A former FBI agent speculated about multiple theories regarding the string of disappearances and deaths of several U.S. scientists, even suggesting the involvement of a weapon meant to put people into a state of depression or induce paranoia.
During an interview this week with NewsNation’s Brian Entin, former FBI agent Ben Hansen discussed the cases of retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William McCasland and Melissa Casias, a former staffer at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
While some theorists have suggested that the missing or dead scientists had a connection to UFO research, Hansen doubted direct UFO involvement in McCasland’s case.
“Well, there haven’t been any UFO sightings, you know, around here recently. So, I don’t think he was taken aboard or something like that,” the former FBI agent said.
McCasland went missing from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in February. He is believed to have left home with a .38-caliber revolver at the time of his disappearance.
He had been involved in aerospace research throughout his career but had been retired for at least 13 years, according to a March Facebook post from his wife.
Hansen speculated about one theory that he says he has “nothing to support” it involving a weapon that could potentially alter someone’s emotional frame of mind by making them depressed or paranoid.
The former FBI agent drew comparisons to the idea that energy weapons are responsible for individuals experiencing symptoms associated with Havana syndrome.
“If that is possible, is it possible that foreign adversaries are targeting U.S. military or contractors and employees for some other new sort of a weapon of some sort?” Hansen said.
“Infrasound below our normal thresholds is well established that it can give you feelings of paranoia, being watched, anxiety, fear. You can … induce that in people,” Hansen said. “It was rumored, in the Venezuelan extraction, right, of Maduro, it was rumored that we had used such a thing to get into the compound.”
Hansen noted the reported behaviors of McCasland, who apparently was “not himself” and “acting anxious” the night before. However, he said that this was not the case for Casias, who reportedly “appeared normal” before she disappeared.
Hansen found it strange that her phones were said to have been reset and left behind.
“That is not normal. Nobody does that unless you’re trying to hide something or hide being found or tracked,” he said.
On May 30, the New Mexico State Police announced the identification of the missing Los Alamos National Laboratory employee’s remains.
“Through coordination with the Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI), the individual has been positively identified as a missing person, Melissa Casias,” the police said in a statement. “The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined. The remains will undergo further anthropological examination by OMI.”
A hiker discovered the human remains, now identified as Casias’, in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest on May 28, according to the report. The New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was notified about the hiker’s discovery, and investigators also learned that a handgun was found alongside the remains.
The state police began investigating Casias’ disappearance after she was reported missing on June 26, 2025, when she failed to arrive at work and did not return home that evening after visiting her daughter at work.
Casias’ family became concerned for her welfare after noticing she had not taken her purse, identification and phones with her, the state police said.
“The evidence, it looks like at least what they’re willing to share with us, is very weird,” Hansen said about Casias’ disappearance and death. “You know … the official kind of statements that they say her body was skeletonized, it’s been not quite a year.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
