You are exaggerating, but, yeah, most civilians don't know the difference between a Bradley fighting vehicle and a tank.

When I was a kid, my cousin and I would lay in the grass in the front yard and watch the house across the street and basically spin the slightest shadow or bit of wind or what not into some tall tale for entertainment, being very serious and like we were actually onto some X Files style mystery and had the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes.