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The phrase open secret refers to information that was originally intended to be confidential but has at some point been disclosed and is known to many people.^[1] Open secrets are secrets in the sense that they are excluded from formal or official discourse, but they are open in the sense that they are familiar and referred to in idioms and language games, though these often require explanation for outsiders.^[2]

United States government

Area 51

One famous open secret is that of Area 51, a United States military base containing an aircraft testing facility.^[3] The U.S. government did not explicitly affirm the existence of any military facility near Groom Lake, Lincoln County, Nevada, until 2013, when the CIA released documents revealing that the site was established to test spy planes.^[4] While the general location of the base is now officially acknowledged, the base does not appear on government maps or in declassified satellite photography.^[5] Yet despite this, the base was demonstrably and widely acknowledged to exist for many years before the CIA officially confirmed its existence.^[6]^[7] The immense secrecy has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to UFO folklore.^[8]

NSA

The National Security Agency was formally established by President Truman in a memorandum of 24 October 1952, that revised National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9.^[9] Since President Truman's memo was a classified document,^[9] the existence of the NSA was not known to the public at that time. Due to its ultra-secrecy, the U.S. intelligence community referred to the NSA as "No Such Agency".^[10]

United Kingdom government

MI6

The existence of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) was widely known for several decades before the government's official acknowledgement of the organisation in 1994.^[11]

Post Office Tower

Post Office Tower was completed in 1964 and information about it was designated an official secret, due to its importance to the national communications network. In 1978, the journalist Duncan Campbell was tried for collecting information about secret locations, and during the trial the judge ordered that the sites could not be identified by name; the Post Office Tower could only be referred to as "Location 23".^[12] It was officially revealed by Kate Hoey under parliamentary privilege in 1993.^[13]

It is often said that the tower did not appear on Ordnance Survey maps, despite being a 177-metre (581 ft) tall structure in the middle of central London that was open to the public for about 15 years.^[14] However, this is incorrect; the 1:25,000 (published 1971) and 1:10,000 (published 1981) Ordnance Survey maps show the tower.^[15] It is also shown in the London A–Z street atlas from 1984.^[16]

Other governments

Israel nuclear weapons

Israel is widely acknowledged to possess nuclear weapons.^[17] This can be considered an open secret, because the Israeli government has never explicitly stated whether or not it possesses a nuclear stockpile, officially maintaining a policy of deliberate ambiguity.^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]

Camp Mirage

Camp Mirage is the codename for a former Canadian Forces forward logistics facility located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The facility was established in late December 2001 and, though not officially acknowledged by the Canadian Forces, was considered an open secret.^[22]

Entertainment

Kayfabe

Kayfabe, or the presentation of professional wrestling as "real" or unscripted, is an open secret, kept displayed as legitimate within the confines of wrestling programs but openly acknowledged as predetermined by wrestlers and promoters in the context of interviews for decades.

The Stig's identity

In television, the primary real-world identity of The Stig, a costumed and masked television test-driver used by BBC Television for Top Gear, was an open secret until the unofficial embargo was broken by a newspaper in 2009.^[23]

