[cgbg]

Just a further comment on compartmentalization....

At a minimum we are talking about Special Access Programs.

As I am sure you know those programs are highly compartmentalized.

The person standing next to you in your unit could be working on such a task/program without you knowing about it if you had no need to know.

What these folks are claiming is that their program was “rogue” which means the secrecy was even greater than “Special Access” and the penalties for violating that secrecy were extreme/above the law.

[higgmeister]

And that is why I am so skeptical.   If they had spoken of secrets within our Space Program, that could be something but a "Secret Space Program", that is not how compartmentalization works.   They sound like children playing a game.