My friend "the non-witness insider" has no role in the organization and he is one of the University professors that keeps away from being used by the WTS for their own reasons.
Once upon a time he wrote a good analyse about the witness population, it's a standard publication, but hard to find these days.
The contact he has with the higher echelon is informal. Can you understand that those higher people just like te speak with someone from outside, shearing their thoughts...
That's it and no more than that!
That's all I can say, and please don't do a guess-game.
Gorby