Truth behind massive 'dragon' spotted flying above UK this week

It's not every day that you look to the skies and see a massive dragon soaring above you, but fear not, you're not about to have to bend the knee to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Dragons span over 4,000 years of mythology and have evolved from dangerous sea serpents to flying beasts that rain fire on us from above. Coming from the Ancient Greek word drákōn, meaning serpent, they've been popularized in many a storybook and poem, with various cultures seeing them in different ways.

The Chinese emperors of the Han Dynasty claimed they were descendants of dragons, while ancient Mesopotamia saw them as bringers of chaos. Early Christian theology transformed the Garden of Eden's snake into legends like Saint George and the Dragon.

These days, you'll likely associate dragons with the likes of The Hobbit, How to Train Your Dragon, and HBO's hit TV series, Game of Thrones. We'd like to remind you that dragons aren't real, but if you're living in the United Kingdom, you'll be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

Residents in Glasgow were shocked to see a giant dragon soaring above them.

Thankfully, this isn't some apocalyptic foreshadowing where these mythological creatures have come to life.

As reported by The Scottish Sun, this is a celebration for the start of the Commonwealth Games (being held in Glasgow), as well as a promotion for House of the Dragon season 3.

The Game of Thrones prequel is currently in the midst of its own deadly Targaryen civil war, adapting George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood novel that tells us the sordid history of the dragon-riding dynasty.

Remembering that dragons don't actually exist, the Glasgow dragon is a recreation of Queen Rhaenyra's Syrax.

Operator and pilot Dennis Gutowsky said it was 'very special' to fly Syrax over the skies of Glasgow to commemorate the Commonwealth Games, explaining: "We built this beautiful flying dragon. Her name is Syrax, and this thing has 23 moving parts, which all work together. We have moving rudders, we have moving propellers, a moving tail, and also moving wings."

Far more complicated than simply flying a drone over the city, Gutowsky said it comes with a lot of training to master flying the eight-meter dragon.

Weighing 13kg and taking over three months to build, this real-life Syrax was created using 3D scans from the actual TV series.

A team of 14 people worked for nearly 3,000 hours to construct 23 moving parts from vacuum-formed Depron foam around a carbon fibre and aluminium skeleton.

There's even a historical reference here, with the main inventor at German aeronautic company Airstage being inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's original flying machine.

It's quite amazing that over 500 years later, Da Vinci's design has been used to create a real flapping dragon to promote a TV series. That concept alone is something that would've likely blown his mind.

Like Da Vinci has inspired many a young inventor over the years, Gutowsky said this was a joy of the project as he concluded: "My favourite part is actually to inspire other young people. Everyone can be an engineer and do such a big project, and all other people watching a dragon and feel like, ‘wow, that’s beautiful’."

Now that Glaswegians know it's safe to step outside without being burned to a crisp, the skies above the city are once again safe.