UPDATED: It seems East Yorkshire's "mystery hum" is back. Curious residents in Hedon took to Facebook this morning to report a "massive loud noise" in the sky.
We've been here before, of course. In the past few years, the mysterious sound has been reported on a number of occasions. And while the simple explanation may well be that it is caused by a large, low-flying plane, a lack of visual sightings has led to people speculating on causes as strange as Russian bombers and UFOs.
Hedon villagers reported the sound at about 6am this morning. One said it sounded like a "weird plane" low overhead.
This lunchtime, aviation enthusiast Steve Haldenby pinned the noise on a vintage Russian-built, four-engined cargo plane.
Steve Haldenby, 62, a member of the Humberside Aviation Society for over 40 years, said: "It's an Antonov 12 plane operated by Ruby Star Airlines in Belarus.
"The Antonov 12 is a 1960s vintage cargo plane, which is the reason it sounds a bit rough compared to more modern planes."
Mr Haldenby thinks it is likely residents will hear the hum again in the future.
"It's a comparative rarity to see planes like this but it's already passed by several times in the past few months so it's possible we'll see it again.
"I hope we can set people's minds at rest that we are not being invaded by aliens."![antonov]()
The flightpath of the Antonov 12.
Back in October 2010, residents were woken at 2am after hearing a "spooky" noise in the skies which lasted for about 10 minutes. Speculation it was caused by a low-flying military aircraft was ruled out when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it had no activity in the East Yorkshire area at that time. On that occasion, the Mail's website was inundated with hundreds of comments, offering explanations as weird and wonderful as an alien visitation and a Russian bomber on a (very loud) spy mission. Then, in August 2012, the noise was back again, this time lasting several hours according to correspondent, some of whom blamed it on a "really big, strange-looking cargo plane" spotted all across Hull. One resident described a "large cargo plane flying really low, amazing the kids in the park." Some identified it as a Galaxy C2; others attributed the noise to jets from the RAF on a training exercise. Today, people have taken to Facebook to speculate about "army planes", but it seems the rather more straightforward explanation is a rather noisy, ageing transport plane.• Did you hear the noise? Comment below or on our Facebook page.
The flightpath of the Antonov 12.Back in October 2010, residents were woken at 2am after hearing a "spooky" noise in the skies which lasted for about 10 minutes. Speculation it was caused by a low-flying military aircraft was ruled out when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it had no activity in the East Yorkshire area at that time. On that occasion, the Mail's website was inundated with hundreds of comments, offering explanations as weird and wonderful as an alien visitation and a Russian bomber on a (very loud) spy mission. Then, in August 2012, the noise was back again, this time lasting several hours according to correspondent, some of whom blamed it on a "really big, strange-looking cargo plane" spotted all across Hull. One resident described a "large cargo plane flying really low, amazing the kids in the park." Some identified it as a Galaxy C2; others attributed the noise to jets from the RAF on a training exercise. Today, people have taken to Facebook to speculate about "army planes", but it seems the rather more straightforward explanation is a rather noisy, ageing transport plane.• Did you hear the noise? Comment below or on our Facebook page.
