November 9, 1965

[bradygirl_12]

Today is the 56th anniversary of the Great Northeast Black-Out! Misptogramming in a Queenston, Ontario power plant near Niagara Falls set off a series of relays that affected the entire Northeast power grid. Oh, and some people claim seeing a flying saucer hovering over the Niagara Falls power plant just before the black-out. ;)

The northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on Tuesday, November 9, 1965, affecting parts of Ontario in Canada and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the United States.

Wikipedia gives a good explanation of the cause.

Darkness everywhere! People relied on transistor radios to give them the news. As eerie as The Twilight Zone episode, The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street. ;)

Comments

[nodrog]

IIRC, the “UFOs” were later identified as ball lightning, electrified plasma generated by the malfunctioning equipment.  A LOT of electric power was involved in this, crashing out very fast.

[bradygirl_12]

Yes, it was a classic case of dominoes falling!

[nodrog]

I would recommend, if you ever find it, a movie called The Trigger Effect (1996).  Taking its name from a documentary about the 1965 outage, it assumes that overnight, electric power goes off…  And stays off - for days, weeks, maybe for ever.  No one knows why.  Cars work, but gas pumps do not, and their radios give only static.   Telephones, cash registers, ATMs, streetlights, nothing.  Electricity and the world it ran are gone.  How long before things - and people - start falling apart?

It’s a disturbing film, but well made, and it leaves an awareness of what we take for granted every day.

[bradygirl_12]

How long before things - and people - start falling apart?

I'd give it about a week. ;)