By Authorities in New Mexico have issued a Silver Alert for retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, a former senior commander at Kirtland Air Force Base and one-time leader of the Air Force Research Laboratory, after he was reported missing Friday morning.
The 68-year-old was last seen around 11 a.m. on February 27 near Quail Run Court NE in Albuquerque, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Officials have not released details about what he was wearing or which direction he may have traveled. Law enforcement emphasized that his safety is a priority due to unspecified medical conditions, according to reports.
McCasland is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing approximately 160 pounds, with blue eyes and gray hair. The sheriff’s office has urged anyone with information to contact its Missing Persons Unit or submit tips by text.
Col. Justin Secrest, commander of the 377th Air Base Wing at Kirtland, confirmed the base is coordinating closely with local authorities. “Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time,” Secrest told reporters.
McCasland’s disappearance has drawn attention beyond New Mexico because of his long and distinguished career in advanced aerospace research. Commissioned in 1979 after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in astronautical engineering, he held senior roles in space research, acquisition, and operations, including work with the National Reconnaissance Office. He commanded the Phillips Research Site at Kirtland and later led AFRL at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio before retiring.
In recent years, McCasland’s name has surfaced in broader public debates over unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP — formerly known as UFOs. A 2016 email from musician Tom DeLonge to John Podesta, released by WikiLeaks, referenced McCasland in discussions about UFO-related topics. DeLonge wrote that he had worked with the general for several months and claimed McCasland had led a laboratory allegedly connected to materials from the 1947 Roswell incident that were shipped to Wright-Patterson. DeLonge portrayed him as knowledgeable and supportive of efforts to address such phenomena, pushing back on suggestions that he was dismissive of the subject.
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM N. MCCASLAND – one of the "three Kings of UFO Disclosure" went missing over this last weekend – He is the former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
He was mentioned in a 2016 Podesta email as the man who ran… pic.twitter.com/p0fRJyOapu
— Joshua Reid | Redpills.tv (@realjoshuareid) March 2, 2026
The broader UAP debate intensified after July 2023 House hearings featuring testimony from whistleblower David Grusch, who alleged the government has withheld information about crash retrieval programs and possible nonhuman technology — claims the Pentagon has denied. A March 2024 report likewise rejected assertions that the U.S. possesses reverse-engineered alien craft or concealed extraterrestrial materials.
Speculation has occasionally reached into political circles. On the “Pod Force One” podcast, Lara Trump said President Donald Trump has been evasive when asked about UFOs and aliens. “We’ve kind of asked my father-in-law about this… we all want to know about the UFOs… and he played a little coy with us,” she stated. She added, “I’ve heard kind of around, I think my father-in-law has actually said it, that there is some speech that he has, that I guess at the right time, I don’t know when the right time is, he’s going to break out and talk about and it has to do with maybe some sort of extraterrestrial life.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt responded that a speech on aliens would generate enormous interest but was “news to me,” adding she would check with the speechwriting team and noting it would intrigue many, “including apparently former President Obama, too.”
Former President Barack Obama addressed similar speculation during a podcast appearance, joking, “They’re real but I haven’t seen them,” before clarifying there were no secret underground facilities holding alien evidence absent an extraordinary conspiracy hidden from presidents. In a follow-up Instagram post, he elaborated: “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
For now, however, the focus in Albuquerque remains far more immediate and personal. Authorities continue to search for McCasland and are asking the public for help in locating the retired general whose career once placed him at the center of America’s most advanced aerospace programs.
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