The internet is awash tonight with reports of sonic booms across England, covering at least a 100 mile radius. According to this BBC news report, the MOD had responded to say that the sonic booms were caused by two fighter jets which were scrambled in response to an emergency call from a helicopter – which turned out to be a false alarm.

This YouTube video is a recording of the sounds that could be heard at the time in Bath, UK:

One of the comments below the video links to another video featuring the same sound, recorded in the Netherlands 12 hours earlier:

Meanwhile, this Flickr user has uploaded photos of a strange white “floater” in the sky, which appeared around the time of the booms.

Many are speculating on why two fighter jets were scrambled for a civilian helicopter. The consensus seems to be that this would only happen in a major incident such as a hijacking.

According to reports from people in Bath, the OTHER object in the sky (see the Flickr link) was actually the main source of interest.   People believe that the helicopter pilot sent the distress call after spotting the UFO and that the whole incident is being covered up.  Have a read of #bathUFO on Twitter for more details.

On 22nd July, retired school teacher John Powell photographed an RAF Hercules coming in to land.  The plane itself was not the target of his photograph though, rather it was the metallic grey object apparently following it.

The Ministry of Defence has stated that it will NOT investigate the UFO sighting, insisting that air space has “not been comprised”.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, we can now request copies of official documentation regarding any UFO sighting, so it will be interesting to see exactly why this one isn’t going to be investigated!