NM - Retired Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, 68, who led Air Force Research Laboratory, Bernalillo County, 27 February 2026

[diggndeeperstill]

"Wearable Devices"???
"...he vanished between 11 a.m. and noon, while his wife was out of the house for an appointment. His phone, glasses and "wearable devices" were found in the home. His wallet, hiking boots and a .38-caliber revolver are unaccounted for."
(Bbm)
^ Retired Air Force general vanishes in 1-hour window from home, gun and wallet missing 03.13.26

Which specific wearable devices* were found in the home?
smartwatches? (Email? Texting? Tracking specific medical factors? Financial transactions/ account balances?
fitness trackers?
smartglasses?
Can GoPro's send data to the cloud?
What about hearing aids?
Smart rings, other jewelry?
What else?

Why leave any or all of these behind at home?
Or why not take any or all w him?

====================================================
*".. a category of small electronic and mobile devices with wireless communications capability designed to be worn on the human body and are incorporated into gadgets, accessories, or clothes. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the skin, where they detect, analyze, and transmit information such as vital signs, and/or ambient data and which allow in some cases immediate biofeedback to the wearer..."
^ Wearable technology - Wikipedia

I consider these things as to why leave those.

1. He was going to end his life where he wanted, possibly on a hike that would take awhile and he didn’t want to be stopped.

2. He was meeting someone where those wouldn’t be allowed. (Can’t explain the gun though, would those be allowed at that type of meeting? Maybe?)

3. Someone else took him and wanted it to look like he left on his own.

4. Ok remote- he wanted to go off grid

5. Further remote- he went deep undercover with DOD.

Without knowing what it is like with the secrets he has and has kept, I can only base my theory on my own knowledge. Also, if there were some recent diagnosis like cancer, that could substantiate my theory. Or were there problems in life, marriage that had him down? Easily depressed?

 

[Ontario Mom]

"Wearable Devices"???
"...he vanished between 11 a.m. and noon, while his wife was out of the house for an appointment. His phone, glasses and "wearable devices" were found in the home. His wallet, hiking boots and a .38-caliber revolver are unaccounted for."
(Bbm)
^ Retired Air Force general vanishes in 1-hour window from home, gun and wallet missing 03.13.26

Which specific wearable devices* were found in the home?
smartwatches? (Email? Texting? Tracking specific medical factors? Financial transactions/ account balances?
fitness trackers?
smartglasses?
Can GoPro's send data to the cloud?
What about hearing aids?
Smart rings, other jewelry?
What else?

Why leave any or all of these behind at home?
Or why not take any or all w him?

====================================================
*".. a category of small electronic and mobile devices with wireless communications capability designed to be worn on the human body and are incorporated into gadgets, accessories, or clothes. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the skin, where they detect, analyze, and transmit information such as vital signs, and/or ambient data and which allow in some cases immediate biofeedback to the wearer..."
^ Wearable technology - Wikipedia

Wearable devices could be a number of things from smart watch to dedicated heart rate monitor.
It hasn't been clarified in the MSM exactly which devices those are, but leaving them behind means a complete inability to be digitally tracked.

IMO, the General didn't want anyone to know where he went that day.

 

[sunshineray]

Wouldn't they know by now what direction he walked off? If not he was probably picked up.

"Investigators also found a gray U.S. Air Force sweatshirt approximately 1.25 miles east of McCasland's residence on March 7. While no blood was found during initial processing, additional analysis remains pending. It is not clear whether the sweater belongs to McCasland..."

How long does it take to determine if his DNA is in that sweater? They should know by now.

Missing Air Force general update: gun missing, sweater found

The FBI is now involved in the search for William Neil McCasland, a retired U.S. Air Force major general who went missing in New Mexico two weeks ago.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Via Marple]

I consider these things as to why leave those.

1. He was going to end his life where he wanted, possibly on a hike that would take awhile and he didn’t want to be stopped.

2. He was meeting someone where those wouldn’t be allowed. (Can’t explain the gun though, would those be allowed at that type of meeting? Maybe?)

3. Someone else took him and wanted it to look like he left on his own.

4. Ok remote- he wanted to go off grid

5. Further remote- he went deep undercover with DOD.

Without knowing what it is like with the secrets he has and has kept, I can only base my theory on my own knowledge. Also, if there were some recent diagnosis like cancer, that could substantiate my theory. Or were there problems in life, marriage that had him down? Easily depressed?

How about, for some unexpected reason he had to get out of his home quickly - with a gun on him?

