Guides

Scenario Walkthroughs

Four common fact patterns followed step by step through the analyses and sample documents.

Version 1.10, October 2026. Cases were checked in Westlaw, including KeyCite history and pin cites, and statutes and regulations against official sources, in October 2026. Legal information, not legal advice; check every citation before relying on it. How citations are checked · Changelog.

Four common fact patterns, followed step by step through the analyses and forms. The facts are invented. Each step names the time limit that controls it.

1. A former contractor engineer wants to come forward

An engineer worked for eight years at a defense contractor on a special access program she believes involved recovered non-human material. She left the company two years ago, still holds a clearance in inactive status, and wants to tell Congress what she saw.

  1. First meeting. Before she says anything of substance, tell her not to disclose classified information to counsel unless counsel is cleared and in an authorized setting, and take a written acknowledgment (Issue C4 §4; Form C4-1). Work from unclassified descriptions.
  2. Exposure review. Assess her criminal exposure for anything she kept or said (Issue C3) and for her own past conduct in the program (Issue D3). If she has documents at home, arrange their return through security channels before anything else (Form C3-1, paragraph 1).
  3. Channels. Send counsel’s letter to AARO to confirm the §3373b mechanism in writing (Form C1-1). On the site’s premise that AARO is part of the concealment, use the AARO channel only for its legal protection and make the substantive disclosure at the same time to the DoD Inspector General or the ICIG. If she was a Department of War contractor, PURSUE is available as well (Issue C1).
  4. Congress. Testimony to a committee should come only after a proffer agreement or an immunity order is in place if her own conduct is at issue (Issue B3; Form B3-2). The Attorney General must have 10 days’ notice of a committee’s request for an immunity order (18 U.S.C. §6005(b)(3)).
  5. Reprisal. If the company or the government acts against her clearance or her new employer’s contract position, calendar the deadlines at once: 90 days for an agency appeal of a clearance decision under 50 U.S.C. §3341(j), and 3 years for a contractor-employee complaint under 10 U.S.C. §4701 (Form C1-2).
  6. Clearance. If a Statement of Reasons arrives, the answer is due within 20 days and must request a hearing (Issue C5; Form C5-1). Volunteer work for a UAP research group should be reported if her agency requires it.
  7. Publication. Anything she writes or says publicly about her work goes through prepublication review first (Issue B4; Form B4-1).

2. A commercial pilot is grounded after reporting an object

A first officer reports an object that paced the aircraft for four minutes at cruise altitude. Two weeks later the airline removes him from flight duty pending a “fitness for duty” evaluation.

  1. Preserve the data. Send the preservation letter the same day to the FAA, NORAD, the relevant military commands, and the airline (Form D4-1). Radar and sensor recordings may be kept only briefly.
  2. AIR21. A report of a hazard to flight safety is protected activity under 49 U.S.C. §42121. Send the carrier the letter in Form D7-1, and file the complaint with OSHA within 90 days of the adverse action (Issue D7 §3.1). Removal from flight duty is likely an adverse action. If he is a union member, file a grievance as well.
  3. Medical certificate. If the airline or the FAA questions his medical certificate, prepare the record before any evaluation: corroboration from the captain and ATC, and if needed an independent evaluation by a professional familiar with FAA standards (Issue D7 §4). Reporting an observation is not, by itself, evidence of a medical condition.
  4. Records. File FOIA requests for the FAA and military records of the event (Form B1-1). A refusal to confirm or deny can be appealed on official acknowledgment grounds (Form B1-2).
  5. Military or government pilots follow Issue C1 instead: 10 U.S.C. §1034, and DoD’s rule against mental-health referrals as reprisal.

3. A rancher finds debris and the military arrives

A rancher finds metallic fragments scattered across a pasture after a bright light and a loud noise. He collects some. Three days later uniformed personnel ask to take everything.

  1. Document before anything moves. Photograph the material in place, list who handled it, and complete the provenance declaration with witness acknowledgments (Form E3-1). Begin a custody log.
  2. Ownership. Material found on his own land is likely his under finders law and landowner rules, unless it is government property (Issue E3). If it fell from a government craft, the government will claim title.
  3. Answer the request in writing. Offer supervised, non-destructive examination under a written agreement and reserve the right to just compensation (Form E1-1). If the government says it is holding the material as evidence, ask which investigation (AmeriSource, Issue E1).
  4. Compensation. If the government takes the material, a takings claim in the Court of Federal Claims must be filed within 6 years (28 U.S.C. §2501).
  5. Testing. Any testing should be by an accredited independent laboratory, with a retained sealed sample. Do not send samples abroad without export-control advice (Issue A5).
  6. Injury. If he or his animals were harmed, the FTCA claim must be presented within 2 years (Form D5-1).

4. A reporter receives documents marked SECRET

A reporter at a regional newspaper receives an envelope with what appear to be classified briefing slides about a UAP retrieval program.

  1. Stop and call counsel. Do not copy, scan, or circulate the material (Form B4-2, paragraph 3). Counsel should decide on handling the same day.
  2. Exposure. Publishers have strong protection against prior restraint and for publishing truthful information lawfully obtained, but 18 U.S.C. §793(e) reaches unauthorized possession and retention (Issue B4). The Privacy Protection Act gives little protection once a newsroom holds classified material.
  3. Reporting without the documents. Confirm the substance through sources and official records instead of the slides themselves. Decide whether names of junior personnel, locations, or program code words can be left out without loss to the story (Form B4-2, paragraph 4).
  4. Allegations about named people. Attribute every allegation, seek comment, and keep the documentary basis (Issue G1; Form G1-1).
  5. After publication. A retraction demand starts several clocks, including California’s 20-day correction demand under Civil Code §48a. Notify the insurer at once (Form G1-2).
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