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28th Dec 2018

Power plant explosion turns New York sky electric blue

Video shows an eery sight over the US city

Oli Dugmore

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 08: A view of the skyline from Pitchfork And October Present OctFest 2018 at Governors Island on September 8, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Pitchfork)

Video shows an eery sight over the US city after an explosion at a power plant

Parts of the New York sky were turned bright blue after a large explosion at a power plant.

The New York police department said there was “no evidence of extraterrestrial activity” and confirmed the extraordinary lighting up of the night sky was caused by an explosion at the Con Edison power plant in Queens.

In a statement Con Edison said: “There was a brief electrical fire at our substation in Astoria which involved some electrical transformers and caused a transmission dip in the area. We’re currently investigating the cause of the incident.”

New York’s fire department confirmed that they had responded to several reports of explosions in the Long Island City and Astoria area. At 10.15pm local time on Thursday evening the service confirmed the incident was under control and no one was injured.

New York residents reported the night sky being turned “as bright as day” as a neon blue glow painted the skyline.

The power surge caused several streets to lose power as well as LaGuardia airport, grounding some flights.