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There is at least one U.S. Marshals aircraft that seems to intentionally broadcast a deceptive transponder ID. See https://twitter.com/tropicostation/status/145598271548065382... and https://twitter.com/tropicostation/status/141546213651227852...

A plane that's obviously not what it claims to be to experienced observers will only make people more curious.

edit: for example https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29152224

It would be just another government plane, but they went and made it interesting.

Does this happen?

I'd assume so, even in shipping, NASA recently disguised the James Webb shipment to French Guiana as a commercial vessel and set it's arrival destination somewhere in europe. So it's highly likely this happens in military context with flights too.