The government knew the balloons regularly passed overhead. It wasn't until a civilian announced it that the government had to pretend they were surprised and that they were opposed to it.
I said that tongue in cheek.
Many “secrets” aren’t secrets from a threat. The threat knows full well.
Many so called “secrets” are to keep the public dumb, so that decision makers have the freedom in decision making and don’t get scrutinized. In some cases it’s even to protect them from legal recourse.
If there is no future operational information, no source, no technical details that aren’t already well known anyhow, it has no business being “secret.” The public has a RIGHT to know what their elected or public officials are doing on their behalf and with their tax dollars.
These folks work for the public, not the other way around.