Police ‘eye in the sky’ spoils farmer’s romantic surprise for his wife
Helicopter prompts viral social media search for Sue after sharing photo of giant message in field
WHEN an Oxfordshire farmer wrote his wife’s name in enormous letters in a field he thought he was planning a romantic surprise.
But he did not reckon with a police helicopter, which managed to snap and share a picture of the message before she had the chance to see it.
Murray Graham, a farmer in the Tetsworth area, meant for his son George, 21, a helicopter pilot, to take a picture of the giant message, which reads “Sue x”, as a surprise for his wife.
But before George could take to the skies, well-meaning police from local helicopter base NPAS Benson snapped a photo of the 150 metre high message and posted it online, prompting a social media search for the mysterious Sue. Followers of #Findsue suggested explanations as diverse as aliens, an advert for a local law firm or a mark for buried treasure.
Andy Ford, a geography lecturer at Bournemouth University, revealed that the message on the 15-acre field was even visible from space and could be seen on a satellite image.
However, Mr Graham revealed himself as the source after friends tagged him in social media posts about the hunt.
Mr Graham, 49, admitted he could be “grumpy” and told The Telegraph that he wanted to show his wife of 22 years that “I’m not as bad as I make out and I do love her really”.
He added: “I sprayed it the best part of two weeks ago – it takes a while for it to become apparent.” He said he was “very pleased” with how it had turned out. “I had some leftover chemical and I thought I’d give it a go and see if I could put a smile on her face,” he said.
Son George said that he believed his mother would be “a bit taken aback”.
At the time of going to press Mrs Graham had not yet arrived home, so it is not known what her reaction to the gesture – and her newfound international fame – was likely to be, with Mr Graham admitting that “it could go either way”.
“I’m quite surprised,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to go national or international or even intergalactic.”