© Rex Features
The unfortunate incident was published in the latest edition of Police magazine, but unfortunately the PC only realised his mistake after he had called his colleagues for back-up.
The magazine is released by the Police Federation to 132,000 rank-and-file officers across England and Wales.
It revealed the gaffe in its ever-popular Dogberry column.
The column read: "While single-crewed on night duty in Worcestershire, a PC called up his sergeant letting him know that he was going up into the Clent Hills to investigate a 'suspicious bright light' that he could see shining from the other side of the hills.
"The call was for safety reasons as he might need back-up once he found the source.
"Twenty minutes later the PC called his sergeant back to reassure him that everything was okay and that he had found the source of the light.
"This diligent PC had in fact discovered the moon."
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