Pulsing blue light freaks Twitter out, but it's definitely not aliens
A pulsing bright blue light illuminating the sky across Queens, New York on Thursday night had everyone thinking one thing.
But before you even start, it's not aliens.
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Awestruck folks shared footage on Twitter of the strangely glimmering turquoise light, each equally as baffled as the other.
Similar to the 2015 freak-out of Los Angeles, when a 'blue light' streaked across the night sky, folks on Twitter declared it one of two things: aliens or something worth calling Ghostbusters for.
The New York sky tonight confirming there is no Dana only Zuul #ghostbusters pic.twitter.com/ceEu6m9ATa
— Joe Auriemma (@JosephAuriemma) December 28, 2018
Ummmmm...there is some Ghostbusters shit happening in Astoria, are you guys okay?? 👀 pic.twitter.com/oCRlxfv4VF
— slip icesKATEing under (@slipgoingunder) December 28, 2018
Someone, call the Ghostbusters. #Astoria pic.twitter.com/HhU1wcfKjh
— Diane N. Sevenay (@Diane_7A) December 28, 2018
The sky over NYC was just blue and flashing for like, 5 minutes. And right before it happened all the lights in my apartment flashed. Is it... aliens?? pic.twitter.com/s09cVpbx02
— Aliza (Ah-lee-zuh not Eliza) (@AlizaTweets) December 28, 2018
Instead of proof that extraterrestrials live among us and the People in Black are the galaxy defenders you always suspected, the glimmering light was reportedly derived from a transformer explosion at a Con Edison power facility in Astoria, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said the fire was "under control," as confirmed in a tweet, and the 144th precinct asked citizens to avoid 20th Avenue and 31st Street. NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan confirmed no injuries were sustained in the explosion.
ADVISORY: The lights you have seen throughout the city appear to have been from a transformer explosion at a Con Ed facility in Queens. The fire is under control, will update as more info becomes available. Follow @fdny, @NYPD114pct and @conedison. pic.twitter.com/fdzQKs1wVV
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 28, 2018
The New York City Fire Department also tweeted confirmation that it was investigating a transformer incident at Con Edison's Queens facility.
#FDNY is investigating a transformer incident in Queens at a @ConEdison location. The Department has received numerous calls for reports of explosions in the Long Island City and Astoria areas.
— FDNY (@FDNY) December 28, 2018
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson also noted on Twitter that New York's LaGuardia airport was "temporarily closed due to power outage resulting from the ConEd transformer explosion," but was soon back up and running.
Con Edison confirmed on Twitter that there was a "brief electrical fire" it its Astoria substation, which affected electrical transformers. This caused a "transmission dip" for the area surrounding the facility.
"Power lines serving the area are in service and the system is stable," the company tweeted.
There was a brief electrical fire at our substation in Astoria this evening, which involved some electrical transformers and caused a transmission dip in the area. Power lines serving the area are in service and system is stable. Photo: Michael Friedl, New York Times pic.twitter.com/tUSlQPfUhi
— Con Edison (@ConEdison) December 28, 2018
We're working with the @FDNY to respond a substation fire in Astoria and will provide updates as soon as we have more information. AQ
— Con Edison (@ConEdison) December 28, 2018
So, there you go, the light was caused by a transformer explosion. It's definitely not aliens. It's never aliens. But then again...
Sure, a “transformer explosion”. pic.twitter.com/wMh5Zm93Be
— Don Scholaro (@DScholaro) December 28, 2018
That’s exactly the type of explanation I’d expect to read if there was an alien invasion!
— 𝙹𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 (@ncbjd) December 28, 2018
— Neurotica Provocatrix (@TbBrame) December 28, 2018
UPDATE: Dec. 28, 2018, 3:08 p.m. AEDT Con Edison issued a statement regarding the cause of the light on Twitter. This story has been updated to reflect this.
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