Have you ever been on a wild goose chase?

A junior police officer in Sussex, U.K. was sent by a CCTV operator on a chase...after himself. (iStockphoto)Anyone who's been on a wild goose chase can sympathize with a junior Sussex, U.K. police officer who "chased himself" for 20 minutes at a CCTV operator's behest.

The officer, who was dressed in plainclothes, had been patrolling an unnamed market area that had recently been hit by a series of burglaries.

The Telegraph reports that while the officer was searching the area for suspects, a closed-circuit television operator radioed that she saw someone "acting suspiciously" in the area, unaware that she was in fact looking at the very person she was talking to on the radio.

The officer continued to unknowingly chase his own shadow for a full 20 minutes, as the operator gave instructions, saying he was "hot on his heels."

At this point, the officer's sergeant walked into the CCTV control room, saw what was going on and put an end to the junior member's wild goose chase.

The story appeared in Police magazine, a publication released by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

"With the sergeant's sides aching from laughter," says the report, "he pointed out to the PC that the operator had been watching him unaware that he was a plain-clothes officer - thus the PC had been chasing himself round the streets."

Have you ever been on a wild goose chase? What happened? How long did it take you to realize that your quest was in vain? Share your stories in the comments section below.


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