Dee Harrison, a 56-year-old resident of Suffolk, England, was excited to see what she thought were "Northern Lights" while driving to work in the morning. However, she was disappointed to discover that the purple-red glow was actually LED lights from a nearby tomato farm.
Around 5:15 AM on Wednesday, Harrison spotted the glow while driving through Branford village and shared the view on social media with the caption, "Aurora, I think; I've never seen anything like it."
It was later revealed that the lights were from the growth lights of a tomato farm in Suffolk. Responding to Harrison's post, 34-year-old Adam Cotterell said, "These lights come from a local tomato factory. When there is fog or clouds, these lights create a red glare."
Investigations confirmed that there was no activity related to the Northern Lights in the area.
Such confusion has occurred before. In May, two university students in Norwich mistook the purple lights of a hotel for the Northern Lights, only to realize later that the lights belonged to the hotel.