People Were Convinced That Blue Flash in New York City Was Aliens
Officials in New York have confirmed the spectacular blue light that illuminated the city’s skyline Thursday night was not the work of aliens. But try telling that to people on social media.
*Not* aliens. Blown transformer at Queens Con-Ed facility. Scattered power outages, including LGA. Con-Ed, FDNY, PD, OEM all working on it. https://t.co/xX60Ph8SWw
— Eric Phillips (@EricFPhillips) December 28, 2018
The official line on the blue light phenomena is that at around 9:12 p.m. Thursday night there was an electrical surge, followed by an explosion, at a Con Edison substation in Astoria, Queens.
Con Edison spokesman Bob McGee sought to reassure New Yorkers Friday morning. “What people were seeing was an electrical arc flash,” he told CNN. The light was blue because of the nitrogen and oxygen in the air when the electricity arced through it, he added.
But the idea that aliens were somehow involved would not go away, despite assurances from the NYPD.
Confirming incident in #Astoria was result of transformer explosion. No injuries, no fire, no evidence of extraterrestrial activity. Please continue to follow @FDNY and @Conedison
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 28, 2018
They're here. #NYC #NewYorkCity pic.twitter.com/fDVoHO0kWD
— BK (@bvks_) December 28, 2018
Last time we saw pulsating blue lights over a major US metropolitan area...this happened #Aliens #nycsky #Bluelight pic.twitter.com/h3t4BIhWmi
— Kyle Herren (@slyboogie12) December 28, 2018
The blue light was only the latest example of New Yorkers claiming visitors from another world had come to the Big Apple. According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been 18 UFO sightings in New York in the last two months.
???? #BlueLight #NYCSky pic.twitter.com/RADo1bjFWs
— ? ? (@JVC341) 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
Others were quick to link the light to the upcoming Men In Black film, parts of which were shot close to Astoria.
That time #Aliens landed in #NYC & @ConEdison tried to tell us a transformer exploded...
Looks like the @MenInBlack are hard at work! (promoting their movie) #bluelight #astoriaborealis #AstoriaExplosion https://t.co/2kL0FsJJKC— Joseph Pinion III (@JosephPinion) December 28, 2018
Some were quick to liken the blue glow in the night sky to the giant sky-beams (which often portend an alien invasion or the opening of a cosmic portal to another dimension) seen in so many contemporary science-fiction movies.
this blue light just showed up in the sky??? what’s with that pic.twitter.com/8jT3f80f52
— Emma Stefansky (@stefabsky) December 28, 2018
And for a few New Yorkers, the light signaled the end of days.
I think the rapture has started in New York... pic.twitter.com/j1acPcQo9x
— Okoye’s Spear (@Willi_Mae) December 28, 2018