This article [2015] is of relevance in this context. It refers to the work of Richard Dawid who's apparently laying out an expanded view of science beyond the commonly accepted Popperian perspective centered on falsifiability. In his 2013 book "String Theory and the Scientific Method" he apparently identifies "three kinds of “non-empirical” evidence that Dawid says can help build trust in scientific theories absent empirical data." Of course, this is not an accepted view yet, but it can lend some balance to the conundrum resurfacing today.

[2015] https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-and-philosophers-d...