Why did New York's skyline turn neon blue?

Eeerie glow had New Yorkers speculating about aliens and divine intervention

(Reuters)

Some wondered if aliens were invading. Others speculated about the supernatural. There was even talk of God, Satan, and the end of days.

Awe-struck New Yorkers’ imaginations went into overdrive as an eerie blue glow lit up the city’s night sky.

Social media was sent into a frenzy as Manhattan’s skyline was bathed in pulsing neon for several minutes, temporarily shutting down LaGuardia airport late on Thursday.

There was, it transpired, a more earthly explanation than UFOs or divine intervention.

Power company Con Edison said a “brief electrical fire” had broken out at its substation in Astoria, Queens, at 9.15pm local time (2am GMT).

“It affected some electrical transformers, which in turned caused a dip in power for the surrounding area,” spokesman Bob McGee told journalists.

He said the glowing light is thought to have been caused by an electric arc – a luminous discharge formed when a strong current jumps between a gap in a circuit.

The colour of the light was determined by the properties of the air, mostly nitrogen and oxygen, which appear purple and blue when electricity flows through them. Some witnesses also reported seeing green, which could be attributed to copper used at the substation.

The light vanished as suddenly as it appeared, video posted on social media shows.

Con Edison said an electrical fault on 138,000 volt equipment caused a sustained electrical arc flash but the “affected equipment was isolated to a single section within the substation.”

The firm added the cause of the failure was under investigation, but New York Police Department confirmed there were ”no injuries” and there was “no evidence of extraterrestrial activity”.

That did not stop the eerie light unsettling New Yorkers.

"I'll admit that seeing the sky light up like that at night - in New York City of all places - put a bad feeling in my gut," Lucas Espinoza, 28, told The Independent.

John Tebbett, who lives two blocks away from the substation, told NY1 television station he heard an explosion followed for about five minutes by a loud roar. The blast had caused the lights in his home to flicker off and on, he said.

"You could hear the roar and see the super white, bright light," Mr Tebbett. "It took them about five minutes, maybe. As we were watching it, it was like somebody turned off the power and it just went dark and then it was quiet. The roar stopped and it was dead quiet for a moment and then you could hear the emergency vehicles start to come in."

It was the second major incident involving Con Edison in the last six months. In July, a steam pipe explosion spewed asbestos-laden vapour into the air in Manhattan's Flatiron district, driving hundreds of people from their homes and businesses.