I think you’re undervaluing the value of simple respect in the equation, as opposed to strict honesty. There is the potential for simply telling your boss—“I don’t have the skill required to explain this in laymens terms yet, and you don’t have the skill required to evaluate this as raw data yet, but we have a serious problem. Give me time to get someone smarter than me to either debunk this or verify it”
I think you’re undervaluing the value of simple respect in the equation, as opposed to strict honesty. There is the potential for simply telling your boss—“I don’t have the skill required to explain this in laymens terms yet, and you don’t have the skill required to evaluate this as raw data yet, but we have a serious problem. Give me time to get someone smarter than me to either debunk this or verify it”
It has worked for me numerous times.