I still don't understand why people think that the level of information that the public is aware of is somehow the exact same as the USG has. Not to mention, knowledge of what truly when on is heavily compartmentalized within the USG and IC as a whole. Whatever narrative the people are being told is the same narrative that our adversaries are being fed, so a fine line needs to be tread between putting the public at ease and giving away information about our capabilities.

This obviously does leave room for speculation and thus conspiracy theorists, but what justification do conspiracy theorists need anyway? The crux of most conspiracy theories is making a mountain out of a mole hill.