There are many fascinating aspects to the case, and although Ian Ridpath has done excellent work, he has only really cleared up one aspect of it successfully.
That is to say- the radiation levels; he checked with the manufacturer.
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They noted further that these instruments are designed to be used to monitor workplace fields or radiation levels after sizable nuclear incidents and are therefore not suitable for environmental monitoring at background levels. On the basis of this information from the manufacturers, NRPB concluded that using such an instrument to establish a level of 10 times background (i.e. 0.1 mR/h) is not credible.
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So we can dismiss the radiation readings with confidence.
As for the rest of the sighting- there are a number of conflicting possibilities, and it seems unlikely that they are all true. (although that is a remote possibility).
1/ the Lighthouse Theory. Ridpath has examined this in detail; it seems to explain the early part of the sighting;
http://www.debunker.com/texts/RidpathRendlesham2.html
but some of the later aspects are difficult to explain using the Lighthouse theory alone.
2/ The Cosmos 749 theory
Ridpath himself debunks this debunking here
http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/rendlesham6.htm
This re-entry did spark a number of UFO reports
but apparently not the Rendlesham event.
3/ The 'Tractor Beam' theory
I like this one; it seems that there was a farmer driving a tractor around at the time with flashing coloured lights; this could explain some of the flashing light sightings in the later part of the incident.
http://www.forteantimes.com/articles...ndlesham.shtml
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(referring to a different sighting) ... Our immediate thought was that it was a UFO, but it turned out to be a very small farm tractor. The top width was shorter than the bottom width and the two sides slightly angled up toward the top. This shape was actually the operator's compartment. However, viewing this at night when the white lights were on created an initial impression of a 'triangle'. It wasn't until the operator extinguished some of the lights and moved off the road that we realized it was a tractor
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4/ The Security cop theory
Kevin Conde, a security policeman at the site, has admitted hoaxing the airmen there using the spotlights and flashing lights on his police car. His statement is here
http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/statement.htm
This seems very possible. Using flashing police lights and spotights some very strange effects could be created in a misty forest. There is some doubt about the dates involved; Conde can't seem to remember exactly when he pulled his prank. But this could be faulty memory (a major factor in many UFO cases) or it may have been his (unnamed) accomplice mentioned in this statement.
Whatever the case, it seems that there were a number of pranks being played on that base around that time; enough to make the evidence much less convincing than it seems at first sight.