Edit to try to make more sense

 

[Bluewing3102]

Im thinking of the possibility he went off alone to end his life. You don't just bring hiking boots and a gun if you were going on a hike and wanted to protect yourself. A common problem seen among long-time government employees with access to highly classified material is they get paranoid. Paranoid that someone is watching, that they know too much, etc. Maybe the news about releasing info about UFOs and aliens and whatnot triggered him into a state of paranoia.

 

[Traymar]

The glasses really confuse me. Had he taken those, I would definitely think self harm. But I'd like to know how often he walked or hiked without them. If that wasn't unusual, then I'm back to self harm.

 

[Trino]

The glasses really confuse me. Had he taken those, I would definitely think self harm. But I'd like to know how often he walked or hiked without them. If that wasn't unusual, then I'm back to self harm.

It would be interesting to understand what was going on in NM's mind and if there were problems at home. What had he said, thought about lately? Surely, the idea of suicide is a biggie with the gun and ID so why aren't things related to suicide being investigated?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I'm sure it's all being investigated. What else can they do besides searching, including with drones, which I believe they have done? There are many cases of people lost in desert areas.

 

[sunshineray]

Why no word, from family or LE, if that Air Force sweatshirt was McCasland's or not? That seems very odd to me. A retired Air Force Major General goes missing and you just happen to find an Air Force sweatshirt 1.5 from his home? What are the odds on that? Then there's testing for blood on the sweatshirt, there's none but there's no testing DNA at all on it, to rule in or out it was his? It doesn't take that long to do. So why no conclusion on that? Or is there and they just don't want to say? Why would that be? They have said though that they searched the area around the sweatshirt, obviously haven't found him or we'd know, right? What possible reason to not say definitively...it's his sweatshirt, it's not his or no usable DNA found on it? Not even his wife saying he owned one like it or not?

Has anyone heard something on social medias about that sweatshirt yet?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Why no word, from family or LE, if that Air Force sweatshirt was McCasland's or not? That seems very odd to me. A retired Air Force Major General goes missing and you just happen to find an Air Force sweatshirt 1.5 from his home? What are the odds on that? Then there's testing for blood on the sweatshirt, there's none but there's no testing DNA at all on it, to rule in or out it was his? It doesn't take that long to do. So why no conclusion on that? Or is there and they just don't want to say? Why would that be? They have said though that they searched the area around the sweatshirt, obviously haven't found him or we'd know, right? What possible reason to not say definitively...it's his sweatshirt, it's not his or no usable DNA found on it? Not even his wife saying he owned one like it or not?

Has anyone heard something on social medias about that sweatshirt yet?

The media coverage on this has been odd, that's for sure. I'd guess by now they know if the shirt is his or not.

 

[byo]

He lives a couple hundred feet from a frontage road for hwy 556.

 

[Walela]

I'm beginning to think he was highly motivated into disappearing perhaps by a warning from a trusted source and he has gone to ground. moo

 

[Lisbeth_S]

As usual, when the information put out is sketchy, I immediately think they already have an idea of what may have happened.
And I am absolutely not thinking conspiracy theories. In a few cases lately where things didn't make sense and info seemed confusing, it ended up being self harm, so I am still thinking that's the direction this case is going.
But I may well be wrong.

I'm hoping the family will get answers soon.

 

[Ontario Mom]

He lives a couple hundred feet from a frontage road for hwy 556.

I've been up and down his dead-end street of Quail Run Court on google maps to see if there's anything useful like ring or security cams. A lot of the housefronts are not viewable though.

 

[RedHaus]

As usual, when the information put out is sketchy, I immediately think they already have an idea of what may have happened.
And I am absolutely not thinking conspiracy theories. In a few cases lately where things didn't make sense and info seemed confusing, it ended up being self harm, so I am still thinking that's the direction this case is going.
But I may well be wrong.

I'm hoping the family will get answers soon.

Right.

This is the 4th oddly mysterious dissappearance case I've sleuthed here the past few months that has ended with no bodies found but suspected suicide - on a temperate mountain, in the Atlantic off a beach, and in the Pacific off a cliff. And I still believe this is another... on a desert mountain.

It happens. Suicide seems to be a common answer to the question why someone disappears into the wild. They saught and found peace in nature.

IMO.

 

[al66pine]

Why no word, from family or LE, if that Air Force sweatshirt was McCasland's or not? That seems very odd to me. A retired Air Force Major General goes missing and you just happen to find an Air Force sweatshirt 1.5 from his home? What are the odds on that? Then there's testing for blood on the sweatshirt, there's none but there's no testing DNA at all on it, to rule in or out it was his? It doesn't take that long to do. So why no conclusion on that? Or is there and they just don't want to say? Why would that be? They have said though that they searched the area around the sweatshirt, obviously haven't found him or we'd know, right? What possible reason to not say definitively...it's his sweatshirt, it's not his or no usable DNA found on it? Not even his wife saying he owned one like it or not?

