Veteran talks about UFO encounter
During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Transparency on Tuesday (September 9), U.S. Air Force veteran Jeffrey Nuseteri described an encounter with what is commonly referred to as a UFO.
Thomson Reuters
Authorities in New Mexico are conducting an extensive search for a retired U.S. Air Force general who disappeared from his home about three weeks ago.
Retired Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland, 68, was last seen on the morning of February 27 at his residence in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to a statement from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Later that day, when his wife returned home from a doctor’s appointment, she noticed that her cell phone, glasses and other personal items were missing, and she reported them missing.
Local authorities issued a Silver Alert after McCasland’s disappearance, according to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. This is a recommendation for missing persons over the age of 50 who have an “irreversible decline in intellectual capacity.” The sheriff’s office initially reported that the alert was issued for McCasland because of an unspecified “medical issue.”
At a March 16 press conference, the sheriff’s office said the Silver Alert remained in effect because McCasland had previously reported experiencing “mental fog.” However, Lt. Kyle Woods of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office emphasized that investigators do not believe McCasland was cognitively impaired at the time of his disappearance.
“There is no indication, and we do not allege, that Mr. McCasland was disoriented or confused,” Woods said. “He remains probably the most intelligent person in any room we would be in. Very intelligent, very capable, but that information was given to us early on and out of an abundance of caution, we escalated it to a Silver Alert to get as much public attention as possible and help us locate him as quickly as possible.”
The sheriff’s office said there are no confirmed sightings of McCasland and reiterated there is no evidence of criminal activity at this time. This case is still being investigated for missing persons.
Timeline of William McCasland’s disappearance
According to a timeline released by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, a mechanic spoke with McCasland at his home around 10 a.m. local time on February 27.
McCasland’s wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, left for a medical appointment at about 11:10 a.m. and returned shortly after noon to find McCasland missing, the sheriff’s office said. He left behind his cell phone, prescription glasses and wearable devices at the mansion.
According to the sheriff’s office, McCasland-Wilkerson was reported missing around 3:07 p.m. after attempting to contact family and friends, and an immediate investigation began.
The sheriff’s office said investigators later found multiple items believed to be missing from the residence, including hiking boots, a wallet and a .38 caliber revolver with a leather holster. Investigators believe he may have been wearing a light green, long-sleeved outdoor shirt at the time of his disappearance.
A gray U.S. Air Force sweatshirt was found about 2.25 miles east of the home on March 7, prompting additional search efforts in the area, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities said the sweatshirt has not been confirmed to be McCasland’s and initial tests did not detect any blood.
FBI joins search for missing retired US Air Force general
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said investigators conducted a massive search operation using drones, helicopters, K-9 teams and volunteer search teams.
Investigators also expanded the search to more than 700 homes in the neighborhood and asked for security camera footage that could help show whether McCasland left the area or what direction he was heading, the sheriff’s office said.
Despite these efforts, investigators have not seen any confirmed sightings or footage of McCasland “leaving the area or indicating direction,” the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said McCasland is an avid outdoorsman who frequently hikes, runs and bikes in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights and the Sandia foothills. McCasland is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He has white hair and blue eyes.
Investigators are asking residents and local businesses to review security camera footage from February 27 and February 28, particularly from 9am to 2pm on February 27th, and to come forward with any sightings. They are also asking hikers and others who were at the base of Sandia Mountain at the time to review GoPro or cell phone recordings that may have captured McCasland.
Officials are asking anyone who may have seen McCasland to call 911 immediately. The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office is also assisting in the investigation, but the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office remains the lead agency in the case.
McCasland’s Air Force career and Wright-Patterson’s role
According to his Air Force history, McCasland was director of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. He managed $2.2 billion in science and technology programs and $2.2 billion in additional customer-funded research and development.
He joined Wright Patterson in 2011 and left in 2013, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network. According to The Air Force Investigation into UFOs, published by Ohio State University, Dayton Air Force Base was the home of Project Blue Book in the 1950s and 1960s.
During that time, 12,618 UFO sightings were recorded, of which 701 remained “unidentified.” The U.S. government launched the project because of Cold War-era security concerns and Americans’ obsession with aliens.
McCasland held a leadership role at Wright-Patterson, and his disappearance has sparked online speculation about a possible connection to the classified program, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Earlier this month, McCasland-Wilkerson shared a statement on social media to “dispel some of the misinformation that is being spread” about her husband and her disappearance. After retiring, McCasland briefly worked on a UFO-related project with Tom DeLonge, a UFO researcher and guitarist for the band Blink-182, she said.
“It is true that Neil had a brief interaction with the UFO community through Tom DeLonge, former frontman of Blink-182 and founder of the group To the Stars,” McCasland-Wilkerson wrote. “Shortly after Neil retired from the Air Force, he worked briefly with Tom as an unpaid consultant (of Neil’s choice) on military and technical/scientific matters to lend authenticity to Tom’s novels and media work.”
She also said that Mr. McCasland had no “special knowledge of the ET bodies or debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Pat” and that “it seems highly unlikely that he was taken to extract very old secrets from him.”
Contributor: Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer
