Yes and no. I’ve held secret clearance. Have you? There are ways of saying things outside the scif that convey full info without revealing what was said.
Oh, and my clearance? Was for the secret National AeroSpace Plane, a hypersonic jet to orbit. I wrote the book on it, which is now public.
And I can tell you one of the biggest let-downs of my life was when I was “read into” the program and learned the “DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS” was such commonly known stuff that Aviation Week had it years earlier.
Yes I have, that’s why I ripped that congressman for talking.
And in every read-in, we were told to —neither confirm nor deny—, when asked about secret items; not even tell hints.
And in those briefings, we were also told that just because secret info got published in Aviation Week did NOT mean that we were free to talk about it; same —neither confirm nor deny— applied.
That’s why I said “what happens in the scif, stays in the scif”.