Is the 50,000 hour LED life a fantasy?

The only difference I’ve “mentally” noted with LED bulbs’ lifespan over the years, is that if it doesn’t specifically say on the box “for enclosed fixtures” (or something to that affect), and I put it in an enclosed fixture, it burns out very quickly… especially if there are multiple bulbs in the enclosed fixture.

I stopped picking up LED bulbs at my local Lowe’s because all of the 60w equivalents (at the time) said “not for enclosed fixtures.”

So far, the longest running LED bulb I’ve had is a 100 watt equivalent I have in my kitchen. It’s probably been in there for 10 years and used at least 8 hours per day. That fixture is completely open, and it is a single bulb light so no other bulbs to amass heat. My bedroom light is enclosed and has three bulbs. The “not for enclosed fixtures” LED’s last a few months, and the “enclosed” LED’s last a few years.