On 20 April 2026, NewsNation research producer Rob Jones posted on X referencing a House Oversight Committee investigation into deaths and disappearances among scientists connected to U.S. classified defence programs. Jones named Dr. Ning Li — a physicist who conducted anti-gravity research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville under NASA and Department of Defense funding — and stated that she had died after her work transitioned into classified contracting.
Representative Eric Burlison, a member of the House Oversight Committee with access to classified briefings on UAP-related programs, replied: "That's a good point. I forgot about Dr. Ning Li."
The exchange was brief. It was also the most recent moment in a decades-long record that, unlike the speculation that has surrounded Li's name online, is extensively documented in the public domain.
This article presents that record. It draws exclusively on primary government documents and peer-reviewed publications.
The Theoretical Foundation: Li and Torr, 1991–1993
Dr. Ning Li worked as a physicist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research. From 1991, she collaborated with physicist Douglas G. Torr on a series of peer-reviewed papers proposing a theoretical mechanism for generating measurable gravitomagnetic fields using high-temperature superconducting materials.
The three publications were:
- Effects of a Gravitomagnetic Field on Pure Superconductors, Physical Review D, January 1991
- Gravitational Effects on the Magnetic Attenuation of Superconductors, Physical Review B, September 1992
- Gravitoelectric-Electric Coupling via Superconductivity, Foundations of Physics Letters, August 1993
All three appeared in peer-reviewed mainstream physics journals. The underlying proposition was that ions within a superconducting material, if sufficiently aligned, could produce a gravitomagnetic field — a force interacting with gravity itself.
Around the same time, and working independently, Russian physicist Eugene Podkletnov at Tampere University of Technology in Finland published results claiming measurable gravitational shielding above a rotating superconducting disc. His initial findings appeared in Physica C in 1992, co-authored with R. Nieminen. Li and Torr's theoretical framework and Podkletnov's experimental claims were substantively distinct but occupied the same scientific territory.
The NASA Programme: Cooperative Agreement NCC8-124
In December 1996, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) entered into Cooperative Agreement NCC8-124 with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Dr. Ning Li was named as the programme's lead researcher. The agreement ran from 4 December 1996 to 3 December 2000, and was administered through UAH's Consortium for Materials Development in Space.
The programme's objective was to construct and test the experimental apparatus necessary to investigate whether gravity modification effects could be measured above a levitated, rotating superconducting disc — a direct continuation of the theoretical work Li had published with Torr, and a formal attempt to evaluate Podkletnov's reported results.
Responsibilities were divided between the two institutions. UAH, under Li's direction, was principally responsible for fabricating the superconducting discs. MSFC was responsible for the rotation mechanism, cryogenic systems, and levitation magnets.
What UAH Accomplished
The Final Report of Cooperative Agreement NCC8-124, authored by Dr. Li, documents the programme's outcomes in task-by-task form.
Under Task 1 — the primary UAH obligation — Li's team produced what the report describes as "the first United States 12-inch superconductivity disk of 1-2-3 superconducting material." The fabrication process required mastering powder preparation, die procurement, cold pressing, heat-treating, and materials characterisation. Developing a reliable press procedure alone required approximately twenty attempts.
Two usable 12-inch, 1-2-3 superconductivity discs were ultimately produced. The report states that, to the programme's knowledge, this was the first time discs of that size and quality had been fabricated in the United States. The report acknowledges the contribution of MSFC's press capabilities to that outcome.
Li also, under Task 3, established the UAH superconductor test laboratory from scratch — procuring and configuring three operational furnaces and developing instrumentation for superconductivity measurements across temperature ranges. The report notes that work of comparable scope would ordinarily be measured in years; under the agreement, it was completed within the first twelve months.
What Was Never Done
Task 7 — Superconductor Tests — was the programme's intended culmination: experiments using levitated, rotating discs, potentially with radiofrequency illumination, and a suite of instruments capable of detecting small changes in a gravitational field.
Those experiments were never carried out.
The Final Report's closing section is direct on the cause. After an initial year of activity, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center discontinued its own contributions to the cooperative scope. Without continuation funding and without MSFC completing its assigned tasks — specifically the rotation mechanism — the planned experiments could not proceed.
The report's final sentence on the matter: "It is unfortunate that these fine superconducting specimens were never used in the desired experiments."
What the Documents Establish
Cooperative Agreement NCC8-124 is a government document. Its contents are not contested. What it establishes is the following:
Between 1996 and 2000, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center formally co-funded and directed a programme to investigate whether gravity could be measurably modified using superconducting technology. The programme operated at the University of Alabama in Huntsville under the direction of Dr. Ning Li, whose theoretical work in this area had appeared in peer-reviewed journals from 1991 onwards. The programme succeeded in fabricating the central experimental component — superconducting discs of a size and quality not previously achieved in the United States. The programme was terminated before any of the intended experiments using those discs were conducted, due to MSFC's discontinuation of its own programme obligations.
The question of why a programme that had produced its key deliverable was terminated before the experiments it was designed to enable were carried out is not answered by the document itself.
On the Record: Her Son's Account
The dominant online narrative — that Dr. Ning Li defected to China, taking American-funded research with her — has a named, on-record rebuttal. In July 2023, journalist Noah Logan of the Huntsville Business Journal tracked down Li's son, George Li, and published his account directly.
George Li stated that his mother had never left the United States and had never returned to China. He confirmed that she had continued working for the Department of Defense after departing UAH, and that the nature of that work meant she was not permitted to discuss it publicly. He also stated that Chinese government representatives had approached her in 2008 and attempted to recruit her back to China — and that she had declined. The U.S. government, George Li said, had also prohibited her from travelling to China, even to visit family.
George Li's account was published by the Huntsville Business Journal on 30 July 2023, under the headline "Uncovering the Mystery of Huntsville's Brilliant Anti-Gravity Scientist."
Congressional Context, 2026
The House Oversight Committee investigation referenced by Rob Jones on 20 April 2026 concerns scientists connected to U.S. classified defence programmes who have died or disappeared in recent years. A bipartisan letter signed by members of Congress sought information from the Department of Energy, Department of War, FBI, and NASA about such cases.
Representative Eric Burlison's response — that he had forgotten about Dr. Ning Li — occurred in the context of that investigation. Burlison has previously accessed classified UAP-related briefings and engaged with whistleblower testimony in that capacity.
Whether Dr. Li's work falls within the scope of that investigation, and what records relevant to her programme may remain classified, is not established by currently available public documentation.