References

^ Barnden, John; Gargett, Andrew, eds. (2020). Producing Figurative Expression (1 ed.). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 486. ISBN 978-90-272-0803-3.
^ Henig, David; Makovicky, Nicolette, eds. (19 January 2017). Economies of Favour after Socialism. Oxford University Press. p. 58. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199687411.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-968741-1.
^ Dreamland: Fifty Years of Secret Flight Testing in Nevada By Peter W. Merlin
^ Boyle, Alan (16 August 2013). "Area 51 and its purpose declassified: No UFOs, but lots of U-2 spy planes". NBC News. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
^ USGS 1:24K/25K Topo map for location UTM 11 605181E 4124095N (NAD27) (map via TopoQuest.com)
^ Pike, John. "Area 51 Facility Overview", Federation of American Scientists.
^ "Area 51 / Catch 22" segment, 60 Minutes broadcast 17 March 1996.
^ Jacobsen, Annie (2012), Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, Back Bay Books, ISBN 0316202304
^ ^a ^b Truman, Harry S. (24 October 1952). "Memorandum" (PDF). National Security Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
^ Anne Gearan (7 June 2013). "'No Such Agency' spies on the communications of the world". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
^ Whitehead, Jennifer (13 October 2005). "MI6 to boost recruitment prospects with launch of first website — Brand Republic News". Brandrepublic.com. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
^ Grant, Thomas (2015). Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories. John Murray. p. 315.
^ "No title". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 19 February 1993. col. 634.
^ "London Telecom Tower, formerly BT Tower and Post Office Tower, Fitzrovia, West End, London". urban75. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
^ Kennett, Paul (August 2016). "Not so secret tower". Sheetlines (106). THE CHARLES CLOSE SOCIETY for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps: 27. (The Charles Close Society)
^ A–Z London de luxe Atlas. Geographers' A–Z Map Company Ltd. 1984. p. 59.
^ Cohen, Avner (1998). Israel and the Bomb. Columbia University Press. p. 349. ISBN 0-231-10482-0.
^ Korb, Lawrence (1 November 1998). "The Quiet Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
^ Borger, Julian (15 January 2014). "The truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^ Stockman, Farah (19 November 2013). "Israel's nuclear precedent". The Boston Blobe. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^ Mizokami, Kyle (9 January 2020). "Submarines Are the Key To Israel's Secret Nuclear Weapons Arsenal". TheNationalInterest.org. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^ "Secret base to be shuttered over failed airline talks: source". CTV News. 10 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
^ Foster, Patrick (19 January 2009). "Identity of Top Gear's The Stig revealed as Ben Collins". The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2009. The identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme.^{[dead link‍]}

External links

Global Informality Project

[1] Barnden, John; Gargett, Andrew, eds. (2020). Producing Figurative Expression (1 ed.). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 486. ISBN 978-90-272-0803-3.

[2] Henig, David; Makovicky, Nicolette, eds. (19 January 2017). Economies of Favour after Socialism. Oxford University Press. p. 58. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199687411.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-968741-1.

[3] Dreamland: Fifty Years of Secret Flight Testing in Nevada By Peter W. Merlin

[4] Boyle, Alan (16 August 2013). "Area 51 and its purpose declassified: No UFOs, but lots of U-2 spy planes". NBC News. Retrieved 16 August 2013.

[5] USGS 1:24K/25K Topo map for location UTM 11 605181E 4124095N (NAD27) (map via TopoQuest.com)

[6] Pike, John. "Area 51 Facility Overview", Federation of American Scientists.

[7] "Area 51 / Catch 22" segment, 60 Minutes broadcast 17 March 1996.

[8] Jacobsen, Annie (2012), Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, Back Bay Books, ISBN 0316202304

[Truman-9] Truman, Harry S. (24 October 1952). "Memorandum" (PDF). National Security Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.

[10] Anne Gearan (7 June 2013). "'No Such Agency' spies on the communications of the world". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 November 2013.

[11] Whitehead, Jennifer (13 October 2005). "MI6 to boost recruitment prospects with launch of first website — Brand Republic News". Brandrepublic.com. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

[12] Grant, Thomas (2015). Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories. John Murray. p. 315.

[13] "No title". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 19 February 1993. col. 634.

[urban75-14] "London Telecom Tower, formerly BT Tower and Post Office Tower, Fitzrovia, West End, London". urban75. Retrieved 19 November 2014.

[15] Kennett, Paul (August 2016). "Not so secret tower". Sheetlines (106). THE CHARLES CLOSE SOCIETY for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps: 27. (The Charles Close Society)

[16] A–Z London de luxe Atlas. Geographers' A–Z Map Company Ltd. 1984. p. 59.

[17] Cohen, Avner (1998). Israel and the Bomb. Columbia University Press. p. 349. ISBN 0-231-10482-0.

[18] Korb, Lawrence (1 November 1998). "The Quiet Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2012.

[19] Borger, Julian (15 January 2014). "The truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2020.

[20] Stockman, Farah (19 November 2013). "Israel's nuclear precedent". The Boston Blobe. Retrieved 5 April 2020.

[21] Mizokami, Kyle (9 January 2020). "Submarines Are the Key To Israel's Secret Nuclear Weapons Arsenal". TheNationalInterest.org. Retrieved 5 April 2020.

