There were those who suspected an attack by the USSR and had no doubts that it was an alien invasion. On November 9, 1965, New York was plunged into absolute darkness.
Rafa Mingorance, author of the YouTube channel New York Live Newspaper, explains in this video the reasons for the Great Blackout in New York, which left the entire city without power for 14 endless hours.
Text by Rafa Mingorance:
New York’s Mysterious Blackout in 1965
Even today, in New York, the great blackout that occurred on November 9, 1965 is remembered. It was 5:15 in the afternoon when it started to get dark and something strange was about to happen. As the New York Times described, the street lights began to flash violently. Later, all the city lights started the same flicker that lasted about a minute. These signs heralded something new. Suddenly, the Big Apple was completely dark. Nothing like this had ever happened in the history of New York. Was it a secret attack by the Soviet Union? Did the UFOs plan to invade the city?
Days after the big blackout, newspapers at the time told the story of an 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire who hit a street lamp with a stick just as it was dark.
A pianist finished, unperturbed, Chopin’s piece that was playing at Carnagie Hall. It was later that he realized that the concert hall had darkened
The boy ran away scared and thinking that he had caused a great disaster. The newspapers also reported the episode of the pianist who ended, unchanged, Chopin’s play at Carnagie Hall. It was later that he noticed that the concert hall had darkened. You might think these are just some curious anecdotes. But imagine the case of the pilot of the Scandinavian Airways company who saw the lights of Kennedy International Airport on the horizon, looked down for a moment to see the controls and when he looked up there was only darkness. The pilot was amazed to see that the airport had disappeared.
Because of the big blackout, 500 flights had to be moved and the most surprising thing is that there was not a single accident. They say this was possible because that night the sky was clear and there was a full moon.
In Manhattan alone, more than 800,000 people were trapped in the subway and as many in skyscraper elevators
New York wasn’t the only city left in the dark. Parts of nine other states and three Canadian provinces also suffered from the damage. In total, the so-called ‘great blackout’ affected 30 million people. In Manhattan alone, more than 800,000 people were trapped in the subway and as many in skyscraper elevators. When traffic lights stopped working, many people spontaneously helped the police direct traffic. In hospitals, doctors operated on their patients by lighting their operating rooms with candles and lanterns. Thousands of people were stranded in the city without being able to return home.
As it was very cold in the street, some took refuge inside the subway and train stations; Others spent the night in hotel lobbies and department stores. At Macy’s, for example, they fed more than 5,000 people and then let them sleep in the beds they had for sale.
There was a real fear that the great blackout was part of an imminent Soviet nuclear attack. In 1965, the United States and the Soviet Union were in a very tense political relationship because of Vietnam. That year, US President Lyndon B. Johnson had sent 22,000 soldiers to the Asian country to fight the Russian-backed communist Ho Chi Minh regime.
They said that they saw, that night, great balls of fire flying over the city during the night. They claimed that the government had reports on the presence of aliens in New York
In the absence of television and the newsrooms without light, radio played a fundamental role in managing the crisis. The government was able to explain that the country had not suffered any attacks and promised to explain the source of the incident to the public. Was it perhaps a UFO invasion? Fans of the subject created great theories, some very well elaborated. They said that they saw, that night, great balls of fire flying over the city during the night. They claimed that the government had reports on the presence of aliens in New York.
At 7 am the next day, the city gradually returned to its normal pace. It took 14 hours to fully restore the power supply. But for citizens the question was in the air. Why did something like this happen? There has still not been an official explanation from the authorities.
Days later, New Yorkers finally discovered the reason for the big blackout. And no, the culprit wasn’t the New Hampshire boy who hit the pole with a stick. Ultimately, a faulty electrical switch, which was in Canada, caused the entire electrical network in the northwestern part of the United States to go down.
Incredibly, thanks to the November 9 event, New Yorkers heard for the first time about the ‘power grid’ concept. And not only that. In August 1966, Time magazine published on the cover that, thanks to the big blackout, the birthrate had risen in New York. To argue this, the magazine claimed that hospitals like Mount Sinai broke birth records nine months after the blackout. This belief lasted until 1970, when a professor at the University of North Carolina refuted it with very convincing birth statistics.
In any case, this event still lives in the memory of many New Yorkers and not because it is the only one that happened. In July 1977, there was another big blackout with looting, vandalism and numerous arsons. But unlike the latter, during 1965 the citizens behaved with great civility. The crime rate even dropped.
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