The dire consequences of whistleblowing are enough to prevent people from speaking out. The risks are: isolation, criticism, and often the loss of a job or even a career /life preventing people from speaking out.

The fact that 100,000 people worked on the Manhattan Project,  the United States’ secret plan to develop atomic weapons for use in warfare, and yet they managed to keep it a secret from Vice President Truman until he took office shows how secret projects can exist without the public knowing.