The issue is whether or not you can be fired for telling the truth when your boss doesn’t want the truth to be told.
Your point is well taken! In that case, though, we had a good idea of where the balloon came from and what it was doing.
In the case of these drones, no one knows, or will admit, their genesis.
If we shot one down, that would be discernable. That tells me the US government likely knows what they are and what they are doing, and desires to keep it secret. The fact that they are well lit says to me that they are intended to be seen.