Donald Trump’s secret trip to visit troops in Iraq was publically exposed by an eagle-eyed photographer in Sheffield, it has emerged.
Alan Meloy pictured Air Force One in the skies above the northern English city on December 26 as it made its way to the Middle Eastern country.
The photographer, a self-described “aviation nut”, shared the image online – while the US president’s Iraq visit was still top secret.
Mr Trump and First Lady Melania had left Washington DC without fanfare in the middle of the night.
When Mr Meloy posted the image on photo-sharing site Flickr to see if anyone else had spotted it, he was met with some scepticism.
But when other enthusiasts spotted the image and also recognised it as one of the two VC-25 planes used as Air Force One, they cross-referenced it with tracking data and deduced the president was likely to be on his way to the Middle East.
With the news being so widely discussed online thanks to the photo, a ban on reporting the trip, agreed with the White House press corps, was lifted.
Mr Meloy, meanwhile, has found himself the centre of attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
"It's one of those weird moments where you're right place and right time," he told the Guardian. "Boxing Day dawns clear and bright, the next thing there's an interesting airplane."
