RAF Fighters Scrambled for Reason Unrelated to 'Strange Aircraft' over Hull, Says MoD

Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoons scrambled on December 10th as part of a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) were not sent in response to a ‘strange aircraft’ spotted over Hull, but rather to warn off two Russian Air Force Tu-160 bombers that skirted British airspace on their way to Venezuela, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The Typhoons were equipped with state of the art Meteor air-to-air missiles, said to be one of the deadliest and most advanced Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles in the world.

“[The fighter jets] were scrambled [Monday] as a precautionary measure against unidentified aircraft approaching the UK area of interest. However, no intercept took place and the Typhoons subsequently recovered,” stated a MoD release.

The mysterious aircraft spotted ‘hovering’ over the city of Hull in England last Monday was not a military aircraft, but more likely a Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign from Amsterdam Schipol that flew over the eastern portion of the city around 4:25 p.m. before curving around and landing at Humberside Airport in Kirmington. And while some were quick to associate the scrambled fighters with the sighting report from Hull, it is now clear that the events were almost certainly coincidental.

"Anyone else see that Aircraft hovering over Hull? Around 4:30 p.m. today, what looked like an airplane with a short body, no nose or tail and huge wings," one witness posted to Facebook. "Was completely still and silent in the air over Preston road, by the time we could pull over to video it, it was flying away at some speed."

A Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign.

Often flying objects will appear to hover as they directly approach or retreat from an observer, which could explain that aspect of the witness’ sighting; although the description of the aircraft remains a mystery.