'Sonic boom' heard over North East and North Yorkshire

Residents at the top of North Yorkshire, in Richmond and Northallerton, and those in Darlington, Middlesbrough and other parts of the North East reported hearing a 'loud bang' on Friday (November 15).

The incident was believed to have happened at about 1pm on Friday - with one person saying that the noise "almost made them fall off their chair".

RAF Typhoon jets taking part in the major NATO evaluation at RAF Leeming in 2020 (Image: PHILIP SEDGWICK) While many people believed that an RAF jet made the noise, RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire has said that it was just outside their area of monitoring but confirmed that reports had come into them about a 'sonic boom'.

In a post that was shared by RAF Leeming's Facebook page on Friday about the Swiss Air Force, who are currently using Leeming as a low-flying training ground, the RAF base shared several images of the Swiss planes, saying: "Rounding off our very busy week with a beautiful jet and a beautiful sunset. Who would want to be anywhere else? Happy Friday!"

This prompted some comments underneath the post about the 'sonic boom', with one person saying: "Wow! Were we expecting sonic booms today? Just nearly fell off my chair!"

Replying to the comment, the RAF Leeming Facebook page said: "Hi there, we’re aware of reports of a sonic boom but the Swiss Air Force haven’t taken off yet today."

Another commenter on the original post also noted hearing the sound, by saying: "It was incredibly loud in Thirsk - I thought something had landed on the roof."

RAF Leeming responded to this comment with: "It was outside our MATZ so we don’t have any information but I do know the Low Flying Complaints and Enquiries Unit was looking into it."

The Low Flying Complaints and Enquires Unit have been contacted for a comment.