It's one of those 'lies' that benefit humanity, considering the alternative would have been not to share the knowledge with the world. Because he was obviously fearing difficulties with his employer if he admitted to such a breach of standard protocols.

It reminds me of one of the early anatomists–Leonardo da Vinci, maybe? They found the cause of one of the leading causes of death at the time: appendicitis. In their publication, they invented a story about an ailing soldier being killed in such a way that the inflamed appendix was exposed. It was a lie, and a rather obvious one. But it was necessary because dissection was forbidden at the time.