Navy lieutenant aims high for Hornet Ball date, asks Katy Perry via YouTube

In cases like this, it’s probably best to let the video speak for itself:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueWCnmyH9g8[/youtube]

The guy sitting on the plane in the above screen grab (and, in the clip’s opening shot, fixing a fence with a rake while wearing a tuxedo and drinking a martini; we told you it’s best to let the video speak for itself) is F-18 pilot Lt. Clayton Heyward. His YouTube proposal to superstar recording artist Katy Perry — in the form of a parody song set to her hit “E.T.” — is a simple one: Make the trip from Hollywood to Fresno, Calif., and be his date for the West Coast Hornet Ball.

The video was closing in on 26,000 hits as of midday Tuesday. In the video comments, Heyward says he posted the date request shortly before deploying aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz, now underway in the Pacific Ocean. The video’s gotten an array of media coverage already, both foreign and domestic.

It’s a tactic that’s worked before in the Marine Corps, with one lucky leatherneck landing actress Mila Kunis as a date to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, and another one snaring actor/singer/media mogul/kid from *NSYNC Justin Timberlake.

Oh, and Linda Hamilton. Who subbed for Betty White. Things got out of hand there for a bit.

Perry’s already shown her appreciation for sailors — in April, she made then-Midshipman 3rd Class Tanner Beasley’s night with this kiss during an Annapolis concert. And she joined the Marines in this video.

Scoop Deck has reached out to both Heyward and Perry. More on this breaking social media love connection as we hear it.