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Reports of multiple scientists connected to U.S. aerospace and defense programs who have died or gone missing since 2022 have drawn new attention following action by congressional investigators, though authorities have not confirmed any link between the cases. The House Oversight Committee on Monday requested information from several federal agencies regarding the deaths and disappearances of at least 11 researchers with ties to organizations such as NASA and private companies including SpaceX and Blue Origin. Committee Chairman James Comer and Rep. Eric Burlison sent letters to Kash Patel, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, requesting staff-level briefings by April 27, Fortune magazine reported. “If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” the letters read.

On Monday, Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said he did not believe the deaths were a coincidence. “Once you see the facts, it would suggest that something sinister could be happening and it would be a national security concern,” Comer said. He added he and Burlison were looking to “see if we can put it together and find any missing links to try to solve what’s going on here. Because it’s very unlikely that this is a coincidence. Congress is very concerned about this. Our committee is making this one of our priorities now because we view this as a national security threat.”

The White House officially acknowledged the pattern on April 15, when press secretary Karoline Leavitt was directly asked about it during a briefing. “If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into,” she responded. Later that day, President Trump told reporters, “I don’t know. Hopefully, coincidence, whatever you want to call it. But some of them were very important people,” adding he would have answers within “the next week and a half.” He added: “I just left a meeting on that subject, so pretty serious stuff.”