Who's the scruffy bloke sitting next to Barack Obama?

Marvin Lance Futch's appearance at high-powered meeting with the president has caused a stir. Photo / AP

In the staid and rather predictable world of presidential photo calls, it was a rare moment of intrigue. As US President Barack Obama held court at a high-powered round table meeting in Utah, just who was the scruffy bloke sat at the right hand side?

Why did he not have a name plate on the table, unlike the other assembled Congressmen, mayors and Senators? And, why rather than dressing in a smart suit and tie, had he decided to meet the Leader of the Free World wearing just a casual polo shirt?

As the picture gradually went viral on the internet, conspiracy theories abounded. Was he a professional "photo-bomber" who had achieved the ultimate hit of penetrating White House security? Had Kim Jong Un's hacking teams doctored the photograph? Or was it someone from the IT department who had accidentally been given an invite?

As it turned out, the last explanation was the closest to the truth.

The man in the picture, since identified as Marvin Lance Futch, 26, is an employee in the computer-assisted design department at Vivint, a solar energy company in Utah.

When the president swept into town last Friday for a meeting to make a speech on employing war veterans in the solar energy industry, his company received an invite for what they thought was for a member of staff to come and attend. Thinking it was simply to sit in an audience, rather than attend an intimate round-table, they decided it was a job for Mr Futch, himself a part-time airman in the National Guard, rather than the company's CEO.

Mr Futch only realised the mix-up when he turned up for the event at Utah Air Force base and found himself being ushered into a tiny room rather than a large auditorium. He was then sat along with Utah's senator, Orrin Hatch, and congressman, Rob Bishop, just two chairs away from Obama.

"I was told that it was going to be an informal event - that it was going to be business casual," Mr Futch told the New York Post.

"So when President Obama walked in the room, I'm looking down at my white polo going, 'Well if I would have known this I would have worn my military blues or at least a suit and tie. I admit I was feeling a little underdressed at the moment.

"Honestly, one of the first thoughts to go through my mind is: My commander on the base is going to kill me for this. I should have known better."

A source at the company told the Reddit website: "We thought they wanted a representative from our company in the audience. Turns out they wanted the representative for a special round table with the president. Due to this mix up we sent my friend (a leader in our CAD department) instead of the CEO."

The source also attributed the mix-up to a lack of clear communication from the White House, which had scheduled the meeting at short notice. "I know the person responsible for the mix up is in some serious trouble," the source added. "But I'm sure the CEO is kicking himself over missing this chance to meet the President."

As it turned out, Mr Futch was able to give a good account of himself. Not only was he well-placed to talk on veterans' affairs, he told the president his employers were "wonderful" and even got a plug on for his firm, since his polo shirt was imprinted with their name.
However, it seems US Air Force Command were not so impressed. In photos of the meeting that their publicity department later released, Mr Futch had been cropped out.