Stargazers ‘ought to have gone to Specsavers’ after Northern Lights gaffe

On May 15, 2024

A pair of hopeful stargazers mistook the glowing sign of a Premier Inn hotel for the Northern Lights, leaving people in fits of giggles.

TikTok user @paakz and his pal wanted to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis in Norwich as they made a rare appearance in the UK last weekend. Instead they found themselves gawping at the familiar purple sign of the popular hotel chain, reports The Mirror.

“We thought Premier Inn was the Northern Lights,” they said. “We’ve been catfished! How have we been catfished? We thought it was the northern lights! It’s a f***ing building.”

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The video of their epic fail was reposted to X (formerly Twitter) and garnered lots of attention. Specsavers even got in on the joke, cheekily commenting: “Hi we’re here” – hinting the duo might be overdue an eye test.

Another agreed: “Should’ve gone to Specsavers,” while a third tagged a friend, saying: “I can imagine us doing this.” A fourth also tagged their pal, writing: “This was you wasn’t it.”

The elusive Northern Lights are typically spotted around the annulus, near the Earth’s magnetic pole. This is why you’re more likely to see them in places like Norway than in the UK, which usually falls outside the 1,865-mile radius.

But Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) from the Sun can cause the band to expand, meaning the Northern Lights could be seen much further south than usual. This phenomenon had Brits dashing outside last weekend in hopes of catching the dazzling display.

One stargazer gushed on social media: “I’m still flying high after such an incredible northern lights experience at such a low latitude. I travel to the arctic several times a year to try and catch my favorite phenomenon, and it’s just so amazing to get to experience it as a global treat.”

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