UFO and antigravity
Claims that UFO and antigravity researchers have been murdered, driven to suicide or made to disappear have circulated for decades. The historical record does contain several striking deaths and disappearances involving people associated with UFO investigation, unconventional propulsion or gravity-modification research.
Page outline Jump by section
Introduction
Claims that UFO and antigravity researchers have been murdered, driven to suicide or made to disappear have circulated for decades. The historical record does contain several striking deaths and disappearances involving people associated with UFO investigation, unconventional propulsion or gravity-modification research. What it does not presently establish is a single, coordinated programme of eliminating such researchers.
The cases vary sharply. Atmospheric physicist James E. McDonald, one of the most scientifically credentialled UFO investigators of the 1960s, died by suicide in 1971 after an earlier suicide attempt. Physicist Ning Li genuinely withdrew from public view after pursuing controversial superconducting gravity research, but later reporting based on her family found that she had not vanished into a secret programme: she suffered severe injuries after being struck by a vehicle and died in 2021. Eugene Mallove was unquestionably murdered, but criminal proceedings tied his killing to a dispute surrounding a rental property rather than his unconventional-energy work. Amy Eskridge’s 2022 death is more difficult to assess publicly because comparatively little official documentation has been released and allegations that she feared for her safety resurfaced in 2026.[ncas.org]files.ncas.orgHuntsville Business Journal…
The most useful way to approach the subject, therefore, is not to start with a supposed “death list”. It is to examine what each person actually researched, what is reliably known about the death or disappearance, where the suspicious interpretation originated and whether independent evidence supports a connection.
Four cases at the centre of the story
James E. McDonald: a real UFO scientist, but weak evidence of foul play
James Edward McDonald is unusually important because there is no serious dispute over either his scientific credentials or his sustained UFO research. He was an atmospheric physicist and professor at the University of Arizona whose conventional work included cloud physics, weather modification and atmospheric processes. During the 1960s he also became one of America’s most prominent advocates for rigorous scientific investigation of unidentified flying objects. His surviving papers include correspondence, interviews, UFO reports and extensive Project Blue Book material. An American Meteorological Society obituary confirms his academic career and his death on 13 June 1971.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgLegacy.com+3files.ncas.org+3Huntsville Business JournalHuntsville Business Journal…
That combination — respected scientist, outspoken UFO advocate and relatively young death — has inevitably generated suspicions. McDonald challenged official and academic treatments of UFO reports and argued that some unexplained cases deserved much more serious attention. Later conspiracy accounts have therefore suggested that his death removed an inconvenient scientific voice.
The documented circumstances, however, strongly complicate that interpretation. Historical accounts record that McDonald had already made a serious suicide attempt in May 1971, leaving him temporarily blinded. He died the following month, and contemporary accounts treated his death as suicide. That prior attempt is important evidence: a theory that he was secretly killed because of his UFO work has to explain why the apparent murder was preceded by a separately documented attempt on his own life.[Wikipedia]WikipediaJames E. Mc DonaldThe documented circumstances, however, strongly complicate that interpretation. Historical accounts record that McDonald had already made…
There is nevertheless a legitimate historical question underneath the conspiracy claim. McDonald encountered resistance and institutional hostility while investigating UFOs, and his archive documents his disputes over governmental handling of the subject. Institutional obstruction, professional stigma and homicide are not the same allegation, however. Evidence for the first does not automatically support the second.
Ning Li: the famous “disappearance” that was not a disappearance
Ning Li became one of the most frequently cited names in antigravity lore because her scientific work was real and unusually provocative. Working at the University of Alabama in Huntsville with Douglas Torr, she explored possible gravitational effects associated with superconductors. A 1992 paper in the American Physical Society’s Physical Review B examined gravitational effects in the magnetic behaviour of superconductors, placing at least part of the underlying research firmly in the peer-reviewed scientific record.[Physical Review Journals]journals.aps.orgNing Li became one of the most frequently cited names in antigravity lore because her scientific work was real and unusually provocative…
Li subsequently pursued more ambitious ideas involving high-temperature superconductors and possible gravity-modification effects. She left the university environment and continued work through AC Gravity LLC. Public information then became sparse. Over time, the absence of publications and interviews evolved online into a much stronger claim: Li had supposedly “disappeared” after discovering antigravity, perhaps into a classified US programme or after being removed by some interested party.