Has anyone heard something on social medias about that sweatshirt yet?

Bbm @sunshineray Thx for your post.
Yes, seems like sufficient time has elapsed for DNA results to be available by now.
Yes, it's possible that DNA on the sweatshirt did not match McCasland's or the results are inconclusive
And if so, maybe LE will not release that info.

Kirtland Air Force Base employs over 23,000 people.

Kirtland Air Force Base - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There could be a lot of Air Force sweatshirts on road shoulders, trails, trailheads, anywhere in ABQ, NM.

If a photo of the Air Force sweatshirt was publicly released, I've missed it. Anyone?

 

[acutename]

The general's wife posted the following on Facebook, which I find oddly worded and quite strange.....
She also has a strange song on YouTube posted about 5 years ago about her man going missing.....

"Neil McCasland has now been missing for one week. There has been no indication whatsoever of where he might be. There have been dozens of searchers on foot, both official and friends and neighbors of Neil's, who coordinate with the official sources. There have also been horseback searchers, drones with different capabilities, helicopters, three different types of search dogs, neighborhood canvassing and looking for Ring or wildlife videos. Organizations involved are Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office

(BCSO) which is the lead organization, Albuquerque field office of the FBI, NM State Search and Rescue, Albuquerque Mountain Rescue, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Albuquerque Police Department, and maybe others of which I am unaware. I am so grateful to one and all for their unflagging dedicated efforts and support.

I would like to take this opportunity to dispel some of the misinformation circulating about Neil and his disappearance, mostly from uninformed media sources.

1. The initial Silver Alert from BCSO mentioned medical conditions, which some have taken to mean Alzheimer's. Neil is at some risk, but not from dementia. He was not confused and disoriented.
2. There was no concerning Friday-morning telephone call to a close relative. I have been in contact with all of his close relatives and some not-so-close ones. This is a complete fabrication.
3. It is true that when Neil was in the Air Force, he had access to home highly classified programs and information. He retired from the AF almost 13 years ago and has had only very commonly held clearances since. It seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him.
4. It is true that Neil had a brief association with the UFO community through Tom DeLonge, former frontman for Blink-182 and founder of the organization To The Stars. Neil worked with Tom for a bit shortly after his Air Force retirement as an unpaid (Neil's choice) consultant on military and technical/scientific matters to lend verisimilitude to Tom's fiction book and media activities. After the Russians hacked John Podesta's emails (see Neil's Wikipedia page), there was less contact with Tom and the community pushing for release of UFO information. This connection is not a reason for someone to abduct Neil. Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt. Though at this point with absolutely no sign of him, maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership. However, no sightings of a mothership hovering above the Sandia Mountains have been reported.

All the thoughts and prayers from around the country are much appreciated. I will update if/when any real information comes in."

wow she has a sense of humor.
wouldn't he usually tell her or leave her a note when going out (time leaving/where going/estimated time of return? (don't all us WS's do that?)

 

[acutename]

I would be happy to start a search group if anyone else on here is from albuquerque new mexico? Still curious about how they know he went on a hike and how well the area he assumed to be hiking in was searched.

what kind of temperatures are there locally?
(Didn't WS just have a FL law professor disappear in... TN? hiking where he grew up...)

 

[acutename]

Is NM nearsighted? Can he see where he's going without his glasses? Does he only have the 1 pair? Does he alternate with contact lenses? or....are the glasses just for reading?

What are the additional items? helmet? waterbottle? trailmix? protein bar? space blanket? daypack? keys?
Is there money in the wallet? bank card? or ID only?

he's got to have sun glasses IMO

 

[diggndeeperstill]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/15/us/wright-patterson-air-force-base

Renewed attention is falling on the base after the disappearance of retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, a former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson whose career placed him at the center of some of the Pentagon’s most advanced aerospace research.

The US Air Force has repeatedly deniedany extraterrestrial technology or “alien bodies” were ever in their possession. But Donald Schmitt, the lead investigator at the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, says he believes the government is not telling the truth.

“We are presently up to 30 deathbed confessions, all admissible in a court of law, attesting that it did happen.

McCasland, the missing general who retired nearly 13 years ago, once commanded the laboratory. Marik Von Rennenkampff, a former national security analyst during the Obama administration who also worked for the Department of Defense, described it as “where all the super secret research happens.”

The base is also home to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, which analyzes foreign aerospace systems and emerging threats.

President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post in February he was directing the Pentagon and other federal agencies to release government records related to extraterrestrial life and UFOs.

“My personal hope is that he is found safe and happy, and maybe he just got lost in the woods,” Elizondo, the former Department of Defense intelligence officer, said.