->
00:36:06,540
and historical anti-gravity research,
480
00:36:06,540 -->
00:36:10,780
including references to alleged classified programs
481
00:36:10,780 -->
00:36:14,300
developing triangular anti-gravity craft.
482
00:36:14,939 -->
00:36:19,340
Now, Huntsville is not a random place for this kind of work.
483
00:36:19,340 -->
00:36:22,459
It's one of NASA's most important hubs.
484
00:36:22,459 -->
00:36:23,659
In Amy's words,
485
00:36:23,659 -->
00:36:28,860
Now, like, Huntsville is the Silicon Valley of government national security technology
486
00:36:29,580 -->
00:36:33,419
and intelligence community technology and aerospace technology.
487
00:36:33,419 -->
00:36:39,659
And it has a very specific history with gravity research that should raise eyebrows.
488
00:36:40,219 -->
00:36:42,939
A Chinese-American physicist named Ning Li
489
00:36:42,939 -->
00:36:45,500
worked at the University of Alabama in Huntsville
490
00:36:45,500 -->
00:36:49,100
on anti-gravity theories involving superconductors.
491
00:36:49,659 -->
00:36:53,739
She left in 1999 to start a company called AC Gravity,
492
00:36:53,739 -->
00:36:56,860
reportedly funded by the Department of Defense.
493
00:36:57,419 -->
00:37:02,139
After 2003, she essentially vanished from public life.
494
00:37:02,699 -->
00:37:07,820
She was later hit by a car on the university campus in 2014,
495
00:37:07,820 -->
00:37:11,340
suffering brain damage that led to Alzheimer's.
496
00:37:11,340 -->
00:37:13,100
She died in 2021.
497
00:37:13,820 -->
00:37:16,139
The timing of that hit and run,
498
00:37:16,139 -->
00:37:21,260
occurring after years of deeply secretive DOD-funded work,
499
00:37:21,820 -->
00:37:23,979
raised considerable suspicion.
500
00:37:24,699 -->
00:37:27,979
Amy Eskridge knew this history.
501
00:37:27,979 -->
00:37:32,860
She operated in the same research community and she knew the risks.
502
00:37:32,860 -->
00:37:39,260
In 2020, Amy said she intended to present new foundational research on anti-gravity,
503
00:37:39,260 -->
00:37:43,500
but she needed authorization from NASA before doing so.
504
00:37:43,500 -->
00:37:46,939
And that authorization apparently never came.
505
00:37:47,580 -->
00:37:50,139
And then there are the things that she said on camera.
506
00:37:50,699 -->
00:37:54,860
In a 2020 podcast, the same podcast that the first clip came from,
507
00:37:54,860 -->
00:38:00,060
Amy explained that she specifically created the Institute for Exotic Science
508
00:38:00,060 -->
00:38:03,820
as a public-facing organization for one reason.
509
00:38:04,540 -->
00:38:06,939
Protection through visibility.
510
00:38:06,939 -->
00:38:07,419
Amy Eskridge, AC Gravity Researcher
511
00:38:07,419 -->
00:38:09,580
If you stick your neck out in public,
512
00:38:09,580 -->
00:38:12,540
at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off.
513
00:38:12,540 -->
00:38:15,260
If you stick your neck out in private, f*** you.
514
00:38:15,260 -->
00:38:16,699
They will bury you.
515
00:38:16,699 -->
00:38:19,580
They will burn down your house while you're sleeping in your bed,
516
00:38:19,580 -->
00:38:21,260
and it won't even make the news.
517
00:38:21,260 -->
00:38:23,020
That's why the Institute exists.
518
00:38:23,020 -->
00:38:26,300
She also said the threats against her were escalating,
519
00:38:26,300 -->
00:38:29,500
that she needed to publish her research soon.
520
00:38:30,060 -->
00:38:33,419
And during a Q&A session at one of her earlier presentations,
521
00:38:33,419 -->
00:38:37,580
audience members revealed that other scientists working in the same field
522
00:38:37,580 -->
00:38:39,899
harbored fears of disappearing.
