An explosion at a power plant temporarily caused the sky in New York City to turn bright blue on Thursday night, Reuters reported. The power plant belongs to the Con Edison power company and is located in Queens borough.
The power company tweeted that it was working with the city fire department “to respond [to] a substation fire in Astoria”. The company said a “brief electrical fire” had broken out at its substation on 20th Avenue and 32nd Street in Astoria, which “caused a transmission dip in the area”.
The company said the situation was stable after a while and it was investigating the cause of the incident. According to the New York Police Department’s 114th Precinct, the transformer explosion was determined to be “a non-suspicious equipment malfunction”. No injuries were reported, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter.
The New York Police Department confirmed that the blue skyline was not the result of “extraterrestrial activity”.
The explosions lit up the sky in shades of blue that were visible from as far as Manhattan and New Jersey, CNN reported. The tremors from the blasts shook buildings and rattled windows, forcing people out into the streets. Residents also reported temporary power outages.
The explosions also led to a temporary closure of the LaGuardia Airport in Queens and no flights were allowed to take off for an hour on Thursday night. While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority did not witness power outages, a few trains faced delays.
Several Twitter users posted images and videos of a turquoise sky above Queens.
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