Rendlesham Forest 1980: why hasn't the full MOD documentation been released?

So we're coming up on 44 years since the Rendlesham Forest incident and I've been down the rabbit hole again. Thirty-plus witnesses including military personnel, physical evidence (radiation readings, indentations), official military logs... and the British government's official response is basically 'dunno, probably a lighthouse.'

I get that the US government is cagey about UFO stuff, but the MOD response to Rendlesham has always felt deliberately obtuse. The former officers who were there have gone on record saying they saw something genuinely unusual. The Halt Tape exists. There's documented radar contact.

The question: Why hasn't the full FOI request documentation been released? There's clearly more in the files than what we've been given. Is it actually a cover-up or is the MOD just institutionally incompetent?

The MOD releases files through the National Archives now but it's been glacially slow. The Rendlesham stuff they did release was heavily redacted - supposedly for 'national security' reasons, which is nonsense 44 years later. There's clearly intelligence-related material they won't discuss, whether that's because of American pressure or because they genuinely don't know what happened.

The lighthouse explanation is insulting, frankly. It's not like seasoned military observers would panic about a bloody lighthouse they knew was there.

Institutional incompetence covers most of it, if I'm honest. But there's probably genuinely classified material - sensor data from RAF systems, maybe communication with US intelligence - that they're legally unable to release. That doesn't mean there's a dramatic cover-up, just bureaucratic obstruction.

The weird thing nobody talks about is that military UFO sightings have continued *since* Rendlesham. If it was a hoax or misidentification, why does it keep happening?

Is it actually a cover-up or is the MOD just institutionally incompetent?

It's both. The government genuinely doesn't have clear answers about what happened, so the default response is stonewalling. Can't admit ignorance, can't admit something you can't explain was in your airspace. Easier to release the least damaging files and hope people forget. And we mostly do.

I did a freedom of information request three years ago asking for more Rendlesham documentation. They refused on grounds of 'international relations.' You can't appeal that without getting lawyers involved and it costs money they know most people don't have. System works perfectly for keeping secrets, whether they're actually secret or just administratively difficult to access.