You can bet ET did not think he would end up in a piece of wood when he told Elliott in the classic film that he would be “right here”.

But when Mary Davis, of Telford, had a new garden fence put up she was amazed to notice that one of the knots in one of the wooden posts is the spitting image of director Steven Spielberg’s extra-terrestrial.

Mrs Davis, 62, of Dawley, had asked her partner Reg Pugh to put up the fence for her.

When he ran out of posts he went to his own home in Oakengates in order to get some more from his garden shed.

On his return he was sitting on the patio having a cup of tea when he made the discovery.

Mrs Davis said: “He called me to come outside and asked me what I thought I could see in the post.

“I could see ET straight away, it’s so clear. I think it’s absolutely brilliant.”

Mr Davis said the post had been in his shed for eight years and he had never noticed the six-inch square picture until he went to add it to the fence.

He said: “I think it’s brilliant. I’ve seen the film and I loved it. I think Mr Spielberg would be very interested to know where ET is hiding.

“Mary has taken a photo of it to have on her mobile phone. I have put the fence post facing into the back garden so he’ll be looking at me and I can see him whenever I want.”

ET the Extra-Terrestrial is a children’s science fiction film made in 1982. It tells the story of an alien who is left on Earth by mistake and makes a special bond with a boy called Elliott. It launched the career of Charlie’s Angel Dew Barrymore who plays Gertie, Elliott’s younger sister in the film.

ET was a box office hit, surpassing Star Wars to become the most financially successful film released to that point and it won four Oscars.

Spielberg believes ET epitomises his work.

By Catherine Roche