UFO Whistleblower Who Testified to Congress Now Warns Others: “Don’t Come Forward”
- Cristina Gomez
- Aug 1
- 3 min read
In a stunning reversal that highlights the broken promises of UFO disclosure, former Marine Michael Herrera has gone from encouraging witnesses to come forward to actively warning UFO whistleblowers against it. According to social media posts from February 2025, Herrera once declared “we need all the help we can get” and predicted that “more people will come forward with evidence.” However, just months later, according to a Cyber News report from July 2025, the same man who testified before Senate Intelligence Committees is now telling potential whistleblowers to reconsider their decision entirely. And he has also mentioned on July 31st that he will no longer be doing interviews.
According to his testimony on the Shawn Ryan Show in July 2023, he remained silent for years, bound by what he said was an NDA threatening prison or execution for speaking out. When new whistleblower protection laws passed, Herrera saw his opportunity and, according to his statements, briefed Senate Intelligence Committees, the Pentagon, and other agencies about his encounter.
The cost of speaking truth about UFOs to power proved far higher than Herrera anticipated. According to his account on the Shawn Ryan Show, his life “doesn’t get lavish” from whistleblowing — instead, “it becomes hell.” He described experiencing surveillance including “numerous encounters with helicopters hovering over my house” that would “get so low where they rattle the walls.” The harassment extended to his family, with helicopters also hovering over his father’s residence. According to Herrera’s statements, the consequences included isolation, financial strain, and constant surveillance — a price tag he never expected to pay.
Perhaps most poignantly, according to the Shawn Ryan interview, Herrera pleaded with his fellow Marines who witnessed the encounter to come forward, saying “don’t leave me hanging guys… we’re family, we’re brothers.” He acknowledged their concerns about family and children but emphasized his mission to “get the truth” out. However, his pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears, with his fellow witnesses choosing silence over the potential consequences of disclosure.
The breaking point came in July 2025 when, according to a Cyber News analysis, Herrera released a warning video telling potential whistleblowers to reconsider coming forward. In stark contrast to his earlier recruitment efforts, he stated bluntly: “If we got people who are firsthand who are coming forward, I would ask you to reconsider.” According to the video transcript, Herrera criticized lawmakers for “sitting on their hands” despite having access to firsthand witnesses who had “provided the actual intelligence” in classified briefings, only to be “screwed royally” by the system.
In Herrera’s video on X he described a devastating reality for those who risk everything for disclosure: “careers destroyed, families at risk, income obliterated.” He painted a picture of highly skilled individuals with top-level clearances finding themselves unable to use their specialized abilities elsewhere, forced to “improvise, adapt, and overcome” while the system that promised protection completely fails them. According to his warning, potential whistleblowers should understand they will be “shortchanged immensely” and that their “lives have taken a huge hit by taking a risk” with no financial compensation or benefits in return.
The irony of Herrera’s transformation is particularly stark when compared to his earlier statements. According to the Shawn Ryan Show interview, he once actively provided contact information and promised support networks for potential whistleblowers, believing the government would provide protection under new legislation. He thought disclosure was “just around the corner” and that approaching the government “in the right way” would result in protection under new laws.
According to the Cyber News analysis, what Herrera ultimately discovered was “a self-perpetuating feedback loop” where whistleblowers come forward, receive brief attention, then join a marginalized community that inspires the next generation of whistleblowers — a cycle that “burns through lives without producing the systematic change that was promised.” His journey from hope to warning, according to observers, exposes the fundamental failure of current disclosure systems and explains why potential witnesses increasingly choose “silence over sacrifice.”
Herrera’s transformation represents more than personal disillusionment — it reveals a systemic problem where those who risk everything for truth find themselves abandoned by the very institutions they sought to inform. According to his final assessment, the question remains whether he is protecting potential whistleblowers with hard-earned wisdom or whether the system has successfully silenced another voice through the simple expedient of making the cost of truth too high to bear.
