The island was rocked by what felt like an explosion on Wednesday afternoon, but which turned out to be a sonic boom.

The most likely cause of that was one of the RAF Typhoon Eurofighter jets which were scrambled to intercept two Russian Tupolev TU 95 Bear aircraft which were close to British airspace.

Theories as to what it could have been buzzed around Alderney. Was it a Second World War shell being detonated or a gas blast?

For once, the truth was more exciting than the rumours.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed that quick reaction alert Typhoons were scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to intercept the two Russian aircraft.

He said they were manoeuvring over the Channel Islands and the mid-Channel and on towards Bournemouth.

While the bombers were in international airspace, they were deviating from a standard route.

The UK Government also said that the Russian aircraft had switched off their transponders and were not responding to air traffic control.