Reporting in Huntsville eventually supplied a much less exotic explanation. Journalist Noah Logan contacted Li’s son, George Men, who said his mother had been struck by a vehicle while crossing the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus in 2014. According to that account, she suffered lasting brain damage and required care for the remaining years of her life. Her obituary records that she died peacefully on 27 July 2021, aged 79.[Huntsville Business Journal]huntsvillebusinessjournal.comReporting in Huntsville eventually supplied a much less exotic explanation. Journalist Noah Logan contacted Li's son, George Men, who sai…
This case is especially instructive because the mystery was partly manufactured by an information vacuum. Li really did stop appearing publicly. Her research really was unusual. Huntsville really is a major US aerospace and defence centre. Those facts were enough for speculation to fill the intervening years. Once a family member supplied a mundane but tragic account, the original “missing antigravity scientist” narrative largely collapsed.
Nothing in the publicly available evidence proves that Li’s early gravity research was correct, either. Her published physics and subsequent antigravity claims should not be conflated: establishing that a physicist conducted legitimate research involving gravitational phenomena is different from demonstrating a working gravity-cancellation technology.
Amy Eskridge: the case with the largest unresolved public-information gap
Amy Catherine Eskridge is currently the most consequential case for people arguing that antigravity researchers have been targeted. Her obituary identifies her as a 34-year-old Huntsville scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science. It describes her scientific interests as unusually broad and confirms her University of Alabama in Huntsville background. She publicly discussed gravity modification and unconventional propulsion before her death on 11 June 2022.[Legacy.com]legacy.comamy eskridge obituaryAmy Catherine Eskridge is currently the most consequential case for people arguing that antigravity researchers have been targeted. Her o…
Public reporting describes her death as having been ruled a suicide. The controversy intensified dramatically in April 2026 when former British military intelligence officer Franc Milburn said Eskridge had previously sent him messages expressing fear for her safety and specifically telling him not to believe a future report that she had killed herself. Those claims do not by themselves establish homicide: they document what Milburn says Eskridge believed before her death. But they are plainly more relevant to assessing suspicious circumstances than the retrospective internet speculation surrounding many other names on alleged researcher “death lists”.[CRBC News]crbcnews.comPublic reporting describes her death as having been ruled a suicide. The controversy intensified dramatically in April 2026 when former B…
There are still major evidential limitations. The full investigative record is not readily available in the public domain, and widely accessible reporting has not produced a comprehensive police case file or autopsy record allowing outsiders to independently reconstruct the death. Her obituary itself does not specify a cause of death. That gap helps explain why competing narratives have persisted.[Legacy.com]legacy.comamy eskridge obituaryAmy Catherine Eskridge is currently the most consequential case for people arguing that antigravity researchers have been targeted. Her o…
The most defensible assessment is therefore narrower than either side’s strongest claim. It is reasonable to say that Eskridge’s death merits more careful documentary scrutiny than cases created entirely from online coincidence. It is not presently justified to state as fact that she was killed because of antigravity or UFO-related research. Her reported warnings are evidence of apprehension, not evidence identifying an attacker or proving a motive.
Eugene Mallove: a murder whose investigated motive points elsewhere
Eugene Mallove is sometimes folded into the same mythology because he championed controversial energy research, particularly cold fusion, and criticised what he regarded as institutional suppression of unconventional scientific results. Cold fusion is not antigravity and Mallove was not principally a UFO researcher, so his inclusion already illustrates how alleged “suppressed scientist” lists tend to broaden over time.
