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Whistleblowers are undoubtedly the heroes we need in this society. They have brought out some of the most unbelievable truths in front of the world.
Although society essentially runs on the back of the common mass, the "sensitive" information remains hidden from them. From unethical practices to financial scandals, the general public always lies on the receiving end. Whistleblowers help balance the status quo of information exchange by exposing these sensational affairs.
A recent whistleblower claim that the US government has made contact with alien technology and owns similar tech has already shaken the world. The defendants of the claim are being heard in court and by Congress, and if proven true, this will become a pivotal moment in human history.
With that in mind, this article brings together some of the best whistleblower claims the world has seen to date.
7 of the biggest whistleblower claims that the world has seen
1) William Mark Felt - Watergate
The Watergate scandal was undoubtedly one of America's biggest and most controversial political scandals. The scandal became so big that it resulted in the resignation of then-US President Richard Nixon during his term in 1974.
In 1972, police caught perpetrators who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Buildings. The burglars were found wire-tapping phones and photographing campaign documents and were traced to Nixon's re-election campaign committee. Nixon's office obstructed most of the subsequent investigations by the FBI.
The Watergate scandal became a huge fiasco because of the media's attention. Two Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein reported on the scandal and multiple other illegal activities that the Nixon administration had carried out.
The journalists were supplied with the information by an anonymous informant under the pseudonym of Deep Throat, who remained hidden for the next 30 years. It was only in 2005 that William Mark Felt's family attorney revealed that he was the infamous Deep Throat, whose information had effectively toppled the Nixon regime. At the time of the scandal, Felt was the Deputy Associate Director of the FBI.
2) Frank Serpico - NYPD corruption 1971
The NYPD is one of the largest and oldest police departments in the United States of America, having been functioning since 1845. The department scored a history of brutality, misconduct, and corruption in the 60s and 70s. They paid hundreds of millions of taxpayer money in lawsuit settlements.
However, one of the most prominent instances of corruption in the NYPD got caught in the early 1970s. Frank Serpico, an NYPD detective and plainclothes police officer, exposed the extent of the corruption in the department to The New York Times, leading to national attention on the issue.
Serpico had initially reported about the same in 1967, with evidence, to his superiors, but no investigation happened. In 1970, he acted as the whistleblower and went to The New York Times, which ultimately got the ball rolling and resulted in major changes. His story was also adapted into the 1973 Al Pacino-starrer, Serpico.
3) Edward Snowden - US Mass surveillance
Mass surveillance and privacy have been a huge issue for the last few decades. Private companies like Meta and even the US government faced data breach scandals. One of the most prominent such scandals happened in 2013 when Edward Snowden became the whistleblower about mass surveillance by multiple nations across the globe.
Snowden was an American-born intelligence consultant for the NSA who previously worked with the CIA. During his tenure, he realized the unethical practices of the agency and decided to bring it to public notice.
He flew out of the States and released classified documents about multiple global surveillance programs to different journalists. This move attracted international attention and caused a global stir on the issue of privacy and security and the thin line between them.
4) Daniel Ellsberg - Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was undoubtedly one of the most prominent events in the last half-century of American history. The high casualty rates and economic impairment still echo among many Americans. Many families lost a loved one, while many soldiers lost their chance at a normal life.
However, the fact that the prolonged war was a political move changed how many people and even veterans looked at it. It was a civil war between South Vietnam and the insurgent communists of North Vietnam. With the US involvement, there were heavy casualties on both sides. The death and destruction just kept increasing as the war dragged on.
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, an American activist, economist, and military analyst, leaked highly-classified documents of a study from the Pentagon to major newspapers. The study revealed that the US had little chance of winning the war and exposed other lies about the war covered up until then, even by Congress.
5) Jeffrey Wigand - Brown & Williamson tobacco
Jeffrey Wigand acted as the whistleblower on Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation's activities in the 1990s. Brown and Williamson was a U.S.-based tobacco company that birthed many popular cigarette brands. However, the company became infamous in the 1990s when it ran into legal trouble involving adding components to increase addiction.
The tobacco company started adding external chemicals to increase overall sales and establish a returning customer base. They added ammonia to the tobacco to increase the absorption of nicotine in the lungs, alongside coumarin, a supposedly carcinogenic substance.
After Wignand's concerns went unattended and he got fired, he interviewed with CBS's 60 Minutes. The final unedited footage of the interview and Wigand's revelation of the company's misconduct made a huge impact on the public. The 1999 movie The Insider revolves around this whole story.
6) Linda Tripp - Clinton-Lewinsky scandal
Another major scandal that shook America was President Bill Clinton's affair. Clinton developed an intimate relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, in 1995. Their relationship continued for over a year and culminated in 1997.
Lewinsky confided about their affair to her colleague in the Defense Department, Linda Tripp. However, all their conversations got recorded. Tripp then acted as the whistleblower on their affair during the Clinton v. Jones case, where Paula Jones had alleged Clinton of se*ually harassing her before taking office.
7) Julian Assange (Chelsea Manning) - Wikileaks founder
Julian Assange is likely the most famous whistleblower of our times. An editor, publisher, and activist by occupation, the Australian is also the founder of WikiLeaks. Although he established the domain in 2006, it gathered traction and pulled a lot of attention in 2010 after it released some very high-profile leaks.
Thanks to Chelsea Manning, a former US Army intelligence analyst, Assange got his hands on some very classified and sensitive documents regarding USA's Iraq invasion and the Afghan war. The leaks included horrific videos along with over 500 thousand documents.
Other than the US upset, WikiLeaks has been the whistleblower for multiple large-scale scandals.
These were some of the biggest whistleblower claims that the world has seen over the last century. These claims unveiled some of the most harrowing incidents, ranging from ugly political scandals to unethical industrial practices.
