The disappearance of a retired US Air Force general is back in the spotlight after UFO whistleblower David Grusch described what he says were the officer’s links to a disclosure campaign.
William Neil McCasland, 68, was reported missing from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 27.
Investigators found that he had left behind his mobile phone, wearable technology and prescription glasses.
More than seven months later, there was still no public explanation of where he had gone.
McCasland previously led the Air Force Research Laboratory, a major military science and technology organization responsible for billions of dollars in research. The facility has also featured prominently in long-running conspiracy theories alleging that crashed UFO wreckage and the remains of non-human beings were stored at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Grusch, a former intelligence officer who testified before Congress in 2023 that the US government had allegedly maintained programs to recover and reverse-engineer non-human craft, now says McCasland played a role in an initiative intended to make the public more receptive to possible UFO disclosure.
During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Grusch connected the alleged initiative to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign promise to release classified UFO records if she became president.
“It’s very bizarre. And it’s within a week of Trump coming out,” Grusch said, referring to McCasland’s disappearance shortly after President Donald Trump announced on February 19 that he wanted all files concerning UFOs and extraterrestrials released.
William Neil McCasland, 68, disappeared from his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on February 27, leaving his phone, wearable devices and prescription glasses behind
The retired general held senior research posts at both Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
He later became director of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson after leading the facility’s Phillips Research Site at Kirtland.
McCasland’s association with UFO-related discussions became more widely known in 2016, following WikiLeaks’ publication of hacked emails from the account of John Podesta.
One email, dated January 25, 2016, carried the subject line “General McCasland” and outlined former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge’s work with the retired officer.
DeLonge had moved into UFO advocacy, co-founding To The Stars Academy, an organization focused on unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, as well as other unexplained subjects.
In the message, DeLonge wrote that he had been working with McCasland for four months and had recently delivered a four-hour briefing on his broader project.
DeLonge also said the general understood his aims and had helped put together the project’s advisory group.
The same email repeated the longstanding allegation that material recovered from the 1947 Roswell incident was transported to Wright-Patterson, the base associated with the laboratory McCasland once commanded. However, the message offered no evidence supporting that claim.
UFO whistleblower David Grusch testified in 2023 that the US government had allegedly run secret programs to recover and reverse-engineer non-human craft; he now says McCasland was involved in efforts to build support for UFO disclosure
Speaking with Rogan, Grusch said John Podesta had authorized what he described as an “acclimatization” or “popularization” effort, which he claimed explained why DeLonge assembled a team of advisers.
“That’s why General McCasland talked to him,” Grusch added.
Podesta recently publicly acknowledged UFO discussions involving DeLonge and McCasland.
In an emailed response to PARADIGM, Podesta challenged Grusch’s explanation of their purpose.
‘That is probably not how I would characterize our interaction,’ Podesta wrote.
He recalled a conference call arranged by DeLonge that covered declassifying Defense Department files and reducing the stigma surrounding professionals taking UFOs seriously.
‘I have always maintained that the American people could handle the truth about UAPs and didn’t really need to be “acclimated,”‘ Podesta wrote.
Grusch claimed McCasland spoke with DeLonge because the former Blink-182 star could be of use.
A surveillance image shows retired Air Force general William Neil McCasland the day before he vanished without a trace on February 27
‘It was because they were given top cover to see Tom as a public figure who had the touch of the youth, rightly or wrongly,’ he told Rogan.
‘I mean, once again, there was an attempt, and I’m not going to judge them bad or good, but they were trying to prep the battlespace prior to 2016.’
McCasland’s wife, Susan Wilkerson, told local police in February that she does not believe there was any foul play involved in her husband’s disappearance, but also told 911 dispatchers it appeared the general ‘had planned not to be found.’
Local police have not had any updates in the case.
Grusch had previously claimed that McCasland was one of the officers who had been in charge of classified programs related to non-human craft recovery and reverse-engineering.
The whistleblower also alleged that McCasland had not been cooperative with lawmakers seeking to interview individuals with knowledge of America’s alleged contact with extraterrestrials.