523
00:38:40,540 -->
00:38:44,300
Not as a hypothetical, as a real concern.
524
00:38:45,260 -->
00:38:47,419
Two years later, Amy was dead.
525
00:38:47,979 -->
00:38:51,100
And the Institute for Exotic Science shut down.
526
00:38:51,100 -->
00:38:52,780
Its website went dark.
527
00:38:53,340 -->
00:38:58,379
Her father, the retired NASA engineer, has not publicly spoken.
528
00:38:58,379 -->
00:39:03,739
And almost nobody in the mainstream press reported a thing about it
529
00:39:04,300 -->
00:39:09,739
until this week, when she was identified as the 11th case in this growing list.
530
00:39:10,379 -->
00:39:13,340
But actually, since she died in 2022,
531
00:39:13,899 -->
00:39:16,459
that actually makes her the first.
532
00:39:17,260 -->
00:39:21,020
The White House has now acknowledged that these cases are, in their words,
533
00:39:21,580 -->
00:39:22,699
worth looking into.
534
00:39:23,340 -->
00:39:27,100
President Trump told reporters he just left a meeting on the subject
535
00:39:27,100 -->
00:39:29,020
and called it pretty serious stuff.
536
00:39:29,739 -->
00:39:32,219
He said he hoped that it was random,
537
00:39:32,219 -->
00:39:35,179
but that they'd have answers within a week and a half.
538
00:39:35,179 -->
00:39:38,379
That some of these people were very important.
539
00:39:39,260 -->
00:39:42,379
Congressman Tim Burchett, who sits on the Oversight Committee,
540
00:39:42,379 -->
00:39:45,100
has been briefed by, in his words,
541
00:39:45,100 -->
00:39:48,219
just about every alphabet agency there is.
542
00:39:48,860 -->
00:39:53,260
When he was asked about those cases, he didn't mince words.
543
00:39:53,260 -->
00:39:56,300
I just know there are no coincidences in this town.
544
00:39:56,300 -->
00:39:58,379
He said the only thing tying these people together
545
00:39:58,379 -->
00:40:01,659
is that they worked on things dealing with outer space,
546
00:40:01,659 -->
00:40:03,739
nuclear secrets, or missiles.
547
00:40:04,379 -->
00:40:08,060
And then he said something that stopped the interviewer cold.
548
00:40:08,620 -->
00:40:11,100
He said he'd been briefed on something two weeks ago
549
00:40:11,100 -->
00:40:15,659
that would have set the country on fire if the public had heard it.
550
00:40:15,659 -->
00:40:17,739
That people would demand answers.
551
00:40:18,620 -->
00:40:21,500
Then he added, very deliberately.
552
00:40:21,500 -->
00:40:23,739
And for the record, I'm not suicidal.
553
00:40:23,739 -->
00:40:25,100
And I don't take risks.
554
00:40:25,100 -->
00:40:28,939
When a sitting member of Congress feels the need to publicly announce
555
00:40:28,939 -->
00:40:31,739
that he's not suicidal, pay attention.
556
00:40:32,459 -->
00:40:35,580
When he tells you that the people who know things
557
00:40:35,580 -->
00:40:38,620
are dying or disappearing, pay attention.
558
00:40:39,179 -->
00:40:41,260
When the White House says they're investigating
559
00:40:41,260 -->
00:40:45,659
and the president calls it pretty serious stuff, pay attention.
560
00:40:46,300 -->
00:40:49,979
Because someone is paying very close attention
561
00:40:49,979 -->
00:40:53,179
to the people who know America's deepest secrets.
562
00:40:53,820 -->
00:40:56,860
Whatever's happening to them, it isn't over.
563
00:40:57,500 -->
00:41:00,060
So what is happening here?
564
00:41:00,860 -->
00:41:02,219
I don't have that answer.
565
00:41:02,219 -->
00:41:03,260
Nobody does.
566
00:41:03,260 -->
00:41:03,979
Not yet.
