MBC’s Surprise: Mystery Salon, which aired on June 28, revisited several unexplained cases involving experts working in highly sensitive fields such as aerospace, nuclear technology and national defense.
One of the most shocking incidents occurred on June 22 last year when Monica Reza, 60, disappeared while hiking with a friend in California’s Angeles National Forest. She reportedly disappeared within seconds without a trace. Monica Reza had worked as a NASA rocket scientist and had previously led a rocket engine project supported by the US Air Force.
Just four days later, another scientist, Melissa Casias of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, also disappeared under unusual circumstances. The woman reportedly left the house without taking any personal belongings with her, including her phone and purse. Local media later reported that all data stored on his mobile phone, including contacts and messages, had been permanently deleted.
The series of incidents continued in December 2025 when Professor Nuno Loureiro, a respected authority on nuclear fusion research, was found dead of a gunshot wound in his home.
The mystery deepened eight months later. On February 27 of this year, US Air Force scientist William Neil McCasland was reported missing. McCasland had overseen the same rocket engine project previously managed by Monica Reza and had previously served as director of a research laboratory beneath Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, a facility long associated with rumors that debris from the 1947 Roswell UFO crash was secretly stored there.
According to the television program, a total of 13 scientists linked to national security-related research – including nuclear science, aerospace and defense technology – have died under mysterious circumstances or disappeared in the past year.
The broadcast also referenced the 2022 death of anti-gravity and UFO researcher Amy Eskridge. Before her death, she reportedly told close acquaintances that if reports ever said she had taken her own life, they should not believe it.
Because many of the cases involve limited evidence, unexplained disappearances, and scientists working on classified technologies, some conspiracy theorists have suggested that alien abductions could be responsible.
Singer and TV personality Lee Chan-won noticed another unusual coincidence during the program. He pointed out that in June last year – the same month that several disappearances began – a powerful radio signal was reportedly detected from NASA’s Relay 2 satellite, which had lost communication nearly 60 years earlier after being launched in the 1960s.
Comedian Kwak Beom argued that the number of incidents was too high to be considered a coincidence. He speculated that some scientists might possess highly classified information and could be eliminated because of what they knew.
Panelist Park So-young added that stories involving alleged alien abductions often feature scientists as primary targets, further fueling online speculation.
Although no evidence has confirmed any connection between the cases or supported theories involving extraterrestrials, the incidents have attracted widespread public interest. Some reports also say that US President Donald Trump said in April that the matter seemed “pretty serious” and indicated that an investigation would be launched.
Sources: Daum
