A woman has been flown to Iceland by Specsavers after she was ridiculed for mistaking a tomato nursery for the Northern Lights.
Dee Harrison was driving through Bramford, Suffolk, in eastern England at 5.15am when she saw what appeared to be the Northern Lights, also called aurora borealis.
鈥淚 held my phone camera up and I could see it even clearer,鈥 the 56-year-old told The Mirror, recalling others who said the lights showed more clearly through a camera.
She shared the photos on the Stunning Suffolk Facebook page.
鈥淐aptured 5.15am today in Bramford, guess it鈥檚 an Aurora, not seen one before,鈥 she wrote alongside the images of a vibrant red light crossing the dark sky. At first, people commented in amazement but soon someone pointed out that the lights were the glow caused by LED lights from the nearby Suffolk Sweet Tomatoes nursery.
鈥淪ome people were saying that it couldn鈥檛 be and, when I got home, I checked on maps and saw where the tomato factory was,鈥 Harrison said.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know it had lights on it. I had to admit defeat after that.鈥
The story would have ended there if Specsavers hadn鈥檛 spotted an opportunity to get involved.
The retailer鈥檚 adverts typically show people mistaking objects for something else, with the implication that they should book an optician鈥檚 appointment.
Specsavers commented on Harrison鈥檚 post: 鈥淪ounds like you might need a trip to one of our stores, as well as a trip to Iceland鈥.
It asked her to get in touch if she wanted the tick the aurora off her bucket list.
At first, she thought it was a joke, but a few weeks later she was in Reykjavik, Iceland.
鈥淎fter my mistaken Northern Lights pic taken in Bramford two weeks ago, Specsavers contacted me and asked if I would like to go to Iceland and see them for real,鈥 she wrote in a follow-up Facebook post on November 10.
鈥淣ot a joke as I thought. I鈥檓 here now and did indeed get to see the lights last night.鈥
Specsavers commented again: 鈥淣o eye test needed this time, we can confirm that鈥檚 the real Northern Lights鈥.
Harrison said she felt fortunate as she knew the experience was on many people鈥檚 bucket list and she got to do it for free.
鈥淭he Iceland lights were more impressive. Some people have said mine were better, though.鈥
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