Specsavers flies woman to Iceland after she mistakes tomato farm for Northern Lights

Dee Harrison thought the early morning lights she saw were the aurora borealis but they turned out to be from a tomato farm. Photo / 123rf

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.

“I held my phone camera up and I could see it even clearer,” 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.

“Captured 5.15am today in Bramford, guess it’s an Aurora, not seen one before,” 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.

“Some people were saying that it couldn’t be and, when I got home, I checked on maps and saw where the tomato factory was,” Harrison said.

“I didn’t know it had lights on it. I had to admit defeat after that.”

The story would have ended there if Specsavers hadn’t spotted an opportunity to get involved.

The retailer’s adverts typically show people mistaking objects for something else, with the implication that they should book an optician’s appointment.

Specsavers commented on Harrison’s post: “Sounds like you might need a trip to one of our stores, as well as a trip to Iceland”.

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.

“After 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,” she wrote in a follow-up Facebook post on November 10.

“Not a joke as I thought. I’m here now and did indeed get to see the lights last night.”

Specsavers commented again: “No eye test needed this time, we can confirm that’s the real Northern Lights”.

Harrison said she felt fortunate as she knew the experience was on many people’s bucket list and she got to do it for free.

“The Iceland lights were more impressive. Some people have said mine were better, though.”