When Dee Harrison spotted the spectacular pink and red glow of the Northern Lights near her home, she posted a photo of the phenomenon online for people to marvel over.
‘Thank you for sharing a beautiful sky’ and ‘awesome picture, thank you for sharing’ were among the comments from appreciative members of her Facebook group, Stunning Suffolk.
But her face was left as red as the sky after others pointed out it was a case of mistaken identity.
Instead of Mother Nature putting on one of her incredible displays, the hazy glow was from the LED light units at a nearby tomato factory.
A ‘disappointed’ Mrs Harrison said: ‘It was about 5.15am and I was driving along… and could see to my left the sky was red.
The bright red glow from Suffolk Sweet Tomatoes was mistaken for the Northern Lights
Dee Harrison (pictured) spotted the glow on Wednesday morning but was left disappointed when she discovered it was not in fact the Northern LightsÂ
‘At first, I thought something was on fire but when I parked up I could see this deep pink sky – it looked brighter through my phone camera, so I thought it was an aurora.
‘But it wasn’t, unfortunately, so I was a bit disappointed because I thought I was up early seeing this aurora and I had it all to myself.
‘I have driven that way for over two years and this was the first time I had seen it. It’s funny how I haven’t noticed it before.’
Mrs Harrison, who lives in nearby Ipswich, spotted the colourful scene yesterday and put three images on the Facebook group, which was set up to ‘share and enjoy pictures of Suffolk’.
But while other members praised her photos, others began to question what they were seeing.
One suggested ‘brake light in the mist’, while another said ‘You can’t see aurora (borealis, the Latin name for the Northern Lights) when cloudy’.
Another contributor, Adam Cotterell, removed any illusion when he posted: ‘Lights from tomato factory.’
Mrs Harrison later posted a correction, saying ‘apparently not an aurora, sorry’ accompanied by a ‘sad’ emoji with a tear.
The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, seen in Blakehope due to a strong solar storm on October 10
Mr Cotterell, 34, told the BBC the lights emanated from Suffolk Sweet Tomatoes in Great Blakenham and could often be seen ‘in the right weather conditions’ from his home in nearby Somersham.
‘Since the tomato factory has been there, you have always been able to see a red and pink hue in the sky when there is mist or fog in the air,’ he said.
‘It is most apparent in the winter months on a cold, foggy night, not so much through the summer months because the summer air is dry.
‘But as we are now coming into winter, you will see it more with the damp evening air and low-lying mists.
‘It’s still an incredible sight to see but it won’t beat the true aurora like the one back in May. That was an incredible night.’
The unusually good visibility of the Northern Lights over much of Britain in May and again a couple of weeks ago is due to the biggest geomagnetic storm since 2003 – a temporary disturbance of the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave.
The swirling colours are caused when the charged particle from the sun are funnelled towards the planet’s magnetic poles and collide with gases in the upper atmosphere.
