Neil McCasland

Early life and education McCasland grew up in an Air Force family, the son of Lieutenant William H. and Robin McCasland. His father was killed in a flying accident when he was young, and his mother eventually remarried another airman, Lieutenant William R. Casey.

McCasland went on to attend the United States Air Force Academy, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in astronautical engineering in 1979. He went on to receive a full scholarship from the Hertz foundation, and attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a Master's degree in aeronautical engineering estimation and controls in 1980. He returned to MIT in 1985 to complete a doctorate in astronautical engineering. Dedicated to his late father, McCasland's thesis was supervised by Richard Battin, primary designer of the Apollo program guidance computer.

In 1992, he moved to Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, serving as director of mission planning for the Aerospace Data Facility through 1994. After a hiatus in 1995 to attend Air War College, he returned to Buckley to command the operations squadron at the ADF through 1997. In 2000 he took control of the Space Based Laser Project Office at LA AFB as Systems Program Director, before moving to Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico a year later to begin a three-year stint as materiel wing director, Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate, and commander of the Phillips Research Site.

In May 2011, McCasland left Washington for his final posting, assuming command of Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, a position he held until his retirement in October 2013.

Since 2013 McCasland has been an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

In June 2019, McCasland joined the board of trustees for Riverside Research, a not-for-profit "chartered to advance scientific research for the benefit of the United States government and in the public interest".

McCasland is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The archive of documents was obtained from a data breach by Fancy Bear, a hacking group that the United States Government alleges is associated with military intelligence assets of the Russian Federation.

Podesta's involvement in UFO disclosure initiatives is well documented throughout his service in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, and he was also purportedly involved in the Tom DeLonge-led To The Stars, a nonprofit associated with the UFO disclosure movement. Other speculation focused on a relationship between McCasland and Michael Duggin, an Australian-American scientist with AFRL at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico who spent years of his Air Force career researching UFO phenomena.

Personal life Early in his Air Force career McCasland married San Diego native Susan Wilkerson. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In the 2024 United States presidential election, McCasland endorsed Kamala Harris.

Disappearance According to the Albuquerque Journal, the 68-year-old McCasland was reported missing on Friday, February 27, 2026, by New Mexico's Bernalillo County sheriff's office, which issued a silver alert. It is unknown what he was wearing or where he was heading. BCSO spokesperson Deanna Aragon said in a news release: Due to his medical issues, law enforcement is concerned for his safety,On Sunday afternoon, Aragon said New Mexico Search and Rescue was assisting with the investigation. His phone, prescription glasses, and wearable devices were located at the residence, but missing items included his hiking boots, wallet, and a .38 caliber revolver. Police also said he suffered from an unspecified medical condition. McCasland's disappearance is a central element in the missing scientists conspiracy theory, which posits that UFOs are somehow related to a number of missing and dead scientists.

As of April 2026, his disappearance is under investigation as part of a White House probe into people with high government clearance and scientists who have died or disappeared in recent years, including Monica Jacinto, a materials engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech astronomer Carl Grillmair, and MIT fusion scientist Nuno Loureiro, among others.