i hold sagan responsible for this bizarre wave of science zealots who have no regard for common sense. they are so certain that "strange things do not happen" that they dismiss any and all evidence immediately and without scrutiny. sagan assures them that they are completely safe and sound in their assumptions.
don't make me start quoting this book
my suspicion is that he was informed. just like you said. he said it is likely that the government was hiding stuff. he probably knew a lot more than that. doesn't change the fact that he influenced the collective psyche in profoundly negative ways.
you might miss him, but he would still say this entire forum is collective insanity and that we're all deluded and hallucinating.