Social media exploded Thursday night with many reports of an eerie and bright blue light flashing over parts of New York City, almost like something out of Ghostbusters.

The event caused such a stir that the NYPD and a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that the incident was not "the work of extraterrestrials". What exactly is going on here? The actual cause is actually something far more down-to-Earth than ghosts or aliens.

NBC is reporting that a transformer fire at the substation on 20th Avenue and 32nd Street in Astoria, Queens caused parts of the night sky to glow blue around 9 p.m. Thursday night. NBC is reporting that while the explosion was brief, it caused LaGuardia Airport to lose power and lead to delays on the subways.

Con Edison posted on Twitter:

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.

Con Edison says that no one was hurt. The NYPD says the incident was an accident and was not caused by outside tampering.

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