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RAF jets report two near-misses with mystery objects over the North Sea

Incident logs seen by the Telegraph show two near-misses between RAF aircraft and unidentified objects over the North Sea days apart in February, with neither object appearing on radar.

By James Calloway · · 2 min read

An RAF Eurofighter Typhoon in flight, the aircraft type involved in both reported near-miss incidents
Photo: Jerry Gunner, via Wikimedia Commons

Incident logs seen by The Telegraph show two near-misses between RAF aircraft and unidentified objects over the North Sea days apart in February — neither object appearing on radar, the paper reported on its front page on 17 October.

On 18 February, an RAF Airbus Voyager tanker was refuelling a Typhoon fighter jet near Cromer, Norfolk, when a small black object passed 100 to 150ft above the tanker at 17,000ft. The pilot ducked; controllers could not see the object on radar as it travelled directly overhead. The pilot later said he could not positively identify it as a drone — acknowledging it could have been a balloon or something similar.

On 23 February, a Typhoon on dogfight training about 30 miles off Humberside saw a black, circular object “similar in size to a car tyre” pass about 300ft above at 12,000 to 12,500ft. It was not on radar; the RAF referred the incident to North Yorkshire Police. The paper says “multiple different external investigations” are under way.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson did not comment on the incidents directly but said the MoD “remain highly vigilant to the potential threats posed to defence and stand ready to respond appropriately”, adding that “we do not comment on specific threat assessments”. Separately, an Independent FOI found 340 drone incidents at or near MoD sites in the year to August 2026, against 250 in 2025 and 126 a year earlier. There is no direct evidence linking the mystery sightings to hostile states.

More: RAF drones coverage.

Sources

More on this topic: all UK Broadband stories

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