There is no question that Mallove’s death was violent. Connecticut authorities recorded his 14 May 2004 death in Norwich as a homicide and at one stage offered a $50,000 reward for information.[CT.gov]portal.ct.gov50000 reward being offered from homicide investigation norwich 2004There is no question that Mallove's death was violent. Connecticut authorities recorded his 14 May 2004 death in Norwich as a homicide an…
But unlike a genuinely unexplained researcher death, Mallove’s case ultimately generated an extensive criminal record. Connecticut court documents describe investigators focusing on people connected with tenants whom Mallove had recently evicted from the property where he was killed. Chad Schaffer later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while Mozelle Brown was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A 2025 Connecticut appellate decision recounts the rental-property dispute and the prosecution’s evidence.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govBut unlike a genuinely unexplained researcher death, Mallove's case ultimately generated an extensive criminal record. Connecticut court…
That does not make every detail of the crime simple, but it fundamentally changes its evidential status. Suggesting that Mallove was murdered is accurate. Suggesting that he was murdered because of his research requires a second proposition for which the criminal proceedings offer no comparable support.
Older UFO deaths became templates for later conspiracy claims
The idea that unconventional researchers are deliberately silenced predates today’s antigravity discussion. Morris K. Jessup and James McDonald became two early archetypes: intellectually serious men associated with UFO investigation whose deaths were subsequently reinterpreted through the mysteries they had studied.
Jessup was an author with a background in astronomy whose 1955 book The Case for the UFO discussed advanced propulsion and gravitational concepts. He also became entangled — largely through correspondence sent to him and an annotated edition of his book — with what later became known as the Philadelphia Experiment legend. His 1959 death from carbon-monoxide poisoning was ruled a suicide. UFO literature subsequently transformed the combination of his unusual interests, Navy contacts and death into suspicions that he had learned something dangerous.[UFOUAP]ufouap.commorris jessupJessup was an author with a background in astronomy whose 1955 book The Case for the UFO discussed advanced propulsion and gravitational…
The pattern is worth noticing because it recurs. First comes unusual research. Then some contact with military, government or aerospace organisations. If the individual subsequently dies young, withdraws from public view or experiences personal difficulties, the normal gaps in the historical record become interpreted as evidence of suppression.
That reasoning has a built-in weakness: the same absence of information is used both to create the mystery and to protect it from disproof. If records are available, unusual details are interpreted as evidence. If records are unavailable, their absence becomes evidence of secrecy. Such a structure can produce a compelling story without ever producing a falsifiable case.
The 2026 “dead and missing scientists” wave widened the claim dramatically
The subject acquired new political significance in 2026 after online commentators began linking a much wider collection of deaths and disappearances involving people associated with US nuclear, aerospace and defence work. The disappearance of retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland on 27 February 2026 became a particular focus because of his senior aerospace background and previous indirect connection to UFO-disclosure circles. Authorities issued a Silver Alert and treated him as a missing person, while reporting noted medical concerns and no publicly established UFO-related motive.[People.com]people.comretired air force general linked to ufo research goes missing 11918672The subject acquired new political significance in 2026 after online commentators began linking a much wider collection of deaths and dis…
On 20 April 2026, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and Representative Eric Burlison formally requested information from federal agencies regarding reports that at least ten people connected with US nuclear secrets or rocket technology had died or disappeared. The committee itself carefully called those public reports “unconfirmed”. Its intervention means the wider phenomenon cannot simply be dismissed as an obscure internet rumour: federal legislators genuinely asked agencies to examine it. It does not, however, mean Congress established that the cases are linked, still less that UFO or antigravity research is the common cause.[Oversight Committee]oversight.house.govOn 20 April 2026, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and Representative Eric Burlison formally requested information from fed…
That distinction became blurred in online retellings. The expanding lists mixed together scientists, engineers, military officials and other personnel from different organisations and disciplines. Some cases involved disappearances, others natural or otherwise explained deaths, others killings with identifiable suspects, and still others suicides. Reputable reporting examining the wave found no established evidential connection tying the cases into a single UFO, antigravity or foreign-intelligence operation.[theguardian.com]theguardian.comThat distinction became blurred in online retellings. The expanding lists mixed together scientists, engineers, military officials and ot…
The April 2026 death of paranormal author and UFO personality David Wilcock illustrates how quickly that process can operate. Wilcock had publicly discussed the alleged pattern of dead and missing researchers. He himself died by suicide on 20 April 2026, a death confirmed through the Boulder County authorities and reported by mainstream entertainment and news outlets. His death was almost immediately incorporated into the very theory he had been discussing. The available reporting, however, describes a documented mental-health crisis immediately preceding his death rather than evidence of an external attacker.[People.com]people.comdavid wilcock dead paranormal youtuber writer 11956298The April 2026 death of paranormal author and UFO personality David Wilcock illustrates how quickly that process can operate. Wilcock had…
Why apparently compelling “researcher death lists” are difficult to interpret
A list of names can look statistically extraordinary without having been assembled by a statistically valid method. The central problem is selection after the fact. There is no fixed, independently defined population called “UFO and antigravity scientists” against which a mortality or disappearance rate can readily be calculated. Researchers can be added because they worked on UFOs, gravity, propulsion, nuclear science, energy, aerospace, classified programmes or simply an institution that once handled such work.