567
00:41:04,540 -->
00:41:06,780
The FBI has been asked to investigate.
568
00:41:06,780 -->
00:41:09,580
And the White House says it'll look into it.
569
00:41:09,580 -->
00:41:13,419
Now, I certainly think there are cases to be made
570
00:41:13,419 -->
00:41:16,780
that a couple of these people on the list are coincidental.
571
00:41:17,340 -->
00:41:18,780
Take Jason Thomas.
572
00:41:18,780 -->
00:41:20,939
He was involved in cancer research.
573
00:41:20,939 -->
00:41:24,139
He had nothing to do with any state secrets.
574
00:41:24,139 -->
00:41:27,820
Of course, that doesn't change the fact that his disappearance and death
575
00:41:27,820 -->
00:41:30,860
make absolutely no sense.
576
00:41:30,860 -->
00:41:36,300
But I think in the end, his is a case for David Paulides, not the White House.
577
00:41:36,860 -->
00:41:41,020
The other one I think we can cross off the list is Carl Grillmare.
578
00:41:41,020 -->
00:41:48,699
I think his is a tragic case of Freddy Snyder having some unresolved anger issues
579
00:41:48,699 -->
00:41:52,060
and taking them out on Carl because he thought it was Carl
580
00:41:52,060 -->
00:41:54,060
that put him in jail in the first place.
581
00:41:54,860 -->
00:41:57,580
But then again, and I've said this before,
582
00:41:58,459 -->
00:42:02,379
you can enlist people to do some crazy things on your behalf
583
00:42:02,379 -->
00:42:05,500
if there are enough zeros after the dollar sign.
584
00:42:06,139 -->
00:42:09,179
This is all pure speculation on my part,
585
00:42:09,179 -->
00:42:14,139
but Freddy, who is supposedly married with kids, was living with his mom.
586
00:42:14,860 -->
00:42:19,419
Maybe money was tight and he got hired to do a job.
587
00:42:19,419 -->
00:42:25,580
Maybe that first trespassing incident was Freddy coming to do the job,
588
00:42:26,139 -->
00:42:29,340
not expecting to be seen, much less arrested.
589
00:42:29,899 -->
00:42:30,860
I don't know.
590
00:42:30,860 -->
00:42:33,659
We'll have to watch the trial as it unfolds.
591
00:42:34,300 -->
00:42:38,139
But I want you to think about something for a moment.
592
00:42:38,139 -->
00:42:45,179
In the mid-1980s, 20-plus defense scientists died in Britain under bizarre circumstances,
593
00:42:45,179 -->
00:42:51,100
all connected to the same programs, all during a period of intense Cold War secrecy.
594
00:42:51,659 -->
00:42:53,899
The government said it was nothing.
595
00:42:53,899 -->
00:42:58,060
No investigation was ever opened, and the story was eventually forgotten.
596
00:42:58,939 -->
00:43:02,379
Forty years later, the same pattern is popping up.
597
00:43:03,020 -->
00:43:04,219
Different country.
598
00:43:04,219 -->
00:43:05,260
Different programs.
599
00:43:05,899 -->
00:43:07,580
Same types of people.
600
00:43:07,580 -->
00:43:09,340
Same types of work.
601
00:43:09,340 -->
00:43:13,899
Same refusal by those in charge to ask the obvious questions.
602
00:43:14,540 -->
00:43:15,580
Maybe they're right.
603
00:43:15,580 -->
00:43:17,820
Maybe it is all coincidence.
604
00:43:17,820 -->
00:43:22,860
Maybe 25 dead British scientists in the 1980s was a coincidence.
605
00:43:23,419 -->
00:43:26,780
Maybe 10 missing or dead American scientists
606
00:43:26,780 -->
00:43:32,379
with classified clearances in the span of two years is also a coincidence.
607
00:43:33,020 -->
00:43:39,260
And maybe Amy Eskridge warning on camera that people in her field are being silenced
608
00:43:39,820 -->
00:43:47,260
and then turning up dead with no investigation on record is just another tragic coincidence.