[Shuttered-22] "Secret base to be shuttered over failed airline talks: source". CTV News. 10 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2012.

[times-open-secret-23] Foster, Patrick (19 January 2009). "Identity of Top Gear's The Stig revealed as Ben Collins". The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2009. The identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme.^{[dead link‍]}

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+{{Short description|Generally known but officially unacknowledged information}}
 {{other uses}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2013}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
+[[File:Area51 gate.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.3|[[Area 51]] Groom Road gate]]
-An '''open secret''' is a concept or idea that is "officially" (''[[de jure]]'') secret or restricted in knowledge, but in practice (''[[de facto]]'') may be widely known; or it refers to something that is widely known to be true but which none of the people most intimately concerned are willing to categorically acknowledge in public.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
+The phrase '''open secret''' refers to information that was originally intended to be confidential but has at some point been disclosed and is known to many people.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Producing Figurative Expression |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |year=2020 |isbn=978-90-272-0803-3 |editor-last=Barnden |editor-first=John |edition=1 |location=Amsterdam / Philadelphia |pages=486 |language=en |editor-last2=Gargett |editor-first2=Andrew}}</ref> Open secrets are ''secrets'' in the sense that they are excluded from formal or official discourse, but they are ''open'' in the sense that they are familiar and referred to in idioms and language games, though these often require explanation for outsiders.<ref>{{Cite book |date=2017-01-19 |editor-last=Henig |editor-first=David |editor2-last=Makovicky |editor2-first=Nicolette |title=Economies of Favour after Socialism |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199687411.001.0001 |language=en |pages=58 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199687411.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-968741-1 }}</ref>
+== United States government ==
-==Popular examples==
-{{Original research section|date=April 2020}}
-===Government and military===
+=== Area 51 ===
+One famous open secret is that of [[Area 51]], a [[United States]] [[military base]] containing an aircraft testing facility.<ref>[http://www.dreamlandresort.com/area51/dreamland_50years.html Dreamland: Fifty Years of Secret Flight Testing in Nevada] By Peter W. Merlin</ref> The U.S. government did not explicitly affirm the existence of any military facility near [[Groom Lake]], [[Lincoln County, Nevada|Lincoln County]], [[Nevada]], until 2013, when the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] released documents revealing that the site was established to test spy planes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/area-51-its-purpose-declassified-no-ufos-lots-u-2-6C10931555 |title=Area 51 and its purpose declassified: No UFOs, but lots of U-2 spy planes |first=Alan |last=Boyle |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=16 August 2013 |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> While the general location of the base is now officially acknowledged, the base does not appear on government maps or in declassified satellite photography.<ref>[http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lat=37.25932&lon=-115.81388&s=100&size=l&u=4&datum=nad27&layer=DRG25 USGS 1:24K/25K Topo map] for location UTM 11 605181E 4124095N (NAD27) ''(map via TopoQuest.com)''</ref> Yet despite this, the base was demonstrably and widely acknowledged to exist for many years before the CIA officially confirmed its existence.<ref>Pike, John. "Area 51 Facility Overview", [[Federation of American Scientists]].</ref><ref>[http://www.ufomind.com/area51/articles/1996/60min_960317.html "Area 51 / Catch 22"] segment, ''60 Minutes'' broadcast 17 March 1996.</ref> The immense secrecy has made it the frequent subject of [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] and a central component to [[unidentified flying object|UFO]] [[folklore]].<ref>Jacobsen, Annie (2012), ''Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base'', Back Bay Books, {{ISBN|0316202304}}</ref>
-[[File:Area51 gate.JPG|thumb|right|220px|[[Area 51]] Groom Road gate]]