Once the category expands that far, millions of scientists, engineers, military personnel and technical workers become possible candidates. A death list can then select only the unusual outcomes while ignoring the overwhelming majority who retire, change fields, continue publishing or die from ordinary causes. The Guardian’s examination of the 2026 controversy highlighted precisely this denominator problem, noting that striking clusters can emerge when observers begin searching retrospectively through a very large population.[The Guardian]theguardian.comThe Guardian+2Vanity FairThat distinction became blurred in online retellings. The expanding lists mixed together scientists, engineers, military officials and ot…
Three recurring errors matter especially:
- Research adjacency becomes research identity. Someone who worked in aerospace, nuclear technology or a classified programme may be described later as an “UFO scientist” even when there is no evidence that UFOs formed part of his or her professional research.
- Institutional secrecy becomes evidence of homicide. Classified work can explain why career details are unavailable, but classification alone does not demonstrate that a subsequent death was caused by that work.
- A suspicious death becomes a suspicious motive. Murder, disappearance or suicide may warrant investigation in its own right. Connecting that event specifically to antigravity or UFO research requires additional evidence of motive, perpetrators, threats, surveillance, documents or other causal links.
Mallove’s case demonstrates the last point especially well. His murder was real; the evidential dispute concerns why he was murdered. Ning Li demonstrates the first two: her unusual research and loss of public visibility were real, while the inference that she had been “disappeared” was wrong.[Justia Law]law.justia.comMallove's case demonstrates the last point especially well. His murder was real; the evidential dispute concerns why he was murdered. Nin…
What would constitute stronger evidence of deliberate suppression?
A credible case for systematic targeting would need more than a sequence of unusual deaths. Investigators would look for independent links between cases: the same organisation, intermediary, threat source, surveillance activity, financial trail, classified programme, method of attack or documentary record.
For an individual case such as Eskridge’s, particularly valuable evidence would include contemporaneous police and medical-examiner records, authenticated communications predating the death, documentation of reported threats, corroborating witnesses and evidence showing that an alleged threat concerned specific research rather than an unrelated personal issue. Her reported pre-death messages are potentially relevant because they are said to predate the event, but their significance depends on authentication, context and corroboration.[CRBC News]crbcnews.comPublic reporting describes her death as having been ruled a suicide. The controversy intensified dramatically in April 2026 when former B…
For a broader pattern, investigators would also need a defined comparison group. If researchers in sensitive aerospace or nuclear fields really suffer unexplained deaths or disappearances at an abnormal rate, that should be demonstrable against the much larger population of similarly employed people. Simply counting selected cases cannot answer that question.
