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Amy Eskridge, a Huntsville, Alabama–based researcher who died in 2022, is now being cited as the 11th case in a growing list of scientists who have died or disappeared under unusual circumstances.
Her death has drawn renewed attention as at least 10 other recent cases involving individuals tied to U.S. military, nuclear and aerospace research have prompted questions about whether any pattern exists.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “just left a meeting” on the issue and vowed answers within days, calling the situation “pretty serious.”
“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half,” Trump told reporters.
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An F-1 engine used on NASA’s Saturn V rocket is displayed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, a hub for aerospace and defense research where Amy Eskridge lived and worked. (Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
While officials have not confirmed any connection between the cases, the overlap in timing and the individuals’ ties to advanced research fields has fueled growing public attention and speculation.
Eskridge died June 11, 2022, in Huntsville, Alabama, at the age of 34, according to obituary records. Her death has been reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though limited official details have been publicly released.
Eskridge co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science and described her work as focused on experimental propulsion concepts, including what she referred to as “antigravity” research.
“We discovered anti-gravity and our lives went to (expletive) and people started sabotaging us,” she said in a 2020 interview with Youtuber Jeremy Rys. “It’s harassment, threats. It’s awful.”
“If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off,” Eskridge said. “If you stick your neck out in private, they will bury you. They will burn down your house while you’re sleeping in your bed and it won’t even make the news.”
In the same interview, she described what she characterized as escalating pressure surrounding her work.
“I have to publish because it’s only going to get worse until I publish,” she said, adding that the situation was “getting more and more aggressive.”
Melissa Casias is another of the 11 scientists whose deaths or disappearances are now in question. (Sierra Casias)
Michael David Hicks is another of the scientists who went missing or died under mysterious circumstances. ()
In presentations and interviews, Eskridge also suggested that researchers working on unconventional technologies could face pressure to move their work out of the public domain, describing what she saw as a pattern in which scientists who reported breakthroughs would “disappear” from public work or stop publishing.
Eskridge’s death is being cited alongside cases involving retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland, NASA scientist Monica Jacinto Reza, contractor Steven Garcia, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Nuno Loureiro, NASA engineer Frank Maiwald, Los Alamos–linked employees Melissa Casias and Anthony Chavez, NASA researcher Michael David Hicks and pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas.
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told Digital it is investigating the deaths and disappearances.
“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter,” a statement from the department said.
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At the same time, there is no publicly available evidence linking Eskridge’s death to those cases, and authorities have not indicated any connection between her work and the circumstances of her death.
Her case has also become the subject of speculation in online and alternative technology communities, where some commentators have raised questions about the circumstances surrounding her death. Those claims, however, remain unverified and are not supported by official findings.