-One famous "open secret" is that of [[Area 51]], a [[United States]] [[military base]] containing an aircraft testing facility.<ref>[http://www.dreamlandresort.com/area51/dreamland_50years.html Dreamland: Fifty Years of Secret Flight Testing in Nevada] By Peter W. Merlin</ref> The U.S. Government did not explicitly affirm the existence of any military facility near [[Groom Lake]], [[Lincoln County, Nevada|Lincoln County]], [[Nevada]] until 2013, when the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] released documents revealing that the site was established to test spy planes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/area-51-its-purpose-declassified-no-ufos-lots-u-2-6C10931555 |title=Area 51 and its purpose declassified: No UFOs, but lots of U-2 spy planes |first=Alan |last=Boyle |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=16 August 2013 |accessdate=16 August 2013}}</ref> While the general location of the base is now officially acknowledged, the base does not appear on government maps or in declassified satellite photography.<ref>[http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lat=37.25932&lon=-115.81388&s=100&size=l&u=4&datum=nad27&layer=DRG25 USGS 1:24K/25K Topo map] for location UTM 11 605181E 4124095N (NAD27) ''(map via TopoQuest.com)''</ref> Yet despite this, the base was demonstrably and widely acknowledged to exist for many years before the CIA officially confirmed its existence.<ref>Pike, John. "Area 51 Facility Overview", [[Federation of American Scientists]].</ref><ref>[http://www.ufomind.com/area51/articles/1996/60min_960317.html "Area 51 / Catch 22"] segment, ''60 Minutes'' broadcast 17 March 1996.</ref> The immense secrecy has made it the frequent subject of [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] and a central component to [[unidentified flying object|UFO]] [[folklore]].<ref>Jacobsen, Annie (2012), ''Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base'', Back Bay Books, {{ISBN|0316202304}}</ref>
+=== NSA ===
-Likewise, [[Delta Force]] can be considered an open secret, since its existence has been denied in the past by the United States Government.
+The [[National Security Agency]] was formally established by [[Harry Truman|President Truman]] in a memorandum of 24 October 1952, that revised [[National Security Council Intelligence Directives|National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9]].<ref name="Truman">{{cite web |title=Memorandum|author=Truman, Harry S. |url=https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/truman/truman_memo.pdf|publisher=National Security Agency|date=24 October 1952 |access-date=2 July 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821073605/http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/truman/truman_memo.pdf|archive-date=21 August 2013}}</ref> Since President Truman's memo was a [[classified information|classified]] document,<ref name="Truman" /> the existence of the NSA was not known to the public at that time. Due to its ultra-secrecy, the U.S. intelligence community referred to the NSA as "No Such Agency".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-such-agency-spies-on-the-communications-of-the-world/2013/06/06/5bcd46a6-ceb9-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|title='No Such Agency' spies on the communications of the world|last=Anne Gearan|date=7 June 2013|access-date=9 November 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>
+== United Kingdom government ==
-The [[National Security Agency]] was formally established by [[Harry Truman|president Truman]] in a memorandum of October 24, 1952, that revised [[National Security Council Intelligence Directives|National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9]].<ref name=Truman>{{cite web |title=Memorandum|author=Truman, Harry S. |url=https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/truman/truman_memo.pdf|format=PDF |publisher=National Security Agency|date=October 24, 1952 |accessdate=July 2, 2013|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821073605/http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/truman/truman_memo.pdf|archivedate=August 21, 2013}}</ref> Since President Truman's memo was a [[classified information|classified]] document,<ref name=Truman /> the existence of the NSA was not known to the public at that time. Due to its ultra-secrecy the U.S. intelligence community referred to the NSA as "No Such Agency".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-such-agency-spies-on-the-communications-of-the-world/2013/06/06/5bcd46a6-ceb9-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|title='No Such Agency' spies on the communications of the world|last=Anne Gearan|date=June 7, 2013|accessdate=November 9, 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>
+=== MI6 ===
-[[Camp Mirage]] is the codename for a former [[Canadian Forces]] forward logistics facility located in [[Dubai]], [[United Arab Emirates]]. The facility was established in late December 2001 and, though not officially acknowledged by the Canadian Forces, was considered an open secret.<ref name=Shuttered>{{Cite news |title=Secret base to be shuttered over failed airline talks: source |url=http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101010/canada-dubai-base-101010/ |publisher=CTV News |date=2010-10-10 |accessdate=2012-11-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012170601/http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101010/canada-dubai-base-101010/ |archivedate=12 October 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
