I know of two occasions where the money was eventually spent on researching some sub 1% effects in particle physics, which the kind of "real" (meaning boring) physics you do today. Of course in that process the exclusion limits for some obscure made up dark matter particle were increased. But nobody in the group ever intended to find anything. However getting funding for some sub 1% effect is almost impossible.

I heard similar things from Astronomy people. You just have to talk to some actual PhD. students and postdocs who do the real work instead of the one professor whose whole job is basically to collect money.