This makes a lot of sense.
For one thing George Steponallofus who I think was inside the administration at tge time once slipped up and called it “terrorism”.
Of course there were all the eye witness reports.
Then there were the “optics” of how the feds swooped in immediately and worked secretly all the while spinning their tales to the press before coming up with the center fuel tank story.
And has many have said if it had been the US navy someone would have blown the whistle.
We admitted we shot down Iran air 655. I think we would have admitted if we had accidentally shot down one of our own. The one thing we would not ever admit, unless we wanted a war, was that a foreign power did it.
Coverup or war with Iran. Those were the choices at the time.