609
00:43:47,260 -->
00:43:49,100
But I don't think you believe that.
610
00:43:49,100 -->
00:43:50,459
And I don't think I do either.
611
00:43:51,260 -->
00:43:54,060
I'll be watching this one very closely.
612
00:43:54,060 -->
00:43:56,219
And I'll bring you everything I find.
613
00:43:56,219 -->
00:43:59,820
Because this story is still unfolding.
614
00:43:59,820 -->
00:44:01,820
People are still missing.
615
00:44:02,459 -->
00:44:06,139
Investigations are still supposedly active.
616
00:44:06,699 -->
00:44:10,060
And the files that the president told the Pentagon to release?
617
00:44:11,020 -->
00:44:12,620
They haven't been released.
618
00:44:12,620 -->
00:44:13,500
At least not yet.
619
00:44:14,139 -->
00:44:18,699
But keep in mind that if connections are found in these 11 cases,
620
00:44:18,699 -->
00:44:24,459
the root cause is more apt to be far more terrestrial.
621
00:44:24,459 -->
00:44:27,100
Some other bad actors in the world
622
00:44:27,100 -->
00:44:30,939
wanting to slow down the U.S.'s ability to develop new technologies.
623
00:44:31,500 -->
00:44:33,100
Wouldn't be the first time.
624
00:44:33,100 -->
00:44:36,379
And probably not the second or third.
625
00:44:36,939 -->
00:44:39,739
But what if it's not a terrestrial enemy?
626
00:44:39,739 -->
00:44:44,219
What if revelations about the universe and our part in it do come to light?
627
00:44:44,860 -->
00:44:47,979
Tim Burchett says he thinks we can handle it.
628
00:44:48,699 -->
00:44:51,659
Would the answer to Reagan's question in the 80s
629
00:44:51,659 -->
00:44:55,500
as to whether or not we as a whole planet species could come together
630
00:44:55,500 -->
00:44:59,179
to fight a common otherworldly threat be yes?
631
00:44:59,979 -->
00:45:06,379
Well, for better or for worse, we are not the same people we were in the 80s.
632
00:45:06,379 -->
00:45:09,659
And I'm not as sure about that answer as I used to be.
633
00:45:10,219 -->
00:45:12,540
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
634
00:45:13,260 -->
00:45:16,860
We may have a little more growing up to do
635
00:45:16,860 -->
00:45:20,860
before we take our seat in the Galactic Federation.
636
00:45:22,379 -->
00:45:27,979
But we here at The Inbetween sincerely pray
637
00:45:27,979 -->
00:45:30,139
that those that can be found will be.
638
00:45:30,139 -->
00:45:32,459
And that investigations uncover answers
639
00:45:32,459 -->
00:45:36,459
so that all of the families and friends of those involved can find some peace.
640
00:45:37,100 -->
00:45:41,979
I could be totally off base, but something tells me that this story is far from over.
641
00:45:42,699 -->
00:45:46,939
We will keep our eyes on it and update you if any new information comes to light.
642
00:45:46,939 -->
00:45:51,179
In the meantime, if you've had enough adulting for one day
643
00:45:51,260 -->
00:45:54,540
and you want to stay in your happy place for just a little longer,
644
00:45:55,100 -->
00:45:56,540
I'm with you.
645
00:45:56,540 -->
00:45:58,379
Just go ahead and click right here.
646
00:45:59,179 -->
00:46:00,780
Be careful out there.
647
00:46:01,340 -->
00:46:04,300
And I will see you here again on The Inbetween.
648
00:46:05,979 -->
00:46:08,699
Thanks for tuning into The Inbetween podcast.
649
00:46:08,699 -->
00:46:12,780
Enjoy the full visual experience with me over on YouTube.
650
00:46:12,780 -->
00:46:16,379
Just search for @TheInBetweenTales.
651
00:46:16,379 -->
00:46:17,419
I'm Carol Ann.
652
00:46:17,419 -->
00:46:25,580
And until next time, be careful out there.
