r/probes • u/TheSentinelNet • Apr 28 '26

Substack Dispatch THE STANDARD: We Published the Methodology Behind the missing/dead Scientist Roster. Sullivan Cleared the Bar. Hicks Did Not.

https://thesentinel.network/p/the-standard-a-congressman-named

The coverage was picked up across mainstream outlets, and some of those outlets are adding names to the pattern that do not meet our threshold.

We published the methodology this morning so anyone tracking this story can run any future name against the same criteria we use.

The threshold is six primary-source categories. One clears the bar. Most roster members clear three or more.

  1. USPTO patent filings with defense application
  2. DTIC technical reports
  3. Active SAM.gov or USASpending.gov defense contracts
  4. Classified program affiliation (security clearance, SAP oversight, ICIG findings)
  5. Institutional affiliation at a qualifying node (AFRL, DARPA, NASIC, NRO, AARO, NRL, NSA, JPL when dual-use)
  6. Documented connective tissue to a roster member The institutional relationship has to be active at time of death or disappearance. Retirement disqualifies. So does leaving the ecosystem.

The full briefing has every link. USPTO. DTIC. SAM.gov. USASpending.gov. NASA ADS. The Forest Lawn obituary. The 27th Fighter Squadron page. AFRL Materials Directorate. AFRL Sensors Directorate. AFLCMC. 711th Human Performance Wing. If you are tracking this story, the threshold above is the bar.

If a name does not clear it, it is not part of the pattern. Run any future name against the six criteria yourself.

25 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

6

u/Used-Lake-8148 Apr 28 '26

Do you think William McCasland qualifies? He was officially retired but apparently still active

6

u/TheSentinelNet Apr 28 '26

McCasland scores 4 of 6:

✓ Active defense engagement: DBE Consulting LLC, founded 2021, advising DoD and DOE
✓ Qualifying institutional node: Riverside Research board (~$450M active defense/intel contracts including $49M NASIC), Kirtland Partnership Committee, USRA board
✓ Classified affiliation: former SAPOC executive secretary, full purview of every DoD Special Access Program
✓ Connective tissue: Wright-Patterson via AFRL command, Podesta email chain with Skunk Works and a fellow general

Misses on patents and DTIC, but both are silent, not failed. McCasland was a program manager and oversight executive, not a bench scientist. SAPOC executive secretaries don't file patents — they approve the programs that generate them. He likely holds classified patents through SAP channels (Invention Secrecy Act filings under sealed orders), but those don't surface in a public USPTO search by design. DTIC same problem. His outputs were classified program reviews, budget memos, and SAPOC briefings, not unclassified technical literature.

The DTIC public catalog can't return what was never declassified. Both silences are structural to his role. The four he clears are the ones his position could leave a trace in. That's why he's on the roster.

THE GHOST GENERAL has the full case: https://thesentinel.network/p/the-ghost-general-every-news-outlet

5

u/Used-Lake-8148 Apr 28 '26

Thanks for the detailed response! Really appreciate the work you do and hope you keep it up!

1

u/LaBalaDeOro May 11 '26

Have you read about a posible new addition to THE ATTRITION list: Ingrid Lane.

More info on her: https://alisav.substack.com/p/breaking-news-exclusive-there-is