Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Islanders rush to Facebook in bid to solve aviation mystery

A Dassault Rafale fighter jet. People across the Channel Islands were stirred, and in some cases shaken, by an early-evening “fly-past” involving a pair of mystery planes. The two aircraft made a low altitude, high-speed pass over both Bailiwicks at around 6pm yesterday, and left quite a few startled people rubbing their eyes and covering their ears – a multi-tasking challenge that requires great flexibility. As soon as the twin specks faded into the distance and the roar of their engines subsided, those who’d witnessed them turned to an old acquaintance to find out more – what’s the story, Facebook? Questions were asked on multiple different pages, prompting hundreds of people to offer their thoughts, with conspiracy theories fuelled by the lack of any information on established flight tracking websites. This being Facebook, the range of answers that came in was wide, some rather more credible than others. WATCH: Guernsey resident Erinn Doherty captured the planes on video. Some were anxious that the Channel Islands had suddenly become embroiled in the Middle East conflict. Had the Iranians caught the American affliction of being unable to distinguish “old” Jersey from New Jersey and dispatched fighters? Other concerns were more prosaic, involving
Read More