On November 17, 1998, Albrecht suddenly showed up at his younger son's home in Springfield, New Mexico. Upon realizing that the man was his father, Ethan Albrecht, at the time 81 years old, invited him in and tried to figure out what happened. However, within hours of Dr. Albrecht's reappearance, FBI agents arrived and took him away, to his son's protest. Dr. James Albrecht was 68 years old when he was invited to join the Manhattan Project.