While officials have not confirmed any connection between the cases, the timing and the individuals’ links to advanced research fields have drawn increased public attention and speculation.
Eskridge died on June 11, 2022, in Huntsville, Alabama, at the age of 34, according to obituary records. Her death has been reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though few additional official details have been publicly released, Fox noted further.
Editor’s Note: Graphic Language
Eskridge co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science and described her work as focusing on experimental propulsion concepts, including what she called “antigravity” research.
“We discovered antigravity, and our lives went to (expletive), and people started sabotaging us,” she said in a 2020 interview with YouTuber and paranormal researcher Jeremy Rys. “It’s harassment, threats. It’s awful.
“If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off,” Eskridge added. “If you stick your neck out in private, they will bury you. They will burn down your house while you’re sleeping in your bed, and it won’t even make the news.”
In the same interview, she discussed the increasing pressure surrounding her work. “I have to publish because it’s only going to get worse until I publish,” she said, adding that the situation was “getting more and more aggressive.”
In her presentations and interviews, Eskridge noted that researchers working on unconventional technologies might experience pressure to remove their work from the public domain. She described a pattern where scientists who reported breakthroughs would “disappear” from public projects or cease publishing their findings.
Fox noted that Eskridge’s death is being cited alongside cases involving retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland, NASA scientist Monica Jacinto Reza, contractor Steven Garcia, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Nuno Loureiro, NASA engineer Frank Maiwald, Los Alamos–linked employees Melissa Casias and Anthony Chavez, NASA researcher Michael David Hicks and pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas.
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration told the outlet that the agency is looking into the deaths and disappearances.
“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants and sites and is looking into the matter,” a statement from the agency noted.
At the same time, there is no publicly available evidence linking the death of Eskridge to other recent cases, and authorities have not indicated any connection between her professional work and the circumstances surrounding her death, said Fox.
Her case has drawn attention in online and alternative technology communities, where some commentators have raised questions about the details. However, those claims remain unverified and are not supported by official findings, the outlet added.