+The existence of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6) was widely known for several decades before the government's official acknowledgement of the organisation in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|last=Whitehead |first=Jennifer |url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/521906/mi6-boost-recruitment-prospects-launch-first-website/ |title=MI6 to boost recruitment prospects with launch of first website&nbsp;— Brand Republic News |publisher=Brandrepublic.com |date=13 October 2005 |access-date=3 November 2012}}</ref>
+=== Post Office Tower ===
-The existence of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6) was widely known for several decades before the government's official acknowledgement of the organisation in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|last=Whitehead |first=Jennifer |url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/521906/mi6-boost-recruitment-prospects-launch-first-website/ |title=MI6 to boost recruitment prospects with launch of first website&nbsp;— Brand Republic News |publisher=Brandrepublic.com |date=13 October 2005 |accessdate=3 November 2012}}</ref> Its Australian counterpart, [[Australian Secret Intelligence Service|ASIS]], was the subject of a newspaper exposé years before its existence was officially acknowledged.
+[[Post Office Tower]] was completed in 1964 and information about it was designated an official secret, due to its importance to the national communications network. In 1978, the journalist [[Duncan Campbell (journalist)|Duncan Campbell]] was [[ABC trial|tried]] for collecting information about secret locations, and during the trial the judge ordered that the sites could not be identified by name; the Post Office Tower could only be referred to as "Location 23".<ref>{{cite book |title=Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories |last=Grant |first=Thomas |publisher=John Murray |year=2015 |page=315}}</ref> It was officially revealed by [[Kate Hoey]] under [[parliamentary privilege]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite hansard |title=No title| url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1993-02-19/Debate-5.html |house=House of Commons |date=1993-02-19 |column=634}}</ref>
+It is often said that the tower did not appear on [[Ordnance Survey]] maps, despite being a {{convert|177|m|adj=on}} tall structure in the middle of central London that was open to the public for about 15 years.<ref name="urban75">{{cite web|title=London Telecom Tower, formerly BT Tower and Post Office Tower, Fitzrovia, West End, London|url=http://www.urban75.org/london/telecom.html|publisher=urban75|access-date=19 November 2014}}</ref> However, this is incorrect; the 1:25,000 (published 1971) and 1:10,000 (published 1981) Ordnance Survey maps show the tower.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul|last=Kennett|title=Not so secret tower|journal=Sheetlines|issue=106|publisher=THE CHARLES CLOSE SOCIETY for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps|date=August 2016|page= 27}} ([http://www.charlesclosesociety.org The Charles Close Society])</ref> It is also shown in the [[Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas|London A–Z street atlas]] from 1984.<ref>{{cite book |title=A–Z London de luxe Atlas |publisher=Geographers' A–Z Map Company Ltd |year=1984 |page=59}}</ref>
-[[Israel]] is [[Nuclear weapons and Israel|widely acknowledged to possess nuclear weapons]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Israel and the Bomb | publisher=Columbia University Press | author=Cohen, Avner | year=1998 | page=[https://archive.org/details/israelbomb00cohe/page/349 349] | isbn=0-231-10482-0 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/israelbomb00cohe/page/349 }}</ref> This can be considered an open secret, because the Israeli government has never explicitly stated whether or not it possesses a nuclear stockpile, officially maintaining a [[policy of deliberate ambiguity]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/reviews/981101.01korblt.html |title=The Quiet Bomb |last=Korb |first=Lawrence |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1 November 1998 |accessdate=4 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclear-arsenal |title=The truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal  |last=Borger |first=Julian  |newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 Jan 2014  |accessdate=5 April 2020}}</ref>
+== Other governments ==
-Completed in 1964, the [[Post Office Tower]] was an official secret until it was officially revealed by [[Kate Hoey]] under [[parliamentary privilege]] in 1993, despite being a {{convert|177|m|adj=on}} tall structure in the middle of central London that was open to the public for about 15 years, and had already become present in popular culture by that point.<ref>{{cite hansard |title=No title| url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1993-02-19/Debate-5.html |house=House of Commons |date=1993-02-19 |column=634}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=London Telecom Tower, formerly BT Tower and Post Office Tower, Fitzrovia, West End, London|url=http://www.urban75.org/london/telecom.html|publisher=urban75|accessdate=19 November 2014}}</ref> Its location was, therefore, for a time, apparently prohibited from being indicated on maps (in the UK largely created by a government agency, the [[Ordnance Survey]]).
