Two Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft reported close encounters with unidentified objects flying thousands of feet above the North Sea in separate incidents in February, with one pilot saying he instinctively ducked as a small, black object passed directly over his aircraft. Neither object was detected on radar, according to incident reports reviewed by The Telegraph.
The first incident involved an RAF Voyager tanker flying at 17,000 feet while refuelling a Typhoon fighter jet off Cromer, Norfolk, on February 18. The second occurred five days later, when an RAF Typhoon pilot spotted a black, circular object during simulated dogfight training off Humberside. The encounters have drawn attention to unidentified objects operating near military aircraft, although the available reports do not establish what either object was.