The 2026 congressional enquiries could therefore become important even if they ultimately find no conspiracy. Agency responses might clarify whether supposedly mysterious cases were already explained, whether any remain genuinely unresolved and whether federal investigators have identified connections invisible in the public record. As of August 2026, the House request itself documents concern and a demand for information; it does not document a finding that a coordinated campaign exists.[Oversight Committee]oversight.house.govOn 20 April 2026, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and Representative Eric Burlison formally requested information from fed…
The strongest conclusion the record currently supports
There is a genuine historical intersection between UFO investigation, unconventional propulsion research, secrecy and several troubling personal outcomes. Some of the people involved were legitimate scientists rather than merely paranormal personalities. Some worked in areas close enough to defence and aerospace research that secrecy was unsurprising. And a small number of cases contain unresolved public-information gaps that warrant careful examination.
But the individual cases do not presently add up to demonstrated systematic assassination or disappearance.
James McDonald’s death is strongly contextualised by a documented prior suicide attempt. Ning Li, perhaps the most famous “vanished antigravity scientist”, was located through her family history and had suffered catastrophic injuries rather than disappearing into a clandestine programme. Eugene Mallove was murdered, but the resulting criminal prosecutions point towards a property dispute rather than scientific suppression. Amy Eskridge remains the most evidentially interesting antigravity-related case because of the reported warnings preceding her death and the limited public investigative record, yet no publicly demonstrated evidence currently establishes homicide or a research-related perpetrator.[wikipedia.org]WikipediaJames E. Mc DonaldThe documented circumstances, however, strongly complicate that interpretation. Historical accounts record that McDonald had already made…
The recent wave of concern over missing or dead US scientists deserves the same discipline. Congress has asked questions, federal investigators have looked at individual cases, and some disappearances remain unresolved. Those are facts. The proposition that the people were targeted because they knew about UFO propulsion, antigravity technology or a concealed breakthrough remains, on the public evidence available so far, an allegation rather than an established explanation.[Oversight Committee]oversight.house.govOn 20 April 2026, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and Representative Eric Burlison formally requested information from fed…
Amazon book picks
Further Reading
Books and field guides related to UFO and antigravity. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.
The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry
Cited by the New York Review of Books as "the best brief for visitation," this classic study presents an analysis of UFO reports and conc...
UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Re...
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Impeccably researched, this riveting journalistic investigation separates fact from fiction, and documents th...
The Demon-Haunted World
Rating: 4.5/5 from 43 Google Books ratings
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the renowned astronomer and author of Cosmos comes a “powerful [and] stirring defense of informed ration...
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Are we on the brink of a new Dark Age of irrationality and superstition? In this book, the writer shows how scientific thinking is necess...
eBay marketplace picks
Marketplace Samples
Live-tested eBay searches with available results related to this page.
Selected fromUFO poster oneBay.co.uk.
Endnotes
1.
Source: files.ncas.org
Title: Legacy.com+3files.ncas.org+3Huntsville Business Journal
Link:https://files.ncas.org/mccarthy/obit.html
Source snippet
Huntsville Business Journal...
2.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: James E. Mc Donald
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._McDonald
Source snippet
The documented circumstances, however, strongly complicate that interpretation. Historical accounts record that McDonald had already made...
3.
Source: journals.aps.org
Title: Physical Review Journals
Link:https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.5489
Source snippet
Ning Li became one of the most frequently cited names in antigravity lore because her scientific work was real and unusually provocative...
4.
Source: huntsvillebusinessjournal.com
Title: Huntsville Business Journal
Link:https://huntsvillebusinessjournal.com/news/2023/07/30/solving-the-mystery-of-huntsvilles-brilliant-scientist-disappearing/
Source snippet
Reporting in Huntsville eventually supplied a much less exotic explanation. Journalist Noah Logan contacted Li's son, George Men, who sai...
5.
Source: legacy.com
Title: amy eskridge obituary
Link:https://www.legacy.com/us/[obituaries
Source snippet
Amy Catherine Eskridge is currently the most consequential case for people arguing that antigravity researchers have been targeted. Her o...
6.
Source: crbcnews.com
Title: CRBC News
Link:https://www.crbcnews.com/articles/69e9d358941f2f577a2091b7
Source snippet
Public reporting describes her death as having been ruled a suicide. The controversy intensified dramatically in April 2026 when former B...
Published: April 2026
7.
