Brighton: UFOs at sea not military, says Royal Air Force

The distant hum of three propeller aircraft awoke many across Brighton and Hove late last night while some spotted three bright lights out at sea.

However the UFOs remain a mystery as the Royal Air Force said it was nothing to do with the armed forces.

Read more: 'Unnerving' moment 'UFOs' captured on camera from two angles in city

Speculation has taken over local Facebook groups with some wondering whether aliens have finally arrived on the south coast, while others maintain that the flights could have been top-secret military aircraft.

Kevin Winyard said on Brighton Skies: "Heard it at Telscombe Cliffs and it sounded like aircraft. Nothing on the radar so it could have been secret flights. There's a lot going on in the world at present."

The unidentified flying objects were first heard before 1am on Friday, October 20 and returned shortly after 1am.

Ahmed Khan spotted them flying out at sea from Hove Lawns around the same time.

No planes appeared in the area on flight tracking software adsbexchange.com, which has thousands of receivers across the world picking up radar signals from aircraft.

An F35 'Lightning' jet landing on HMS Queen Elizabeth. The Royal Navy confirmed it was not responsible for the UFOs spotted last night. (Image: Amber Mayall / Royal Air Force)

Between midnight and 1.30am, only two crossed the English Channel directly in front of Brighton, several minutes apart. The first was a private jet returning to Luxembourg registered as LX-JNC at around 00.15am.

The other was a Tui flight from Dalaman airport in Turkey at around 1.06am, heading towards Cardiff.

The Argus contacted the Ministry of Defence to see whether it was responsible for the flights.

A Royal Air Force source checked with RAF stations across the country, air traffic control and the Royal Navy - all of which confirmed there was no flying at the time nationally, nor in Sussex.