Sonic booms were heard in Yorkshire and houses shook as Typhoon jets were scrambled to identify an Air France plane that had lost touch with authorities.
The aircraft were launched from RAF Coningsby on Monday night to identify an "unresponsive civilian aircraft", the Ministry of Defence said.
People reported hearing what sounded like two loud explosions which were later confirmed to have been sonic booms.
An RAF spokesman said: "Quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft were launched today from RAF Coningsby to identify an unresponsive civilian aircraft.
"Communications were re-established and the aircraft has been safely landed."
The jets were said to have escorted the Air France plane into Newcastle airport.
Air France tweeted: "Air France confirms that due to a radio communication problem AF 1558 had to be accompanied by two British fighter aircrafts according to the procedure.
"The aircraft landed in Newcastle at 22:20 (LT). Safety of clients and crew is an absolute priority."
North Yorkshire Police earlier tweeted to reassure people that there was no danger, and later confirmed the noise being reported had come from Typhoon jets.
It wrote: "Confirmation from RAF that loud bangs heard across the county were sonic booms from RAF Typhoon jets. No cause for concern."
One woman wrote on Twitter: "House shook, whole street was out, car, house alarms gone off. Apparently (it) was a sonic boom."
Another said: "Those vibrations shook my house and scared me to death."
Last month, two bangs heard around Northampton and Brackley were caused by Typhoon jets which had been scrambled from an RAF base in Lincolnshire to identify an unresponsive aircraft.