Source: portal.ct.gov
Title: 50000 reward being offered from homicide investigation norwich 2004
Link:https://portal.ct.gov/despp/press-releases/2009/50000-reward-being-offered-from-homicide-investigation-norwich-2004
Source snippet
There is no question that Mallove's death was violent. Connecticut authorities recorded his 14 May 2004 death in Norwich as a homicide an...
Published: May 2004
8.
Source: jud.ct.gov
Title: Connecticut Judicial Branch
Link:https://www.jud.ct.gov/lawjournal/Docs/Appellate/2025/5/ap230_8631.pdf
Source snippet
But unlike a genuinely unexplained researcher death, Mallove's case ultimately generated an extensive criminal record. Connecticut court...
9.
Source: ufouap.com
Title: morris jessup
Link:https://www.ufouap.com/case-files/morris-jessup/
Source snippet
Jessup was an author with a background in astronomy whose 1955 book The Case for the UFO discussed advanced propulsion and gravitational...
10.
Source: people.com
Title: retired air force general linked to ufo research goes missing 11918672
Link:https://people.com/retired-air-force-general-linked-to-ufo-research-goes-missing-11918672
Source snippet
The subject acquired new political significance in 2026 after online commentators began linking a much wider collection of deaths and dis...
11.
Source: oversight.house.gov
Title: Oversight Committee
Link:https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-burlison-seek-information-on-missing-nuclear-and-rocket-scientists/
Source snippet
On 20 April 2026, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and Representative Eric Burlison formally requested information from fed...
Published: April 2026
12.
Source: theguardian.com
Title: The Guardian+2Vanity Fair
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/25/conspiracy-theory-ufo-scientists-white-house
Source snippet
That distinction became blurred in online retellings. The expanding lists mixed together scientists, engineers, military officials and ot...
13.
Source: people.com
Title: david wilcock dead paranormal youtuber writer 11956298
Link:https://people.com/david-wilcock-dead-paranormal-youtuber-writer-11956298
Source snippet
The April 2026 death of paranormal author and UFO personality David Wilcock illustrates how quickly that process can operate. Wilcock had...
Published: April 2026
14.
Source: law.justia.com
Link:https://law.justia.com/cases/connecticut/court-of-appeals/2025/ac46658.html
Source snippet
Mallove's case demonstrates the last point especially well. His murder was real; the evidential dispute concerns why he was murdered. Nin...
Additional References
15.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QatWn2nMQnw
Source snippet
What Happened to Amy Eskridge? | Anti-Gravity, Exotic Science, and Conspiracy Theories...
16.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSs-GI75nF8
Source snippet
Cold Fusion, conspiracy - & Dr Eugene Mallove...
17.
Source: youtube.com
Title: NASA Anti-Gravity Files Revealed: The Ning Li Story
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADUHLhrmEys
Source snippet
Amy Eskridge Predicted Her Own Death – Before Becoming 1 of 11 Scientists Now Dead or Missing...
18.
Source: youtu.be
Title: Red Panda Koala’s UFO History Archive
Link:https://youtu.be/fZvcZfNz45c?si=4yYHys5xIw5Fqso6
Source snippet
"Ning Li" anti gravity OR superconductor The disappearance of America's leading anti-gravity researcher...
19.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Cold Fusion, conspiracy
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP4iv3YMi4s
Source snippet
"James E McDonald" UFO James E. McDonald: The UFO Scientist Who Wouldn’t Back Down...
20.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The disappearance of America’s leading anti-gravity researcher
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsbz8_G9WcU
Source snippet
NASA Anti-Gravity Files Revealed: The Ning Li Story...
21.
Source: youtube.com
Title: JULIAN DOREY Clips
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_PI6RBldj4
Source snippet
Amy Eskridge on how NASA covers up Antigravity Red Panda Koala’s UFO History Archive...
22.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Exodus From Earth
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCFSS5NjGPs
Source snippet
The Mysterious Death of Dr Eugene [Mallove Cold Fusion]({{ 'cold-fusion-timing/' | relative_url }}) Advocate #news blinkica...