Just finished 'The Rendlesham Forest Incident' book - thoughts?

Picked up the newer edition of 'The Rendlesham Forest Incident' by Daniel Sheehan (the updated version, £16.99 from Waterstones). Finally got round to finishing it last week and I'm genuinely fascinated but also... frustrated? The book does an excellent job laying out the timeline and the military testimony, but it doesn't really offer any new conclusions.

For those who haven't read it: basically, in December 1980, US Air Force personnel at RAF Bentwaters witnessed some kind of craft or phenomenon in the forest over several nights. Sheehan interviews the witnesses, the book's meticulous, but then... it sort of ends with 'well, nobody knows what it was.' Which fair enough, that's probably honest, but it felt like the last 80 pages were treading water.

Has anyone else read this? Do you reckon the military is actually covering something up, or has the Rendlesham incident just become a cultural touchstone that gets mythologized every time someone writes about it?

Sheehan's work is solid because he actually talks to the witnesses. But yeah, the book doesn't take any strong stance because the evidence genuinely isn't conclusive. I think that's the point - it's one of the best-documented UFO incidents and we still can't explain it. That's either brilliant or frustrating depending on your mood.

If you want a more conspiratorial angle, try 'Left at East Gate' by Peter Robbins - it's older but much more... let's say 'interpretive' about what happened. Sheehan's book is basically the reliable academic version. Worth having both if you're serious about the incident.

Skip books, listen to the witness testimonies directly. There's a brilliant podcast series from about 2017 (can't remember the name, sorry) where they interview Jim Penniston directly. His actual voice, his actual account - way more compelling than reading secondhand analysis.

it felt like the last 80 pages were treading water

Good book but honestly the BBC did a better job with their 2003 documentary. Shorter, tighter, shows you the actual forest geography which helps context. If you haven't seen that one, hunt it down on DVD or YouTube.