+=== Israel nuclear weapons ===
-===Entertainment===
+[[Israel]] is [[Nuclear weapons and Israel|widely acknowledged to possess nuclear weapons]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Cohen, Avner |url=https://archive.org/details/israelbomb00cohe/page/349 |title=Israel and the Bomb |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-231-10482-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/israelbomb00cohe/page/349 349] |url-access=registration}}</ref> This can be considered an open secret, because the Israeli government has never explicitly stated whether or not it possesses a nuclear stockpile, officially maintaining a [[policy of deliberate ambiguity]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Korb |first=Lawrence |date=1 November 1998 |title=The Quiet Bomb |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/reviews/981101.01korblt.html |access-date=4 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=15 January 2014 |title=The truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclear-arsenal |access-date=5 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stockman |first=Farah |date=19 November 2013 |title=Israel's nuclear precedent |newspaper=The Boston Blobe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/11/19/israel-nuclear-monopoly-middle-east/5kzBwiHxGG9KYxKrJFfrNJ/story.html |access-date=5 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Mizokami |first=Kyle |date=9 January 2020 |title=Submarines Are the Key To Israel's Secret Nuclear Weapons Arsenal |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/submarines-are-key-israels-secret-nuclear-weapons-arsenal-112071 |access-date=5 April 2020 |website=TheNationalInterest.org}}</ref>
+=== Camp Mirage ===
+[[Camp Mirage]] is the codename for a former [[Canadian Forces]] forward logistics facility located in [[Dubai]], [[United Arab Emirates]]. The facility was established in late December 2001 and, though not officially acknowledged by the Canadian Forces, was considered an open secret.<ref name="Shuttered">{{Cite news |date=2010-10-10 |title=Secret base to be shuttered over failed airline talks: source |publisher=CTV News |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/secret-base-to-be-shuttered-over-failed-airline-talks-source-1.561798 |url-status=live |access-date=2012-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012170601/http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101010/canada-dubai-base-101010/ |archive-date=12 October 2010}}</ref>
+== Entertainment ==
+=== Kayfabe ===
 [[Kayfabe]], or the presentation of [[professional wrestling]] as "real" or unscripted, is an open secret, kept displayed as legitimate within the confines of wrestling programs but openly acknowledged as predetermined by wrestlers and promoters in the context of interviews for decades.
+=== The Stig's identity ===
-In television, the primary real-world identity of [[The Stig]], a costumed and masked television test-driver used by [[BBC Television]] for ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'', was an open secret until the unofficial [[News embargo|embargo]] was broken by a newspaper in 2009.<ref name="times-open-secret">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article5548705.ece|title=Identity of Top Gear's The Stig revealed as Ben Collins|first=Patrick|last=Foster|date=2009-01-19|accessdate=2009-01-19|newspaper=[[The Times]]|quote=The identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme.}}</ref>
+In television, the primary real-world identity of [[The Stig]], a costumed and masked television test-driver used by [[BBC Television]] for ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'', was an open secret until the unofficial [[News embargo|embargo]] was broken by a newspaper in 2009.<ref name="times-open-secret">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article5548705.ece|title=Identity of Top Gear's The Stig revealed as Ben Collins|first=Patrick|last=Foster|date=2009-01-19|access-date=2009-01-19|newspaper=[[The Times]]|quote=The identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme.}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
 == See also ==
+*[[He never married]] – Euphemism for homosexuality of the deceased
-* [[Secret de Polichinelle]]
+*[[Pronoun game]] – Concealing one's sexual orientation from others by using gender neutral pronouns
+*[[Secret de Polichinelle]] – another term for open secret
+*[[Alena V. Ledeneva]] – researcher of open secrets, particularly in the Soviet context
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
+==External links==
+*[https://www.in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Global%20Informality%20Project Global Informality Project]
 [[Category:Secrecy]]
+[[Category:LGBTQ linguistics]]
+[[Category:Area 51]]